andy

I replaced the thermostat in my sister's Mk3 Golf (1.6CL) on Saturday. It all went well, I started it up, engine reached temperature, fans kicked in but no heat inside car, I mean stone cold air, the hoses leading to the matrix were hot. I checked for air locks etc. As soon as I engaged 1st gear and moved off, hot air came pouring in to the cabin and all was fine. Anyone understand why that would be.

Get a bolt/screw extractor. (otherwise known as eazi-outs). Unless the screw is standing proud it won't be having any effect whatsoever on your brakes. I've not had any bolts in my brake discs for years. all they do is allign the discs so that you can get the wheelbolts through them. Squealing is most likely a lack of copper grease on the rear of your brake pads.

Good effort. I reckon quicker gearchanges would get you pretty evenly matched with the scooby.

You need to get both sides of the car the same, so yes you do need to do the passenger side. If the new gear is uprated in any way its not really a very good idea to run different stuff front and rear. If it doesn't feel any different then I'd just change the drivers one back and get it realligned.

?? nia 573 is right

Just as likely to be an air leak somewhere too. Check all the inlet/breather hoses for tightness/damage etc.

The new housing is less than £25 from VW. If its original its probably worth replacing. I've seen a couple that have just fallen apart with age. If you going to the hassle of taking it off anyway and it looks shabby at all then I'd change it.

Yep, Stans right, loads of info on this via the search. Passat Moonroofs (glass panel) do fit and are generally much cheaper (ie £20 ish) than Corrado mechanisms or replacement parts.

A lot of people do use gasket sealer on these. I've taken a couple off and they've both been stuck fast. Nylon mallet job!

You get a 14 day cooling off period during which time you are entitled to a FULL refund, including any extra charges they make, that's the definition of a full refund.

Mine used to do that, only used to notice it when switching off. About a fortnight later the water pump failed. I changed the pump and the 'chirp' vanished too. Just a thought!

Mine used to do that, only used to notice it when switching off. About a fortnight later the water pump failed. I changed the pump and the 'chirp' vanished too. Just a thought!

If you just get the valve stem seals/guides changed it will be a much cheaper job. Don't bother getting a flowed head, that's where the expense lies, for little gain. Shouldn't cost more than a few hundred to just get the seals/guides changed. That would keep the cost down and allow some money for suspension mods, again Koni Coilies are not the cheapest, what about some FK ones. I've heard good reports, or Konis/H&Rs for about half your quoted cost.

This is good Henny, you're starting to see what I mean. I have the channel in the mechanism, that's fine and present so that anything leaking past the 'seal' drains away. On a normal Corrado mechaism this works fine on the front part of the 'seal' and the side part of the 'seal'. However there is no channel at the rear of the seal. Water falls past the 'seal' onto the top of the interior panel. This panel has a channel in it which then drains into the side channels of the mechanism. If a Corrado never had an interior panel then water would leak through the rear of the seal every time. You have to have the interior panel in place in order to avoid leaks. If you imagine a bare mechanism, viewed from above, the channel is U shaped (ie it only drains the front and sides, not the rear. The rear relies on the interior panel to drain water sideways. I think my Passat interior panel may not have the required channel. I think I might need to get the camera out!

I don't think so, my car is dusty dry as a rule. Its not a great deal of water, maybe a couple of teaspoons. Always after rain....

The water isn't laying in the mechanism. Its on top of the interior panel. The drains are clear. Water will always come through the outer seal, on the Corrado setup its falls through and onto the channel on the interior panel and into the mechanism channels and into the drains. The Corrado setup, because the interior panel moves with the exterior panel is always lined up to drain correctly. However the Passat roof, because the interior panel slides independantly can end up in a position whereby water that comes in through the rear of the exterior seal will land on top of the interior panel. Maybe if I shut the interior panel every time I stop it will drain correctly. Thoughts?

I recently installed a Passat Moonroof, during the fitting process it didn't seem possible to fit the Corrado's interior roof panel to the Passat mechanism so I used the manually sliding Passat one. It all works very well except I'm getting drips down the back of my neck the first time I put the brakes on every day. basically water is laying on the back of the interior panel. Before anyone says it, Yes, the drains are clear. I notice on the back of the Corrado interior panel there is a channel running left to right that drains water into the mechanism channels when water leaks past the exterior seal at the rear of the roof, I'm not sure yet if the Passat one has that. What have you guys used, interior panel wise, Corrado, Passat or junked it altogether. Anyone else getting dripped on?

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I always check over my shoulder in the Rado, its a necessity imo. I can easily lose a juggernautor or 3 or 4 cars in my mirrors. As for motorbikes.... I can't believe a viable alternative hasn't been found. They're dreadful, I'm not sure blind SPOT is the right word.

Are the convex ones much better? I'm seriously thinking about butchering another lens to fit the Corrado housing. I've got some DDI ones but they won't separate from the backing material......total pap :-(

Sorry to bring this up again but do the Halfords ones show you any more of the road than the original ones. I've just started driving my C again after a few months off the road and once again I can't get used to the appalling mirrors. The blind spots are ridiculous. Dangerous and by far the worst mirrors I've ever come across. I need an alternative....

Normally you will have to slide the interior panel back, (basically get a good grip on it and heave it back, then you can get at the 4 torx screws that are used to hold/allign the exterior panel. Adjust as necessary (assuming that it is just panel adjustment that is required in your case) and then slide the interior panel forward into place again.

I'm not sure whether you retain the 'mirrored' NCB or not. As long as I keep the 10 years worth on one of them I'm not too worried. Good point though!

Its confirmed £532 for both cars! Spoke to a top guy called Alex there. I was working on the basis of the Corrado having 10 years NCB and the Golf having 0 years NCB which would have put the price up to £644. Phoned them and they said they would mirror the 10 years NCB on the Golf policy too. £122 discount effectively. No penalisation for minor mods, they were really helpful too, saying things like if you pay a fiver more we can lower your excess by a hundred pounds too. You don't normally get that! Thumbs up for Admiral!