gogsboy

Not to sure about all this milliamps etc and what I am really meant to be doing to be honest. I had suspected the aftermarket ICE as I noticed sometimes when you flash up, no power to it at times but a slight push of the key and it starts up, now not sure if that to do with ignition barrel/coil or whatever or the stereo wiring. Anyway I pulled the radio/stereo fuse in the box and it still drained pretty rapid. Maybe there can be other culprits regarding ICE when the fuse doesnt come into it, is that possible. Also meant to ask, the car had tracker fitted as new and suspect its still in their somewhere but not active, heard a story that these batteries need changing every so often and can be guilty?

Will check the glove box, was yours coming on randomly or just staying on period? Mat, checked the charge and it was about 13.75 or thereabouts. I did leave it a little while but you reckon the 12.05 could be a fair bit less than that? Will I be able to get it upto full charge by running or will I need to get a proper charger? Are there any particular earths that I should look out for being broken etc

Been having Corrado problems pretty much since first week of ownership and not been about much to try and get things sorted out.. Battery not been keeping much of a charge, was tempramental as in sometimes it would keep charge for long enough and other times it wouldnt. Had it off and got it tested as its a new battery, said all well with it but once again it was stone dead. Took it for a run for about an hour and it was only upto 11.95, ran it again and it was up to 12.05, still well below. So just checked it there where got back and its at 2.75 and its only been sat for a day, no lights left on, doors not even locked so no alarm system on and the boot light is not the culprit, also pulled the stereo fuse... Any ideas what its most likely to be....some earth wire missing or...?

I dont know Dan, I'm a million miles from a mechanic but opinions seem to vary, I think if you run a search on here some say that it shouldn't spill over. I'm with you though, I would have thought the same.

Speno, does it lose water every time its ran and when it does lose water can you see where its coming from. I find mine can sometimes hold out and have no water leaking for a while sometimes but seems now that when come back and park up and switch off its off like a tap sometimes. Also have you ran yours from cold with the cap off, mine will spill over the expansion tank once reaching operating temp, some say this is sign of head gasket as it shouldnt do this, others say they will spill over regardless

I still have an unidentified leak and opinions have ranged from thermo housing to head gasket.... Been working away for car been left lying for a while.... M15 VW do you know where my leak likely to be coming from....thing is it doesnt seem to leak all the time but last couple of times I ran it, it seemed to be worse than previously. If you looking underneath from the dead centre of the front end the leak seems to be coming down from there but in to maybe halfway back or thereabouts of the engine bay if that makes sense, be easier to see on a ramp I guess

Sounds like head gasket to me mate to be honest ! A sniffer is always correct, it works on a chemical reaction so its 99.9% accurate. I have one but ill be guessing you arent around these parts otherwise i could of had a look at it for you mate. Jimmi......................... Jimmi, not been able to do much with the car this week, did phone around a few places but not many seem to have sniff tester....and the one who did said it would cost £60 and I see snap-on sell them for that! Have came across cheaper ones, would they still be as accurate as say the snap on, all much about the same....or is that not the case. The snap on does boast about having Double chamber in unit for a high accuracy level....but maybe the cheaper ones do to. However also on trying to pinpoint this issue/leak etc.....just topped up with the coolant and took it for a good run, as long as car is moving then temp sits about 80, only when you stop occasionly or not move so freely does it sit 90 and off course when you stop it soon goes to 100, oil temp always stayed around 96 ish.. So once came back and switched off got underneath for a look to try and pin point when its losing water from, if you look under the car right in the middle its dripping down from there but I couldnt exactly get my head under for a look up...and even if did probably be none the wise due to my lack of mechanical knowledge! Where is this likely to be coming from, whats up above there roughly, could hear lie a constant hissing noise and collant was dripping down in the centre onto a thin pipe ( I think) This info help any more with trying to diagnose this. Cheers

With a compression tester you can pick up any major difference in compression between adjacent cylinders. Such differences may result from a failed headgasket, but it's not a conclusive test by any means, just in addition to any other tests. The only real one is the sniffer test, testing for any CO in the coolant reservoir. Tempest Cheers for that, been trying to find a garage nearby that can do this, have heard that the VW dealers dont have one? Also have heard you can use the gas analyzer machine found at MOT test stations, is this the case?

With difficulty as I'm finding out....sniffer test, not so easy to do when your just joe punter. On the head gasket front guy I know said he has some kit to test the compression, what would this show exactly.

No I'm up in Aberdeen, did used to live down Boro way so that would have been handy. These sniffers expensive to get hold of mate? The Corrado started losing water around the housing area but it wasnt consistent and then it blew the halfords cap to bits, havent taken it far enough to see if it will blow the new vw one. So it finds the weakest part of the system, does it get worse over time what iwth last time it finding the expansion tank rather than pipes around the housing. Whats the damage for head gasket £££ wise

Goldie, it seems to rise above the max mark Tried running it with the cap off and as soon as it hit 90 degrees it spilled its load...... Does this defo spell trouble with regards to the head gasket or could there be another explanation. How do you do one of these sniff tests, is the gear easy to come by and is it spot on.

Still on the cooling issues, how high is the water level meant to go in the expansion tank whilst running. Are you meant to hear lots of water circulation after switching off engine. Expansion tank seems to be bubbling a fair bit but I'm not the best person to judge whats normal or abnormal, its just it has been mentioned that it could well be the head gasket allowing gas into the coolant system...or something along that lines. Just getting a bit paranoid after fitting new tank cap given what happened to the last one and I'm not in the habit of watching engines......until I aquired this Corrado :x

I ran a search on the fourm and was one thread where someone said it was 80 and someone else said they thought it was 90 or thereabouts. I'm none the wiser just called up the place for the 70 stat after reading about it on here and with my problems of trying to trace a leak the guy said go with the R32 as will be better but not hide the problem.

The stat is 80 degrees and I was told a vr6 one was 87ish..is that correct? The advice was from Storm and they said it would be fine. I have the end part of the housing here and the R32 stat and it fits into that ok..well assuming its ok but I have no experience in seeing what is right or wrong in this depot. I'm in Aberdeen mate

Goldie, I was advised to try the R32 one, now I dont know the ins and out but maybe worth a bash. I have one and new housing but need to get someone to fit it all up and not happy moving the car after it lost most of the expansion tank water and the cap self destructed.

New bottle sounds good, I'm just worried little bits of obliterated plastic have found their way into the system somehow

I did try and get one from VW at the time but they never had one and Halfords did but didnt realise they were that crap. Just about to order a few bits and bobs...including new cap from VW, also looking at a thermostat as getting housing done...however few worrying posts on the fourm regards to the VW stat. Is it best avoided for sure and just go with one of the dubpower/awsome Gti ones, would that be the best option

How did you get all the gubbings out the tank, my Halfords blue one has self destructed and left bits everywhere inside the tank. Easy enough to get the spring etc back out but not the particals of plastic

Follwing on this cooling lark....I've had a problem with mine in the short time of ownership and not been around much to get anything done with it. First thing I done was change the expansion tank cap which had been butchered a bit for a blue one but not from VW as they never had any so it came from Halfords..... Anyway I took the car for a run the other night, just to get the wheels moving as been lying about and as usual when came back seen signs of leakage....but was late and freezing so just left it. Popped the bonnet there and just had look in the expansion tank as level was way down further than usual and noticed a spring and few bits and bobs floating around in there! The blue halfords cap has been destroyed! Any tips on what to do/not to do, I have managed to get a spring out and a washer but there must be bits of plastic kicking about in there! Do I try pulling the hose underneath the tank and flush it out...had a look at it and the way the clip has been positioned isnt going to make it idea to get off............or any other solutions. Why would the car blow the cap to bits and is therea chance the system has bits of plastic running about in it or that not possible from the expansion tank? As you've guessed I know zip about the mechanics of cars just how to drive them so dont get too technical ;)

Due back sometime today, perhaps nearer tea time but kinda worried about driving the car now. The coolant was either blue or green but I asked on the forum and I think the general thought was it was ok to add g12 plus with that. I thought the car was a bit smokey the other day but put it down to the time of the year, it never appeared to be smokey in the workshop yesterday

That would have been spot on mate, I am opposite side from you I think as can recall Mark saying you were out Cove way, I'm in BOD. However currently I am visiting some family further north so about 70 miles from Aberdeen. Any other suggestions what to do and is it advisable to drive at all or a big no no.

Doesn't appear to be any signs of this on the oil cap, it has been lying overnight and just checked it... Cant get the coolant cap off with hands there, seems very tight, need to get something to persuade it to come off, Im not at my own house at moment. The top of the cap looks at bit battered and bruised as if someone has had problem getting it off in past and forced it a little too much. Any other reasons the coolant would be like this, not liking the head gasket theory.....no...sounds expensive

need to go and have a look at this and will get back on it. The guy who looked at it said he didnt think it was head gasket but like I said got the impression he didnt know as much as a mechanic maybe should have. He had engine running with cap off and said looks ok and got me to rev the engine while he looked at the exhaust... What things causes head gaskets to go, is that where the water has been leaking slightly from perhaps?

Help....still got Corrado issues! Car hasnt been used a great deal what with working away... Still dropping coolant and a slowish rate and after searching the site and reading replies, a lot of people advise to change the coolant cap first, if this was the problem would it be visible, I mean does the coolant rise up and leak out the seal? If so would you see this if you checked it after a run or would the heat to the tank dry it up quickly? I popped into a garage today and kinda wishing I hadnt but maybe no harm done..... Guy had a look but didnt really appear to be very knowlegable, thats rich coming from me who doesnt know much about car mechanics etc.... Anyway he was going to put in some of the garages green or blue coolant but I told him I had g12 plus in the boot so he started putting that in...but the engine was hot hot, is that normal practice? Anyway he said didnt know where leaking blah blah and I buggered off.. I had a look at the level later and it was really dirty inside, like brown, not like it looked like before.... Any advice, ideas, thanks in advance

I ended up getting them earlier today, seem them online but just went to Halfords as they stock them. They were about £13 but tey had a Richbrook gift pack next to them for £20 which included a tax disc which seems to cost about £15 and an air freshener which seems to be around £7..both seem to be overpriced, but all for £20 didnt seem bad. The caps seem to be good, also just went for the silver ones, did like the look of the ones on eBay though but advert was saying 10-14 days for delivery!