kerrinmay

The second quote does include labour and he doubts that they will all need replacing, think he is about £30 per hour.

Just had a price from main dealer for replacing engine mounts...Firstly they quoted me £179.54 for top suspension mounts (unless I'm not mistaken they are not the same as engine mounts!!)...Then they quoted me £424.74 for the engine mounts!!!! :shock: I then promptly rang a specialist I had been given details of and it shouldn't cost me anymore than £200, looks like it might be more like just over £100!!! :D Think I know where I'll be taking my C from now on!

Do you know if the actual mounts themselves are very expensive?

Thanks. That doesn't sound too bad. So are there just three mounts then? Where abouts are they? Are they all on the engine or does the gearbox have some as well?

Not really taken many of mine yet, but guess I have a couple of favourites so far. Makes it look nice and shiny with the sunlight etc

I was wondering how a big a job it is to replace engine mounts? I really haven't got a clue about what's involved, does the engine have to come out, or can they be done one by one with it still in situ? Any idea what this job is likely to cost?

Is it as easy to change as the other threads make out? How long should it take me? Any idea on current price of one? Will I need to get it up on ramps or axle stands to get to it? Will be interesting to see if I can finally make use of my ramps, they weren't usable on my last car as the tyres were 225's and were too wide, hope the 195's will fit.

A couple of times, my speedo has just died whilst driving along, and then a few mins later comes back to life again, and also sometimes when driving at highish speeds it is semi-irratic and jumps between about 90 and 100mph and back. Could this be the speed sensor? I've had a look at other threads on this matter but most seem to revolve around G60's, does the 2.0 16v have the same set-up?

Well that makes me feel much happier, so at least if I know the coolant level is fine, then I don't need to worry about the warning light. I was wondering if there is a problem with the wiring somewhere or maybe it just doesn't like cold mornings?! As it only seems to be coming on for the first journey of the day at the moment!

Some of you may have read about my recent problems re: water pump/head gasket etc. Well, the dealer replaced my coolant expansion tank as this seemed to have a faulty level sensor. Everything was fine until yesterday again when the coolant light starting flashing after I'd started her up. I checked the coolant level etc and everything seemed fine so I thought stuff it and drove her, keeping a constant eye on both coolant and oil temps. On my return just from my Christmas shopping trip the light didn't come on but then again this morning it was flashing again, but later on in the day it wasn't. Has anyone else ever had this sort of problem? I guess I'll have to go back to the garage, but can't be doing with that all just now. What does the coolant light really tell you? Is it just connected to this level sensor or does it come on based on other problems? Any advice will be appreciated.

Just got car back from garage and apparently this time the problem was a faulty level sensor in the coolant bottle.

Not sure that I'd really want that sort of 'advert' on my plates, it just leaves you right open to abuse. :roll: Unless he's running some kind of 'business' and needs the publicity!

I should hope not too...Hmm, rather small print for that little disclaimer!

Think I missed out some of the details... When I checked the car again this morning, I found the oil in the coolant to be just very small traces on the surface of the coolant which was easily removed with some kitchen towel. I then checked it was up to the level it should be but when starting the car and leaving it running, the coolant warning light came on and remained flashing. I spoke to the garage and they asked me to bring it in, so I drove very carefully keeping a watchful eye on both the coolant and oil temperatures and it ran fine.

Took car along to VW again this morning and they spent about 1 hour looking at it and they believe the problem is now a faulty coolant expansion tank which they fitted about 6 weeks ago. They have to get one from their other site at Hedge End and then check that solves the problem. For the first time, they actually offered me a courtesy vehicle - I say vehicle as they didn't have any available cars so I have a Transporter to drive around instead! As you can imagine, it's somewhat different to drive compared to the C! They will call me tomorrow morning and let me know how it's all going.

They did fit a new radiator as well, so maybe that could contribute to airlocks etc. I can but hope!

As there only seems to be a small amount of oil sitting on the top of the coolant in the reservoir, tomorrow morning I'm going to try and remove this, either soak it up or get a pipette or syringe, then top coolant back up and run car and see if anymore oil appears or if coolant level drops any further. During this time, I will obviously be keeping a close eye on the coolant and oil temps.

The original symptoms were coolant loss and then the garage did a test where they stick something on top of the coolant bottle and draw vapours through it and this thing (or liquid in it) apparently changes colour - which they say it did. When they took it all apart they also found some of the cylinder head bolts to be loose.

I didn't think Haynes did a manual to cover the 2.0 16v engine. Obviously they don't do a Corrado manual and the only other one I could think of was the Passat as that also shared the same engine, but according to the Haynes website, the manual excludes details on that specific engine. Can someone please advise which Haynes manual I should be looking for to cover the '9A' engine?

So do you think there is a chance the head gasket hasn't gone again then? I checked the dipstick and oil filler cap and they both look fine. Should I try topping the coolant back up and trying it again? Can I do any damage doing that? It was driving perfectly fine yesterday.

Unfortunately they did state on my invoice 'Cylinder head was distorted by 0.005" and doesn't have a skim tolerance so we are unable to guarantee the work.'. However I still don't think that gives them the right to a) put it back together if they didn't think it would work, and b) let me drive it away when it was highly likely the head gasket had gone again (which it had). That's why I'd quite like to find out what the distortion tolerance is, so that I know if the amount mine is distorted by is outside of that tolerance - because they should have known what the tolerance is. Also, although they did mention about how it might need a new head, they did not press me into purchasing one as they led me to believe that mine would be ok. I know unfortunately that they have got me with the clause about not guaranteeing the work.

Unfortunately yes. As you can imagine I am very very very unhappy about it. VW refused to have the head skimmed but said they thought it would be ok but would not put any guarantee on the work as they weren't fitting a new head! When I collected the car yesterday morning, the service chap drove it round for me to drive off and when I got in the car I noticed the coolant light was flashing (they obviously are not very observant at this main dealer), so I told the chap and said I hope that doesn't mean the head gasket has gone again already, and he said that it would just be the coolant levelling itself out etc. So he took car round the back to top it back up. The car seemed fine, but when I tried it this morning, the coolant light was flashing again and I checked the coolant and it was oily. The car will definately not be going back there, although I will be to make a complaint tomorrow morning. Basically they put it back together and let me drive it away and in my opinion, the gasket had already gone as the coolant level was down.

Does anyone know what the distortion tolerance is on a 2.0 16v cylinder head? I looked in the Bentley manual (which doesn't cover the 16v engines) and it is stated as 0.004inch. Would this be same for the 16v? The reason I ask is that VW replaced my head gasket and put it all back together and stated that the head had a distortion of 0.005inch, and the gasket has already gone! Only collected the car yesterday. :cry:

Does anyone know what sort of price I would be looking at to have new engine mounts fitted?

Sorry, didn't look at the pictures properly! I had been looking on ebay for a new rear one in case they can't be repaired, but at that time I hadn't realised they differed between the early and late Corrado's, so glad I didn't buy one now as it would probably have been the wrong one!