a_riot

There is this posting here....perhaps you've seen it. http://bay2car.com/CORRADO-VR6-rare-storm-grey-381097259913/car34594

I doubt it. I had my crank sensor intermittently failing which resulted in a nonstart. I think it was the wire not the sensor though. No codes thrown. It only did this rarely and only after its been running on a hot day. I could wiggle the wires sitting on the front motor mount bracket and it would start up after doing so, so I assumed it was the crank sensor wire. Replaced the crank sensor and never seen it again, but there were never any codes that I saw, temporary or otherwise. When I used to take the car to garages, they would always tell me the crank sensor failed, due to scanning the car with the ignition off...lol. That's a good indicator that they'd don't know what they are talking about.

I often jack up the rear using the rear beam, and support it with 2 jack stands that have neoprene on the pads so they don't damage it, making sure not to interfere with the proportioning valve. I've also used the jack pads just in front of the rear wheels should I need to drop the beam down. For the front, I typically jack the car up using the C channel just behind the k-frame's last rearmost bolt, and put my jack stand right behind that under the C channel frame rail. The undercoating has been messed up from jacking so I use neoprene to protect the underside. I sometimes use the front factory jack points if I need more room using a hockey puck type jack pad that has a slot cut into it for the pinch weld so it doesn't get damaged. If you use the area where that round hole is, it can mush in and cause problems.

You can unplug the fogs and route their cables through the bumper holes so that they can come out with the bumper without getting caught on anything. I removed my headlights just so I didn't damage them, but you could leave them in as well. That rear screw is just a small Philips head screw, so if its as damaged as you say, it might just disintegrate upon removal. Can't really say without seeing it, but its just a small plastic speed nut that its screwed into so you can simply break them if needed, although its best not to obviously. I'm actually looking for the part number for those and can't find it so I don't know if they are still available. You'll need to undo two small Philips screws on each side holding the wheel liner as well, since the front edge of the wheel liner sits in front of the rear of the bumper cover. You'll see where they are at the front inner section of the wheel liner. The bumper should slide out easily once the 4 main bolts are removed as well as the 5 screws holding the spoiler to the reinforcement plate and cross member from below. As long as nothing hangs things up, the bumper should slide out and can be put aside. Don't forget about the weather temp sensor as well, if you still have one in the grill area. The radiator support has sheet metal screws that bolt it to the body, 14 of them I think. Keep track of which hole you get which screw, as they are not all the same, at least mine weren't. The worst one is the inside one by the AC line by the battery, the rest are accessible. I left my hood release attached since I didn't want to try adjusting it again, and lifted the radiator support onto the engine out of the way making sure not to crimp the bowden cable. I'd recommend changing the oil cooler seals which it appears you have obtained, the oil filter housing seal (spectacles seal) and checking the oil cooler hoses. You might change the oil cooler as well, as they can leak oil on occasion, usually a few days after its all back together :), and its no fun to change with everything assembled, in fact I wouldn't recommend it. Its easy with the fan shroud and radiator out of the way though. Think about changing any oil filter housing sensors too as they are easy at that point, and cheap. Also check out the grounding bar right below the alternator that's bolted to the intake manifold and make sure its still intact and wiring is good. Get new radiator rubber support bushes, as they are usually broken and are cheap. The plastic guide rings between the fans and the fan belt may also be broken. I didn't bother replacing the upper rad elbow or its o-ring as its easy to do and mine still looked good. If you feel brave and want to mess with the water pipe, now would be the time, as well as changing the thermostat. I put on new oil cooler hoses, and the nipple didn't break off the pipe when I removed it, so I left the water pipe alone. I had to replace my radiator after only a year thanks to the tech who installed it. He dropped a piece of metal into the bottom corner of the fan shroud, so when he screwed the shroud into the rad, one corner wouldn't screw down all the way and it warped the radiator causing an early failure when it started leaking at the plastic end cap. They do bend rather easily so don't put any force on the new radiator and try and force it into position. I treated my new rad with kid gloves and got it nice and square so it should last for another couple of decades. I got a German made unit from AKG.

I loooove my brake pedal. It modulates perfectly in a very linear fashion. Modern cars are too boosted if you ask me.

Made no difference that I can tell. A new radiator sure did though. Once it was installed the car ran so cold, I was wondering what the heck was going on. Turns out the PO put in a 75C degree thermoswitch, so I put a stock 95 in which now gets the engine to operating temps as long as its not moving. Driving, its still too cold so I suspect that a low temp tstat was also installed, which I'll now have to replace with an 80C one. This is what typically happens when the fan's first speed fails. Owners don't notice, so they start installing low temp tstats/switches trying to cure the symptom instead of solving the problem.

Are you certain its the heater core? You can also lose heat and AC when the foam backing on the hot/cold air flap disintegrates and falls off, usually shooting pieces of it at you through the vents. There are 3 holes that get uncovered once the foam falls off that allows hot and cold air to mix, so you get neither, just luke warm air. I think you still have to pull the dash to fix it, but thought I should mention it as the last thing you want to do is replace the heater core, put it all back together and still have no heat.

Is it getting hot enough to trigger second speed, or is second speed getting triggered at the first speed temp? Stage 1 Controlled by the temp sender in the rad, directly to the fans Switch On: 92-97 C (198-207 F) Switch Off: 84-91 C (183-196 F) Stage 2 Controlled by the temp sender in the rad, combined with info from the yellow temp sender via the fan controller Switch On: 99-105 C (210-221 F) Switch Off: 91-98 C (196-208 F) Stage 3 Controlled by the black coolant temp sender, via the fan controller Not listed in the guide above, but it kicks in at around 110-115 C. For non-AC cars, stage 3 should never come on under normal conditions, if it does, you have a problem. If it just gets hotter and hotter until 99-105°C is hit, then the fan's resistor may have failed so first speed just doesn't work. You can test all the speeds as you mention, and if first speed works, then I would suspect the switch which you can test as well. I've had bad luck with aftermarket switches, so I buy them at the dealer or a reputable source. If all 3 fan speeds are working, and the switch is fine, then you'll have some tshooting to do. Could also be a wiring glitch if its pinned out wrong. I had my fan spinning backward one day when doing some electrical tests on the VSS. I'd still check wiring. I think the afterrun is triggered by the relay not the switch but don't quote me. Not really. As you can see from the temps above it works like normal set points. There is only 2 degrees difference between the highest first speed temp and the lowest second speed temp. Yes, usually. I guess there are corner cases where that might not occur, but typically my fan's first speed comes on at the first bold temp marker, then the second speed at the second bold market. Third speed I only ever hear when running A/C. No, I don't think so, if your switch is working. Looking at the wiring diagram the switch bypasses the fan relay for first speed and supplies power directly to the fan, so with a working switch and working fan it should come on. I guess the fan relay could override that and push it into second speed instead or soon there after or something weird. Might want to experiment by unplugging the fan relay. Check all fuses in the fan relay as well as #19. I've never had many issues after the fan recall, other than the fan resistors dying, but they can be repaired. You may have two problems at the same time as well. This page I've found helpful, and quoted above. https://sites.google.com/site/stoyneff/miscellaneous/the-vr6-cooling-system

As others have said, for one to clog up, you'd have to be doing something really wrong I would think. That said, it is a heat exchanger, so I believe inside it the passageways are very narrow, and could be susceptible to clogging. I am replacing my oil cooler this week, so I'll see if a new one makes any difference to oil temps. Mine seems to be working fine but I'm replacing a cracked radiator, so am doing the oil filter housing gasket and oil cooler and its gaskets/hoses while its all in easy reach. I don't think mine is having any issues, but I'll replace it with a new Nissens one and keep the old one as a spare if it tests ok and doesn't leak.

I have the same problem. I took the back plastic panel off and put a hose on it and noticed this. It seemed to be getting past the rubber spoiler pads, so I took those off and put some urethane type compound around the base of it to stop water getting in around the pad or through the screw holes. We've had drought here for the last couple of months so I haven't been able to test it thoroughly. I hope to have got it, but won't be surprised if its still getting in somehow. It comes in and then lands on the inside of the plastic panel, then rolls down to whatever end is lower and into the spare wheel area. So when you look at the rear hatch interior you see no water path, no wetness, not a thing to indicate where the leak is. Frustrating.

I think the manual refers to 500 ml as the amount to bleed out of each caliper. There is no capacity for the brake fluid, presumably because it would depend on the state of your pads/rotors. So I would have 2 liters available to do a complete flush of all 4 calipers.

A couple things I would check if you haven't, is the throttle body and throttle cable. If you get baked on oil on the throttle plate edges, it can hang up the plate. Usually it has the effect of idling higher than normal as it won't close all the way being bunged up with carbon. Make sure the throttle cable isn't binding as well when this occurs and everything mechanically looks good. The other is the vacuum lines. They can look fine, but can get very hard, and then no longer seal when warmed up since they are no longer as flexible as they were. It won't affect idle, but then when taking off, at higher vacuum, can mess up things. Sounds like a frustrating problem. I hate drivability problems.

The car should run ok even without the O2 sensor and blue temp sensor. Not ideal but shouldn't drive as poorly as you've described I wouldn't think unless there' more than one thing wrong. It does sound like a coil pack issue, perhaps small cracks are expanding when warm and letting water in. If you spray water at it when warm you should see a change, so its an easy, quick test. If you have VAGCOM you can drive while connected and see what readings change and at what temperature when things go south. But it does sound ignition related. Of course, also check all vacuum hoses and replace as needed. If upon getting warm, a vacuum line is allowing extra air in the intake it can bog, run rough etc. Over time the hose gets very hard, and then once warmed starts to expand and allow air in, no longer flexible enough to form a seal. At least that's my theory.

Ignition switches are a standard trouble spot, but if the alarm is set, you can't start the car either, and the code seems to indicate that the immobilizer is at fault. I've had that symptom happen by accidentally hitting my lock button on my aftermarket fob while in the car, and then it won't start when I put in the key. So it may be an innocuous code that once cleared doesn't come back. The ignition switch won't throw a code that I'm aware of. The ABS code is worrisome, although I've often seen ghost codes that come and go when something else is wrong so I would take them with a grain of salt. EDIT: Just realized this post was very old. Never mind...

The hard pedal you are experiencing is a complete lack of brake boost, so you end up with manual brakes. Good for the calf muscles but not safe. Corrados have brake boost as well as ABS but they are separate issues. You can still have power brakes without the ABS working, or you can have the hard pedal and no ABS as well. When either scenario happens, the ABS and sometimes Ebrake light will come on so I would fix the ABS light asap, since what can happen is that the pressure switch fails, and so the pump runs continuously thinking there is no pressure, and eventually burns out and you'll have no idea, since the only symptom is the ABS light coming on. You should be able to hear the pump run when the key is turned to on for about 30 seconds, then turn off when full pressure has been achieved (relay clicks). If the pump doesn't stop running after 60 seconds, turn it off, and suspect the pressure switch has failed or its bore needs cleaning. If the coolant reservoir overflows, coolant can get into the bore and mess up the switch. Its an Ate system, and they are well made, despite the perjoratives thrown at it by so many. The controller rarely fails, and I've even seen them completely immersed in water and still work once dried out. The accumulators and pressure switches fail, and I'd guess that's what's going on here. Both are fairly simple to replace if you can find new/used ones. The relays behind the dash also rarely fail, but they are easy to check. This means that either there isn't enough hydraulic pressure in the accumulator to provide brake boost, or the system thinks that's the case and has disabled it. From what I've noticed the pump is pretty robust as long as you don't overheat it, its usually ok. Many of those DTCs are probably erroneous, triggered by something upstream, unless you've had the most horrible luck and had all four ABS wheel sensors fail simultaneously. You can also go through all the electrical steps in the manual but its not a fun task without the special tools. If you can at least get brake boost working, then you can fix the ABS at your leisure. For brake boost you need the pump, the accumulator and pressure switch to work. I'd also clean all connectors, check wiring, and check all the normal stuff that can go wrong on a 25 year old car.

Typically, when a garage does an alignment, they turn the tie rod and if the boot clamp is tight enough, the boot will twist as well. If they don't correct it, that will hasten their demise as they get pulled back and forth when steering.

What are these like in the summer if you leave your sunroof open and the car sits in the sun? That knob would be untouchable! Paul

Are your electric mirrors working? If not check fuse #14. Sometimes my windows die as well as the mirrors and #14 is the culprit. Paul

I agree, it would be nice if the window could stop short of bottoming out. I don't like the clunk at the bottom when I use one touch lower either. You could rig up a contact sensor so that when the window gets to a certain spot, it wouldn't allow power in the down direction anymore. Maybe just some felt on whatever the window hits would go a long way as well. Paul

If the whole seat is wobbling then it is likely the white plastic runner covers. If its just the seatback then it is probably something else. Funny thing about those white plastic runner covers is that the part numbers are different for each side so make sure you get the correct ones and put them on the correct side. Paul

Sounds like something not worth worrying about to me ... That tapping noise is definitely a metal on metal sound, so premature wear is indicated. I am pretty sure it is a lifter and I remember reading somwhere that there is one lifter that gets hotter than the rest and dries up and makes that noise. Although you would think it would be the same on all VR6 engines. My friends Jetta with about the same mileage doesn't have the tapping. Puzzling...need a stethoscope.

I would think that carbon buildup somewhere in the combustion chamber will cause an increase in compression. I don't think it takes a lot of buildup to make a difference. Only thing is that if that were the case you would think you would be hearing some predetonation first. Paul

Mine did this when I first got it and it turned out to be the horn connection. There is an arm that makes contact with a copper ring around the steering wheel that makes the horn connection. A little di-electric grease on there solved it with no reoccurence. Paul

I have this same issue and I think others with VR6's mention something similar. Not sure what it is but would love to find out. My friends Jetta VR6 starts nice and smooth in the morning so I am not sure why mine doesn't. My guess would be a bad lifter but I can't confirm this. I believe there is one that goes sooner than the rest due to where it is in the head but I am not sure which one. Paul

I had a rather embarrassing thing happen in my Corrado, but I have a US model with the ridiculous automatic belts that skoot back and forth depending if the key is in ignition or the door is open. Anyway, I was working at a job site for a extremely wealthy client and they have their own security force/system. You drive up to a gate and there is a camera and speaker/mic that you talk into to announce your presence so that they can open the gate. This time, I guess the guy on duty was being slow so I reached out to push the button to alert him. Well, I hadn't parked close enough to reach the button so I opened the car door a bit and reached out further to press the button. Opening the door set off the seat belts and they started to skoot forward while I was half out the window. Needless to say it grabbed me and I was caught with the seatbelt pulling me forward and the door opening and falling out. The security guys were watching me while this was happenign and got a great hoot out of me making a fool of myself in my cool car :oops: Paul