lj16v

i've also just done this little b@st£rd of a job, followed the wiki guide and had some good advice from people on here, it is do-able but it's fidelly especially if you have big hands, found i had to remove more bits than are mentioned in the guide to get in there at it, also there are some screws holding bits together that take a while to find, if you are carefull and take your time it is ok, definately took me more than the 3 hours stated in the guide, more like 8 to 10, you also may need to replace the foam on the flaps in the heater box as they get wet and the foam flakes off, also the carpet and sound deadening will get soaking wet when the matrix goes so will take a while to dry out, expect to have your car out of action for a few days or even a week. Worth doing the job yourself as it will cost a fortune at a garage and i can't see them being as careful as you'd like.

Mate, Keep posting pics as i'm doing mine and i need all the help i can get!! Took the car to my garage with most of the under-dash, glove gox, centre console out so i wasn't paying them to just unscrew panels, they had a look at it and said that as i had got that far i may as well finish it my self! i think they are more confident in my ability than i am!! The bit i am struggling with at the mo (have been following the wiki guide from this site) is removing the heater motor and arm before i can pull out the heater box in the center (behinde the center console) there seem to be a few hiddden little metal clips conecting the arm bit to the heater box in the centre, think i need to get a small kid in there. i have undone a nut in the scuttle which i assume is holding the top of the heater motor, is that right? Have also undone 2 of the 3 nuts in the engine bay, one for the heater motor on the passenger side and the top one for the heater box in the center of the bay, unfortunatly the lower one down by the exhaust has got rusted up (probably due to being nearer to the road) and i can't release it at the moment, any ideas? is there any way i can get hold of the other end of it in the car while some one else turns it from the engine bay side? (its spinning at the moment) Should i hack saw it off??! I am guessing that when i have got the heater box out it will be slightly easier from there on.... how are you getting on, anything i need to know? cheers, laurence.

Thanks guys for the advice, will be going into the garage this week as i just don't have to much time on my hands at the mo'. However i think i will take some of the bits out of the way as you sugest and also follow the wiki article so some of the fidely bits are done and i'm not paying them to unscrew panels etc. will give me a push to clean the carpet!! Any ideas how much the parts should cost?? on the up side i polished the car yesterday with auto glym gold (seal + protect) and it has come up really really shiney!! Thanks again, LJ.

Hi all, right this is what happened; put my car away last night (in garage) after work, all fine. Had to go back to garage to put something in there and noticed that the inside of my car was steamed up, weird i thought, but just left it. This morning i dried the inside of the screen with a cloth, then when i started the car i put the screen blower on (hot and no. 4 power) to clear the remainig haze, at this point i heard a burble/ water noise (kind of like water boiling (the car was cold)). Again though weird!! so poped the bonnet to check expansion tank, it was about 15 to 20mm down on normal position (checked last weekend, probably done 80 miles all week) so i topped it up and headed off to work. Drove 1/4 mile with the screen blower on still then it really started to steam out of the vents etc, stopped the car turned the blower off and turned temp round to cold, opened windows, all calmed down. Drove to my garage about 3 miles away as the car warmed up there was more and more steam (windows open!!). Talked to the guy at my garage, local garage specialising in german cars, steve has a MK1 and definately seems to know his onions. He wasn't sure weather it is the heater matrix or weather water has got into the heater fan intake in the scuttle, i have an SWG scuttle cover fitted and he wasn't sure if this could cause water to get traped somewhere in the scuttle, so he advised me to take off the scuttle cover and check for water in that area before he booked it in. Drove to my workshop (about 4 miles, so 7 miles in total this morn since topping up exp' tank) was just about to take off the sccuttle cover when i saw that the level in the expansion tank was down by 25 to 30mm !!! Question is; dose this point towards the heater matrix rather than water in the heater intake? Also remembered that a couple of weeks ago i had a soggy carpet in the passengers footwell, just checked now and it is really wet!! Think i will take the scuttle cover off and check that anyway. Looked at the knowledge base, heater matrix looks like bit of a hassle... Thanks in advance, laurence.

i got a couple from Travis Perkins (brand is HJ), have also seen the same brand in Jewsons but they were more expensive from them. Think i payed about 15/20 quid each. Got mine in grey to match car colour as they didn't have any black ones, may do them though? they also had navy blue. The quality is pretty good, tough nylon material and the fit is ok to, quite loose as they are universal but makes them easy to take off when you want.

Andy, Count me in for the bobby dazler 4x4 loom when it is all sorted, let me know when you have these ready and need payment, cheers, laurence. By the way, saw you were at the south coast meet, shame i missed you there would have been good to see the old girl, had meant to get along but ended up working through the night on the friday fitting a clients kitchen, got it done but had started seeing things so decided not to get anywere near the car!!

Nice!!

cheeky b@st*rds! I hope you catch them, if you want anyone lynching, i'm quite handy and it would be a pleasure, good luck.

Andy, I had it before Andy, cool to see it on here !! look after it and have fun! :)

Andy, nice car, guess you just couldn't resist more power.... definately go for some 16's, bbs splits would be cool, pricey and a pain to clean though!! my vr is good, i've been really s8*t at posting pics though, done a few bits, bit of colour coding, lupo wipers, swg scuttle cover, removed rear wiper and side mouldings, de-baged grill, MK4 rear brakes and lots of polishing!!. The plan for summer (after the cr@p weather) is smoothed rear bumper with hidden pipe and coilovers to sit it over my Porsche D90s which need a refurb. Will prob' post a few pics then when it's not looking like a 4X4!! good luck with yours mate.

Yeah i'd be interested in their details too, just got some Porsche D90's for mine, have started to strip them and then thinking of diamond turning and clear lacquer so they are easy to look after rather than just polishing (also a bit more subtle/less bling) but having seen your powder coating, maybe that's the way to go, durable to... Saw your car at the southcoast meet, mine was the grey vr next to yours, very nice and it looks like you are on a mission with it now!!!!!! Good luck, will keep an eye on progress... cheers, laurence.

yeah all fine now, just got back from scotland, had a really good time, nice driving on empty roads! Got to get back to work now to pay for it!!! Oh only slight problem with the car is the rear spoiler which just stopped working and is stuck in the slightly raised position, just about to do a search, hopefully it will be something simple i can sort, if it's not one thing....

Well, all is now well! Drove all the way to Cannes, to see my little bro' who lives there, and had no probs' at all. The new starter motor actually makes starting much crisper/ sounds like less of an effort. The new starter and fitting at my local garrage only cost about £150, not bad for the peice of mind! Thanks, the little holliday was good, cruised around in my bro's new Range Rover Sprort Supercharged, what an awsome sound!!!!!!!!!!! and pretty fast! Taking another trip on Sunday, to Edinburgh so may see you around ReekieVR..... i'm a grey L reg VR (pretty standard). lj.

Cheers guys, Took it to my garage, pretty sure that it is the starter motor (or maybe ignition switch). So it is having a new starter motor tomorrow which should solve the prob'. I'm driving down to the south of France on Sat where it is going to be f-ing hot so i hope this works..... lj.

My VR6 is having a problem starting when it is hot. This happens when the car is hot and also the whether. This is what happened yesterday; drove for 30mins up the M3 into London (was going pretty quick, late!) then through London in slow traffic for approx 30mins, parked the car had meeting which was about 15/20mins, came out went to start; turned ignition, lights on dash came on but absolutely nothing else (no noises at all from engine). So i left it for approx 10/15 mins to cool then it did start on the second or third turn of the key and was fine all the way home to Dorset. This has now happened to me a few times. The previous owner had told me that they had the problem and to resolve it, had the starter motor and bush renewed by their VAG garage (at the end of May 01) This seemed to apprently solve it, but now it is back! Have just checked a few threads on here which seem to point mainly towards the ignition switch but also possibly starter solonid, starter motor, coil pack, lambda sensor. Any ideas? What should i check first? cheers LJ.

Mate, just got all the bits to do the Mk4 rear calliper conversion, i got; MK4 rear callipers Goodridge conversion hoses Mk2 > MK4 Brembo rear corrado discs Textar rear pads (to fit MK4 callipers) Also got some Pagid fast road pads for the front. Got this lot from C+R (01159785740) , cost just under £300 when you do the excange for your old callipers. You can shop around and get some parts cheeper (other brands etc) elsewhere but i found it was taking ages to search stuff out and its much easier to order from one place! I also got 2 new wheel bearing for the rear from my VAG dealer, about £16 ea. Hope this helps, mine are being fitted tomorrow, so hopefully stopping quicker this w-end!

Ok think i'm getting there on understanding what parts i need, currently thinking; Goodridge conversion hoses (£24 from C+R) Textar pads for Mk 4 rear calipers (£27 from C+R) the guy there seemed to think they were the best fit (hear what your saying though JezzaG60) VAG corrado rear discs (£52 a pair from either C+R or VAG dealership, preference?) or Brembo rear corrado discs (as triggermyson) (£33 a pair from GSF) Preference? The bit i am slightly unsure about now is the MK4 rear callipers; i've spoken to C+R and my VAG dealership in Poole (still getting /confirming prices) the guy at the dealership wasn't that keen when i said i was going to put MK4 callipers on a corrado (said i would have to sign a disclaimer!) anyway he gave me some prices which seemed to vary depending on which year MK4 the calipers were for so my question is which year do i need? what part no.? (the earlier ones were cheeper) Also do i need the carriers? or use corrado carriers already on the car? Also my gut instinct is to go for VAG original parts, am i right? cheers guys, will hopfully have this sorted soon, appreciate the help!

Trig, Just about to do the MK4 rear brake conversion on my new VR, where did you get your set up from?(and what is it) Did the callipers come already painted red (look awsome). Also how much did this little lot set you back? I've been looking at about the £300 mark for the parts is that ok? your motor looks great by the way, just been looking through some of your gallery, like the way you are making the original just slightly better without going mental, hoping to do something similar to mine, refurb the speedlines, slightly lower, bit of de-cluttering and colour coding, oh and polish the hell out of the engine bay!.......

Thanks for the advice guys, will be sorting all this out shortly, looking forward to stopping a bit quicker! Andy, hope the car works out, will post some pics of mine soon, it needs a bit more polishing first though! It seems to be going fine, nice and smooth with loads of lazy power, quite different from the 16V to drive, far less revvy, i think it may have calmed down the way i drive (maybe i'm just not noticing how fast i'm going?). But yeah it's generally in pretty good nick for it's age/miles/price , just a few bits that need replacing and lots of cleaning........

Hi all, Just recently got a VR6 (previously 16v, now owned by another forum member, hope its going well andy) The rear calipers, discs, pads are shot to pieces and need replacing, i 've seen that lots of people are going for the MK4 ones. I've been trawling around the site to work out the parts i require and i am fairly confident i've figured it out but would just like you guys (and girls) on here to confirm before i go and blow a load of cash on the wrong parts... I reckon i need; MK 4 rear calipers (left and right) £62.50 ea + VAT (£125 + VAT) MK 4 rear pads (was thinking of either EBC green stuff or Pagid fast road, is there a preference, same price from GSF) £32.50 + VAT Corrado rear disks (probably X-drilled from GSF, they are made by Zimmerman, any good?) £38.50 ea + VAT (£77 + VAT) The bit that i am a little unsure about is if i need a Goodridge braided hose kit to go between the new MK4 calipers and the original corrado bits (like an adapter between the two) or can i just use the original corrado rubber hoses? Any advice, part no.s etc will be much appreciated.........