DelMonty

That grey one (Radostormvr6's post) looks superb, those flush door handles do a lot to modernise the sides.

P.S kevHaywire, thanks for the advice, I will look into it asap ;)

Swindon-corrado, thanks for the pic but I've already tried replacing the fan controller with a new one from VAG, but to no avail :( When I first bought the car, I didn't know all that much about the VR6 engine and didn't realise the rad temp sender had been disconnected, so it seemed to behave like any other car on the test drive, as in 1 fan speed coming on when the temp got to a certain point. Luckily the temp sender for speed 3 is in another location and was plugged in. This is how I know speed 3 works! :) After plugging the temp sender back in the varying fan speeds worked as they shoud; this is how I got to find out they all work :)

I'm no expert, but from what I understand the higher RON allows for greater compression by the piston, so by allowing ignition nearer the top of the stroke, more power can be derived from the mixtue on the ignition down stroke. Cars that have premature timing, are losing a considerable percentage of power, as well as causing engine damage through 'pinking', something a lot of older cars (cars without adaptive engine management) can suffer from.

I personally use Optimax for the cleaning properties, in the past I've heard a couple of horror stories from people using not very well known brands of petrol.

Yes, and all 3 stages of the cooling fans come on as needed when the engine is running, as well as coming on when the car is hot and the engine turned off, suggesting all temp senders are ok.... It's just when the ignition is turned off from cold the clicking happens. Ah! Tis' a happy place to be I bet :D

DieselGolfWales, love the avatar! :) Sorry for being off-topic, regarding the problem I can't give any advice that hasn't already been given here.

Relay's 1 to 12 are located above the fuses on the same panel, according to ETKA and the Bently manual there are additional relays above this: (From the Bently manual) 13 Back-Up Light Fuse (Auto. Trans.) 14 Coolant After-Run Control Module (31)* 15 ABS Hydraulic Pump Relay (78)* 16 ABS Relay (79)* 17 Open 18 Open 19 A/C Relay (56)* 20 Park/Neutral Position (PNP) Relay (150)* 21 ABS Hydraulic Pump Fuse/Power Window Circuit Breaker 22 ABS Valves Fuse 23 Cruise Control Fuse/Automatic Shoulder Belt System Fuse 24 Open Although the Bently manual is for the American Corrado, ETKA also states the presence of this fuse box :? Could be the control module, the fact the pump works with the ignition on, yet doesn't come on with the fans would suggest this - when my control unit clicks, the fans AND water pump run for the split second of the click.... The control unit isn't cheap new though, and it may not be the problem, I made this mistake, only to find the new one did the same thing :( In my case the problem is elsewhere.... Sounds like your thermostat is working correctly, as it's being cooled, but as the water isn't being circulated by the pump, the cooling is only temorary. No worries :) Hopefully we can crack these problems without too much expense ;)

Today I got down and dirty with the fuse box, removing all the trim around the area and above so I could get a good look for this missing relay panel, which I can safely say does not exist, unless its located somewhere else in the car... :( I plugged a few connectors together that had come loose/ been disconnected, but they don't seem to have done anything.

I had my hand on his aux pump whilst he turned the igintion on - I could not feel a thing. I recently replaced mine and although it's now very quiet, movement can still be felt when it's touched at the ignition is on. Sorry Dinkus, looks like there could be a problem with your aux pump. Ahh, you said Aux fuel pump, I'm talking about the aux water pump.

I think there is something not right with the general secondary cooling system on my VR. When the ignition is turned on, the auxilary pump runs, which I recently found does not happen on Dinkus's VR. When the ignition is turned off (engine cold), the fan controller relay in the engine bay clicks rhythmically for around a minute, and with each click, a brief pulse of power is sent to the cooling fans and aux water pump, which turn very slightly each time. If the ignition is turned off when the engine is hot, the fans come on and the pump runs until the temp has been brought down as usual. I've replaced the relay/ cooling controller unit at £98 to find it's doing the exact same clicking thing :( Some people have said it sounds like there's a bomb under the bonnet! :) Does anyone have any ideas? A suspision I have is 'relay 14', which is located on an additional realy panel which sits above the fuse box and relay panel down by the bonnet release lever, but I cannot find this panel, even though both ETKA and the Bently manual state the presence of this panel.... Any help greatly appreciated.

This one looked good 'in the flesh':

Thanks, that's great ;)

What oil would you recommend for a standard ageing VR? I currently use 10-40 Magnatec, which on the bottle states it's synthetic???

Tried looking for this (on a VR), couldn't find it, would it be possible to supply a pic of its location?

The matrix has arrows showing which way the water should flow, not sure how important this is though. Managed to change mine as well yesterday, wasn't too bad a job, took 2 of us about 5 - 6 hours, the real pain was clipping the matrix pipes back in - those clips which need to be clamped around the pipes are horrid things! Got rid of a few dashboard rattles as well :), but the horn no longer works :( - shouldn't be too hard to fix. It's so nice to have hot air once again, especially as its getting cold in the mornings now. VEry glad it's over and done woth, I don't want to do that again in a hurry! :)

I bought a new auxillary water pump, as mine recently gave up, a new expansion tank cap (I've heard a faulty one of these is the most common problem of coolant loss and I plan to renew the coolant after changing the matrix and aux water pump), and 4.5 litres (3 bottles) of G12+. I also plan to by some fabric tape (to try and stop some rattles whilst the dash is out), and some Autoglym Interior Shampoo, to give the carpet around the matrix area a good clean whilst the dash is out, as when the old heater matrix went the carpet was sodden, and now smells a bit off. From what I gather if your only changing the matrix, a new matrix (and lots of time by the sound of it :) ) is all you need. I'm also taking the matrix replacement guide the guy from Canada wrote, and some pics from the Bently Workshop Manual CD. James

I went to the dealership at lunch to pick up the bits, and the heater matrix had the suffix A. The parts guy said B superseeded A, but they had A in their storeroom, saying it's the same part that's in your car now, and that B "probably has a different seal", so he clearly didn't know. I said I would like to have part B and would wait for it to come in. Just goes to show it's worth knowing these things (thanks guys, this forum is great ;) ), otherwise I would of took home and fitted part A (dash out, something I don't want to do more than once is pos :) ), without the value to prevent it exploding! Looking back when he said "it's the same one that's in your car now", I should of said 'yes, and that exploded on me!'. :) Thanks for the help guys, it's a shame we can't all meet up and tackle our heater matrix replacement jobs at the same time.

I *think* I have been given the right matrix, I say think, as the part number does have the B suffix on the invoice, but below that something else is written. Attached is a pic of the invoice. Also is there a way to tell from the invoice if that coolant VW sold is G12, or G12+ (I should be picking up the parts later on today). Thanks

Hi all, This weekend I shall be replacing the heater matrix and aux water pump in my VR. I've bought all the bits, and have been told that: A.) A genuine VW heater matrix does not come with the safety pressure bypass value, and that the valve was installed between the pipes on the engine side of the firewall going into the heater matrix. This bypass valve (sold seperately) was discontinued a year ago apparently, but I remember reading on here that the matrix has this valve built in (if the part number is suffixed with a B, which my new VW patent matrix isn't by the way). B.) The independant garage I trust with working on my car recommend G11 (as stated next to the expansion tank) and not G12, as apparently the G12 isn't recommended for cars with steel pipes in the cooling system (not sure if the VR has these), and they say that whenever they've used G12, it seems to be quite corrosive, as pink fluffy rings sprout from various joins around the cooling system. When I came to buying the coolant from the VW dealership, they said G11 had been supeseeded by G12 and that I should use that. I've bought the G12, just wondering if anyone who has used it for awhile has had any problems with it? Thanks, James

Sounds like your auxillary water pump has given up. I know this as mine recently gave up, and now instead of the fans running after the igintion is switched off for a set time, it turns on, off, on off, as the area where the thermostat is located is only being temporarily cooled by the air, the actual water is no longer being pumped round the system by the aux pump, which is also meant to run when the ignition is off and the engine is hot enough for the fans to cut in.

Yes, from the local VW Cambridge dealership, that's a brand new tray for (I think the exact figure was £126)! Whilst I was there I got a quote for the rectangular piece of plastic which sits on top of the VR6 rocker cover and has VR6 DOHC written on it, which was around £60. They said as the Corrado VR6 engine is slightly different to other VR6 engines, it costs that bit more. He said the reason these prices are so high is because Corrado and Scirocco parts are hard to come by.

The late style Corrado I currently own has the fuse box cover/ tray missing. I went to the local dealership who quoted around £130 just for this little tray! :shock: I've seen one for sale, but it is from a 1990 Corrado, does anyone know if it will fit into the late style under dash tray? From the picture it doesn't look too dissimilar....