was8v

FYI on my standard VR6 the drivers side driveshaft is a fair bit fatter than the the other side which looks similar thickness to the one above.

I had this issue. I took my car to a local HiQ (Lancaster) as recommended by my mechanic as the only laser alignment machine in the area. I asked before they started for a print out of before and after alignment values. I went to collect it and it looked ok but then said they couldn't do a print out?! Charged me £50. Got out of the car park and it felt quite different, bit odd. it wasn't until i went to park my car that that I noticed the wheel moved 3 turns to the right and 1 turn to the left!!!! What the hell? Couldn't park! Tyre also rubbed the chassis as in the pic above. I assumed they mustn't have centred the rack before alignment and also moved the steering wheel so took it back the next day. I go to collect the car at 5.30 - the guy says oh, the rack boot was wound up round the track rod stopping it moving but all OK now. I was like what the hell get it up in the air and let me have a look at my boot - but they were closing and wouldnt get it up in the air for me. I drive off and its exactly the same. Take it back next day and insist someone else looks at it. When I pick it up all its OK with the lock and I didnt have time to make them get it up in the air. All has been fine for a few months, drove and braked straight and looked OK. I look under the car (doing another job) recently and can see the boot is split. AAAAARGH !!!!!!!!!! So now I have to mess up the aligment to fit a new boot. Moral of the story be careful where you take it for alignment. I'll be going to a place that does a lot of motorsport prep next time and paying £100 as at least they might know wheat they are doing! Don't trust a tyre fitting place to do your alignment!

My last VR6 was a standard late 1994 car so had the same late tractor ride height suspension as you. My current VR6 is a standard 1992 car with standard springs for the age - i.e. not tractor height (VW raised them in early 1994 presumably because of complaints they were too low?). The early springs make the car sit lower but no so low as to ruin the ride. I find its a great compromise, the ride is standard but its a bit lower looking than the late cars (esp at the rear). I'm running Monroe gas shocks all round. It just so happens I have a nice set of early VR front springs hanging round the garage - a fiver would get them. All you would need is a pair of early VR spring caps (£25?) and a pair of rear springs from the dealers for a complete kit. PM if interested.

IIRC if it was someones elses fault and their insurance has agreed to cough up then you can stick to your guns and have your car repaired - they cannot write it off as you have a right to have you property repaired. I'd certainly have a go at that, I think this is dependant on the level of damge - it will be assessed as CAT D for panel damage, obviously CAT B/A cars cannot be repaired. Otherwise it may make financial sense to have them write it off and pay you, and you buy it back from the insurance co (without it leaving your driveway), use 2nd hand parts from here or ebay and a local bodyshop to repair. This depends on how much they offer you and how much to buy it back, and being a cat D car will be worth less to sell on.

Power wise I think the differences between 2.8 and 2.9 are the 69cc like you say and different throttle body / mapping / possibly different cams(?). I think you'd be hard pressed to notice any real world difference if you are just changing the block, although VW must have made the 2.9 for a reason? I suppose the 2.9 is the older block being fitted to passat and corrado, then when the golf VR was released they wanted to make it sound not as good as the corrado so made a 2.8 block, or it might be due to some kind of tax class or something, who knows.

Is your 2.9 a dizzy or coilpack engine? A Late 2.8 replacement is going to be coilpack. My knowledge: A late OBDII AAA block will work fine with an ABV head and OBDI dizzy management (i've had that setup in a corrado - I didnt put it in tho). Hence I'd expect the AAA block will be fine with a OBDI coilpack ABV head and mangement. Dizzy and coilpack heads are slightly different but the cams and some other parts can be swapped to convert. I have a niggle in my mind - I think the VR6 in a sharan was mounted differently so has different oil filter arrangement or something, may not be a problem if you have parts from your 2.9. I'm not sure if sharan engines are detuned - I'd expect there to be different cams at least? so your ABV head is likely to be better.

Yup - do a dry compression test followed by a wet compression test and compare to confirm. If the wet reading is significantly higher then the oil is coming from the rings/bores. If the wet reading is the same then the oil is coming from the head or gasket. Is it definately oil and not petrol? If its petrol on the plug it may be an electrical problem (check for a spark on that plug) or it could be an injector (I had this recently) pull it and swap for a known good one or test it by spraying into a measuring jug.

Seen them on a few Mk2 golfs (on ed28 and cgti), but never on a C.

yup around £50 for a cat if you go straight to a metal merchant yard. Also get a fiver for car batteries and £30 for 4 alloy wheels. Scrap metal price is crazy again.

I had a bad waterpump from ECP. For crucial parts go VAG or Vwspares.co.uk for febi items if you plan to keep the car for a few years!

Where would I find one of these: Saw the pic on the corrado database website on a C in Dubai. Looks to be the only one that says 2.9? You normally get 2.8 or just DOHC over here.

Looking good (esp for £225!) Can I buy the karman surround / gaiter / knob (I have a knob but without fitting ring and a damaged surround etc) from you if its just the 2 holes with grommets thats wrong with it? PM when you get another - I'm not in a rush.

Try: http://www.buypartsby.co.uk/ Just had to buy a wishbone inc bushes for a peugeot 306. They were over £10 cheaper than the gsf/ecp part and their part included a balljoint too! £7.50 postage brought it up a bit whereas GSF and Ecp dont charge at the moment. Be aware that pattern parts are not as good as OEM (marked BQ for best quality in GSF) but this is a Quiton Hazel item and for the price and including a new balljoint I can't complain.

Hmmm wonder if I can get an rx8 in my garage, they are dropping below 7k now: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2004-MAZDA-RX-8-2 ... dZViewItem

:pukeright: :pukeright: :pukeright: :pukeright: :gag:

I'd be interested in what people use for this too. Dont want to shell out for expesive stuff just for the wheel but don't want to damage it with fairy liquid!

Cheaper and better than a Golf GTI - sounds like a fantastic deal to me. The Corrado VR6 was always more expensive new than the nearest Golf - but then the Corrado VR6 was hardly a sales success was it.

Have em on my '92 VR. Look a little tatty now tho.

The VW one that came out my engine was plastic impeller, the 2 cheap ones were metal. I'd be tempted to get this: http://www.vwspares.co.uk/product_info. ... cts_id=586 Looks like metal impeller and FEBI bits are usually very good.

I bought a euro car parts pump that failed again after 3 months. I had to replace it with a local motor factor sourced pump as I needed the car that day, but I wished I'd used the VW part. Get the VW part and only have to do it once!

Should give a fairly big increase in power when used in conjunction with a charger! :D

It has been proved elsewhere on here on a dyno that "open" cone / foam filters slightly reduce performance on a VR6 by taking air from around the hot engine. The stock airbox takes cooler, more dense air from just behind the headlight. The only induction kit with a proven performance increase over stock is the BMC CDA which is a closed airbox and takes air from the stock location. The differences are very small however - and the noise may more than make up for it!

My take on it is the tensioners go through 3 phases: 1) The tensioners are quiet when new in normal operation (to 80k+ miles) 2) Then the tensioner pads wear away and you get the distinctive rattle of the rivets contacting the chains. 3) Once the rivets are gone the noise goes and the car sounds normal. Once you just get into phase 2) (pref before) you need to replace just the tensioners as they could break up. If you are in phase 3) replace chains as well as the rivets may have worn the chain / deposited bits of metal in the chain. Obviously when you buy a used VR without history of tensioner replacement it might be quiet and you don't know if its in phase 1) or phase 3) so it wise to pull the covers off and inspect. As an aside: Deraileur geared push bike chains are VERY different to the chains on your engine - they are designed to flex horizontally to allow you to change gear - its a VERY crudeley engineered solution and consumes chains in use. As the chain has to flex in so many directions they are relatively weak and they stretch over time, which in turn wears the cogs into a sharper profile. By the time you notice the stretch in the chain it will have worn the cogs a little, hence why its best to replace the cogs too. Most amateur road racers I know use a new chain every competition. Chains on motorbikes and push bikes without deraileur gears like BMXs (or hub geared bikes like Rohloff etc) do not have to flex in the horizontal plane and don't get dragged accross cogs so can be made much stronger so do not suffer from stretch so much. The main cause of wear IIRC in a motorcycle chain is from particles getting between the plates and pins of the chain and causing wear. This is because the chain is exposed to the elements. Hence why motorcyclists can get away with just changing the chain and cleaning the cogs regularly. Chains on motorcycles will stretch due to the relatively large load of driving the vehicle, but over a much longer period of time than geared bike chains. The load of driving the cams in an engine is not so large so cam chains do not tend to stretch due to load. Also the cam chain is in a controlled environment so particles can't get between the plates and pins of the chain wearing it (as on motorcycle chains). This is why manufacturers say the chain doesn't need changing - its rather over engineered for purpose. Just look at the picture of a chain posted above and compare to the average cambelt doing the same job on other V6 engines! Change the tensioners in time and as long as no foreign bodies conflict with the chain it will last a lifetime. (obviously this post comes with no guarantees its just my opinion so don't blame me if your chain freakishly snaps for no reason :nuts:)

Try http://www.vagcat.com/

CVs are the same!