Toad

It wouldn't take long to check over. hour, hour and a half maybe. You would need a jack, a 13 and a 15mm spanner, possibly a hammer, scraper/screwdriver, emery cloth and copper grease.

I would suspect the slider pins being rusty and sticking. The pins can be a bugger to get out, but it can all be rebuild with new seals etc easily enough.

In my opinion things go wrong with mass produced compressors all to easily. I'd prefer to take it down the road to my local machinery supplier to get it warranteed up rather than send it back to some dude who has no proper warranty support. There should be local tool suppliers near by, I'd check them and their prices, compressors are often included in money off offers. Also try your local garage. It's unlikely that they'll use a small portable one, but they do have to have compressors inspected and changed regularly to get insurance. You could pick up a decent sized unit (better for spraying) for a reasonable price. /my 2p

I rootled about and fitted a few interior parts, screws and clips to the VR, got her on ramps for a good once over now she's running right, and ran her for a fun 100 miles. Swore at the 16v immobiliser, as I can't move it from my drive, and I can't afford to have it fixed. Took some more parts off the breaker, and trawled the wanted ads to find homes for them, in order to ge the 16v immobiliser fixed. Not a bad weekend, considering my neandethol like hungover state today.

No worries... I had a mare with mine... The spring clips were a nightmare to get at, and the pipes wouldn't come off the cooler easily. Doing it again I'd unbolt the radiator fan cowling and lift it out. Think the oil filter braket has to be unbolted to get enough clearance to get the cooler off.... Can't remember exactly though. Any problems, give me a pm.

After looking at the coolers, are they the same for the 1.8, g60, 2.0 and VR? I bought a new 1.8 16v one 2 years back, so have the number off that box. Turned out it wasn't the cooler, but the H/G did leak... I could send you my old one to try on the car if you want?

Hmmm. Think the Cupra R is pretty good. but would you miss the VR noise? Mk4's are pretty lardy though.

I've just done this but didn't take any photos.... Drive the car up onto wood blocks so that you can get under the front of the car. Put it in gear and handbrake on. Make sure that the blocks are secure. First remove the grill, and remove headlights. Put these in your boot for safe keeping. Then remove the indicators and the fogs. I had to leave the foglights still attached until the bonnet was loose as I couldn't get to the wiring with the bumper on. Disconnect the outside air temp sender from the bumper. Get a 10mm socket and remove the 6 bolts holding the bottom of the bumper to the cross member. then take a 19 or 17mm socket (can't remember which one), extension and long bar and remove the 4 bolts holding the bumper on. Pull the bumper away at the arches so the arch liner pops out both sides, then pull the bumper forward, it should come straight off the front of the car. Next take a 10mm socket and remove the miriad of screws holding the slam panel to the wings, radiator and front cross member, unclip the bonnet release cable from the clips ont he drivers wing and you can lift the slam panel off and place it alongside the wing on the floor with the cable still attached. Next remove the plastic trim from the front and rear of the radiator, unclip the top hose, fan connections, thermoswitch and bottom hose and the radiator and fans should be good to lift out. Replace the fan and connect everything but the top hose, fill the engine with water through this (and the radiator) and reconnect. Run the car to temperature with the slam panel off so that you can see any leaks easily. I replaced the spring hose clips with jubilees. Hope that helps Tom

I've had a thought about my VR. I've got a set of spare standard early 16v rear springs and shocks, which leave the car sitting sensibly at the rear, rather than the overly high VR6. Could I swap them over to lower the rear of the VR? I can't see why not... Cheers. Tom

There are loads of ABS threads, both in this and the drivetrain section. Have a bit of a look through them to see if your problem is described. Chances are, you'll need VAG COM to diagnose the error. Tom

It's weird, I don't like it, but I can't shake the corrado addiction off. I've just bought my third one, and intend to run the VR and 16V for the foreseeable future. I can't bring myself to sell my valver, and I like the VR very much, so I've got no choice (Well, that's how I convinced myself ;) ) Just got to get a better paying job now...

I thought I should post this up. I've just bought a VR6 radiator for significantly less than VW and GSF from a company called Wessex Radiators located in Bursledon, between Southampton and Portsmouth. I'd already bought a 16v radiator from them. The products seem good quality, and they fitted my thermoswitch and elbow before pressure testing it in front of me to ensure there were no problems. They can make copper/brass radiators to order, and perform repairs on them, they also supply a large number of intercoolers, and may well find one that matches your needs. Delivery can be arranged apparently, and still for less money than GSF on a VR rad. Details are: Wessex Radiators Portsmouth Rd, Bursledon, Southampton, Hampshire SO31 8EP Tel: 023 8040 2848 • Car & Commercial Radiators • Air Conditioning • Compressors • Heaters • New - Exchange - Repair • Open 6 Days

I kind of disagree with some of the suspension comments. Early cars sit far lower than the late VRs, and for everyday practical use is fine. The car was designed around the standard suspension, and thats where it got it's excellent handling reputation. If you've recently bought the car, hang onto your money till you get a feel for things, a major breakdown or MOT failure could be right around the corner, after all it's a 16 yar old car, and parts aren't cheap. In my case my shopping list for my car is in order, headlamp loom, TT/lupo Wipers, BMC(possibly), 288mm brakes(possibly), Timing chains etc, bodywork. The rest will stay as it is. As people have mentioned, the wipers and headlamp loom are really good upgrades to poor original components. G60/VR front brakes fit (280mm disks rather than 256mm) 15 and 16 inch wheels seem to suit the corrados in terms of drivability, 17s fit, but often people will complain about a decrease in the quality of the cars handling and steering. That's my 2p anyway. Tom PS, get some pictures up...

I've got a couple of mentions from the last week.... Double-6s, Andy Brookes, Goldie and Scarlet_VR6 have all been great to deal with. Cheers everyone! Tom

Right... I fixed the problem, and it seems to be fairly common having spoken to other VR owners. When I removed the box, it rattled, so I knew something was up. It turned out that one of the components had unsoldered itself fromt he circuit board, but could be reattached easily. First disconnect the plugs from the relay pack, and test for continuity from the black and red wire which runs from the smaller plug to the positive terminal on the motor. This shows whether the wire is ok. Next test the live feed to the control box, which off the top of my head is the bottom right terminal in the plug as you look at it. This should switch on and off with the ignition. As far as I can work out, the relay pack has a main feed from the battery (One of the large wires) and feeds to the fan speeds (The other 3 wires), A switched 12v supply and connections to all of the thermoswitches, and the auxillary pump through the smaller plug. When I was happy that the fault was inside the relay pack I took it off, and found it rattled. To take it apart, you need to cut the silicon out from the bottom and remove the fuses and screws from the top. When this is done, you should carefully lever the top off of the base using a flat bladed screwdriver and a couple of knives, the lid only clips onto the base. Be carefull taking it apart, as the unsoldered components can fall out at this stage. I found I had a black item (Diode?) which had one leg completely unsoldered from it's hole, and the other leg, and endplate unsoldered from the end of the diode. With a soldering Iron, I removed the spare leg and endplate and resoldered them to the diode, then cleared out the holes in the pcb so that the legs would fit back through (Make sure it fits back in the same way as it came out!) and resoldered them to the back of the PCB. I popped the top on, fuses back in and the auxillary pump worked again. I can't vouch for how how long this fix will last, but it seems to work.

haha. You are a fanny.... First dibs on the exchanger and existing hoses then... Do you want to chuck the mount in then anyway?

Cool! When do you want to mocal it up? Friday night? We'd have saturday if things went a little norks up then?

Cheers. I might PM you, but I think I have a pump and relay box sorted. Will let you know though.

I've been thinking further about this... Does the pump run on for 10 minutes if you just switch the ignition on and off rather than start the engine? If so, I assume that the auxillary pump is controlled by a relay in the cooling relay pack, which is switched on by the ignition and runs for 10 minutes after. So I should be able to find out if the relay is recieving a supply from the ignition. If it is, and there is no power being supplied as far as the fuse, then I can assume that the relay is cooked? If the relay isn't recieving a supply from the ignition, then there will be a fault between the relay and the ignition? I can only assume that the fault will be in the relay, or between the relay and the fuse (Melted connection?). Any thoughts? I'm really annoyed with myself that I didn't just stop and investigate, rather than trying to pootle home....

Cheers Will. I'll give you a shout if I do find anything....

It appears that I've made an error with my VR. I took it out for a run the other night, and the fuse for the auxillary water pump kept blowing (the pump ran when I stuck a new one in), so for the last few miles I put a 15 amp fuse in, as it was all I had left, and yes I know that was wrong, but I didn't think it would hurt. I got home and the motor was toasted, now I've come to check the wiring and have found that there is no 12v feed to the auxillary pump now when the ignition is on. I've checked the fuse, which is ok, and have fount that there is no power as far as the fuse by running the multimeter from the earth to the fuse itself. The 20 amp fuse next to it gets power fine. Could I have blown a fuse elsewhere in the car? I couldn't see anything blown in the fusebox. Or could I have cooked the relay in the control unit? My next port of call is the connector to the control unit. Does any one have a wiring diagram of this, or know which wire does what? Cheers I'll be feeling sad in the corner now :(

Hehe.... maybe it'll put in a personal appearance at the Summer Scorcher. Especially if it's hot and I'm just wearing shorts....

Nah, just the brakes are simple. The hubs are different, but you don't want VR hubs on a valver... You want G60 disks BTW G60 and VR brake callipers and carriers are the same, just the disks are 4 or 5 stud respectively

I've been meaning to do a walkthrough... Basically, whip the wheel off, up on jacks etc. Unbolt the caliper from the carrier, 13mm and 15mm spanners required. leave it on for the time being. Then use a 17/18/19mm spanner(or socket and breaker bar as they will be tight) to undo the carrier to hub bolts. remove this, and check the slider pins and rubber boots. Transfer the disks to the new car, fit the caliper carriers, bolting them up accordingly, then swap the calipers over. the reason for leaving them on is that the brake fluid will escap when the pipes are unscrewed. Try putting cling film or similar over the cap of the fluid resevoir and replacing the cap. You will need an 11/12 and 13/14mm spanner to undo the pipes. First clean the connection well, it's the one in the wheel arch, not on the caliper, and apply plenty of wd 40, the ferrule on the end of the solid pipe rotates rather than the rubber hose when you undo them. Swap the caliper over and reconnect the pipes. Note: Don't get any dirt in the brake lines You will need to bleed the brakes The solid brakelines can twist off fairly easily. Sorry my description isn't tip top, but I'm at work....

Hmmm. My ABS does nothing either, but the spoiler works. Did the fuses all turn out to be in the fusebox? I've not checked the two on top of it, or any of the relays yet. Still ABS can wait. Got to find a aux water pump, and fit the new radiator yet, but it'd be nice to have a few more pointers for reference..