BenM

I've had a quick look at the ECU but haven't successfully removed it yet. There was no sign of water ingress anywhere but I guess its still worth cleaning up the contacts. I've cleaned the contacts on all the plugs to the pump and gave it a light tap with a hammer in the valve area - this worked great for about 3 weeks but is now back to its old habits. Pretty sure its not wheel sensors etc as I've already rectified a few of these faults. Thanks for the info, I'll keep looking for a good second hand pump. Cheers Ben

Thought I'd sorted this but still a problem - think I will need to replace the pump. Late style ABS pump needed for a '95 VR, 1H2 614 217A - anyone able to help?

I'm getting the fault codes from VAG-COM. Inlet valve error and supply voltage B+ error. I had a sensor error which I've sorted, but the valve block error remains. What's weird is that when the light does come on, it goes off again as soon as the engine is warm. I've never had the light stay on with a warm engine. Anyway, I'll check the number tomorrow when it light. Thanks again for the info. Cheers Ben

I'll have a look later on. What I do know is that the part number is the one quoted below. My current pump kind of works, but I'm getting intermittent light coming on due to valve block errors. Thanks for the reply!

Anyone know if this will fit a C VR6? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1998-MK3-GOLF-VR6 ... dZViewItem I know the part numbers are similar, but this one has 'E' at the end, whereas the Corrado part is 1H2 614 217 A. Any help greatly appreciated! Cheers Ben

Can anyone give me a part number for a '95 VR6 ABS pump? Scrappy can't work without one....

Thanks for the feedback. Voltage error was 00532 - Supply Voltage B+. The battery hasn't been disconnected - guess I'll be checking the relays.

I've got an intermittent ABS light problem on my '95 VR6. Sometimes the light comes on from cold, sometimes it doesn't. However, when it does come on, as soon as it is slightly warm (10 mins or so) if I stop and restart the engine it goes away every time. I've scanned it and there are 2 ABS valve errors and a 'supply voltage B+' error that come back. After a quick search on here it seems that I need to replace the ABS pump - all of the wheel sensors are fine (just replaced one of them) and the ECU is bone dry. My question is why does the problem go away when the engine is warm? Also, I know the pumps are reasonably cheap to get hold of - how many hours' labour can I expect to replace it? Is it a nasty job? Any help appreciated. Cheers Ben

Thanks for the replies. I've emailed Vicki thanks to Stevemac passing on the relevant email address....wrong time of year I guess! Cheers Ben

Hi all, Anyone have contact details for the CCGB, other than what's on their website? Sent my membership application and cheque off several weeks ago, I've heard nothing so far. My insurance company are looking for a membership number cos of the discount they've given me. Cheers Ben

Just picked the car up - the tensioner pulley had seized solid, so the belt was just rubbing over the tensioner and getting slowly eaten. There was about a rizla width of rubber left on the belt! I think the car knew its about to be sold - I'm finally in a position to buy a VR6! Those chains may have problems of their own but at least they're unlikely to snap!

Yeah, cheers for the advice - could have been a very expensive weekend!

Right. I've had the front cover off and the back of the cam belt is very shiny and has crazed cracks all over it. There is also a pronounced rib down the middle of it like its been rubbing on something. I started the engine with the cover off and it looks like the rattling noise is the belt hitting the cover - the belt vibration changes with the revs and its resonating at 1500rpm and rattling off the cover. 2 questions: - I assume the back of the belt shouldn't be all shiney with surface cracks? This looks like a very bad thing. The belt is around 22k old. - Where is the tensioner? I couldn't see it when I had the cover off. Think I've had a lucky escape - hired a car for my weekend trip, car booked in for Wednesday to get looked at. Cheers Ben

Now I'm worried. I'll get it checked out....

I've had that problem - replaced the water pump pulley about a year ago. I'm pretty sure its just something loose but need some reassurance that its not gonna blow up on the motorway.....

Hi all I have a 1990 1.8 16v that has a slight rattling coming from the front end of the engine. It is present at idle and is worst at around 1500rpm but then the resonance dies off as the revs increase. My immediate thought was that it's probably just something loose and rattling inside the timing belt cover and so far I haven't worried about it too much. But I've got a 400-mile round trip at the weekend and a mate suggested it might be the belt tensioner, which if it gave up could cause belt slip and a knackered engine. Does this sound likely? Are the tensioners on these engines prone to sudden failure? Engine is 107k old and to my knowledge the tensioner had never been replaced. Should I be worried? Cheers Ben

The end cylinders have a completely different distortion pattern to the centre ones, because they don't have the stiffness of another adjacent cylinder to support them. Therefore you tend to get a bulge at either end of the engine on 1 and 6 in the distortion pattern and hence accelerated wear. The guy I spoke to was talking purely from a casting point of view. The VRs in the Corrados were fairly early in the engine development cycle, this sort of thing is usually designed out with external ribbing or a change in water jacket shape. Haven't seen an old or new VR block 'naked' so I don't know if or how they have been modified.

A few years ago I was at the foundry in Germany where VW originally cast the VR cylinder blocks (I design engines for a living). They had a few early VR6 blocks in the reception area, demonstrating the various casting problems that this particular block had had during development. I was talking to one of the foundry engineers about them, and he was quite scathing of the VR6, suggesting that they were badly designed. One of the reasons they use more oil than some engines, even when new, is that the bore distortion is quite bad. This is (obviously) how out-of-round the bores are on cold and hot assembly, and depends on things like water jacket height, bolt thread engagement height etc. If the bores are distorted to start with they will also be more prone to wearing. None of this helps if you have a smoking VR6, but at least now you know why!

I disconnected the 5th injector as soon as I got the car - it was overfuelling when starting from cold, so disconnected it and now it starts on the first turn of the key when cold. It only does this when the engine is REALLY hot - under normal running temperatures its generally fine.

I've owned a 1990 1.8 16v for the last 2 years, and since I've had it it has problems starting when hot. It usually occurs when I've been sat in traffic and the temp gauge goes up towards 110 - if I switch the engine off and the try to restart it, it turns over once then sounds like its really struggling to turn over again. After a few seconds of nothing it eventually kicks in and starts up. I've never been too bothered by this because it has always started eventually, but it seems to be getting worse, as this week I had to try 4 times before it eventually cranked over and started. Some history: I had the head gasket done 18 months ago as there was oil in the water, since then it uses no oil or water and there is no evidence of mayo. The battery is also 18 months old, but the leads are old and could probably do with replacing. I have the usual problem with the cold start valve, which I have disconnected. If anyone can shed any light on this it would be appreciated - it's not a problem that happens often, as when its cold it starts on the first turn of the key, and generally speaking the engine is strong as anything. I'm not sure if its electrical or mechanical - it almost sounds like its some kind of hydraulic lock. Cheers Ben

Thought CVs was more of a constant clicking on lock...? This is more of a clunk that happens once.

For some time I've had a knocking noise from the nearside front end when cornering. It normally happens when I turn tight right then left, or vice versa (ie not just in one direction). I've had the top strut mounts replaced, and yesterday had it in to have both wishbones and arb droplinks replaced as well. Didn't to the arb bushes - could this be the problem? The new wishbones have definitely made an improvement - front end feels generally tighter and quieter over bumps, and the knocking is quieter but still there. Car is a '90 H 16v. Of course, it could just be a loose battery......

So am I right in thinking that I can use the passat driver's door handle if I also get the front door mech? Is it just that the passat handle won't work with the corrado mech? As far as sticking with it goes, I'm fully committed. I forgot about the strut mounts, wheel bearings and the engine mounts that I've also done and the suspension bushes and brake hoses that still need doing, but as you say that's what you get with 15 year old cars. I wouldn't change it though - I had a concours mk1 GTI before the C (its actually on the cover of VWM this month) which was an amazing drive, but it must be said that the C does handle better despite being 300kg heavier. The grin factor is well worth the expense!

Cheers - I have searched previously which is how I found out about daves16v's repair kits. Mine has a crappy Falcon alarm which I never use because it went off randomly the day I bought the car, almost causing the police to be caused because it p!ssed off the neighbours so much. Unfortunately this has been quite low on the list of priorities after the oil cooler, brakes, exhaust and head gasket all needed replacing (the latter causing me to get towed off the M40 at a cost of £300 the day I was supposed to be going on holiday - girlfriend NOT impressed, AA relay cover never seemed like such good value). That and the fact that my insurance is due for renewal next month means it probably won't get done for a while. I am getting a bit bored of climbing over the gearstick to get in the car though....ebay or GPC here I come!

Thanks for the quick reply. I knew the rears fitted but I don't have a reliable central locking alarm (I have an unreliable one), so I kind of need a lock on the handle. Are the fronts too big?