toon vw

jesus christ, bit of a difference between that & the £150 i was told, mind mine is obviously alot more straight forward i suppose, i think the engine they've got might be a bit of a gem if its a pukka 40k miler. :tongue: where is that guy based matt? does he work at a VAG garage?

whats that then, a recon engine? seems a bit pricey just to supply!! good luck with the search then mate

yeah the head is off, i am no mechanic so i was just told that it would cost more to rebuild than replace with a newer lump. as for the reason, i can only think overheating, my gauges have been all over the place recently so i had it in a vw specialist garage who tested the temps. & apparently everything was perfect just the gauges were off, so i was told it was good to drive & just book it in to an auto electrician to sort out the gremlins, so when all went tits up i could'nt tell for sure what was happening temp. wise

he did well seeing as though you have'nt even got a vw badge up front either :lol: :lol: could have had you down as a calibre :pukeleft:

don't know if my clutch would take it :wink:

cheers purpley-corrado-dude for the tip off, its all your fault i'm hooked on these beasts anyway :lol: :lol: :lol: well i've just had an interesting conversation with vee dubs, they have got a 40k engine with the clocks to go with it with history aswell & they want £850 for it & just another £150 to do the engine swap...thats £1000 all in :-P seems too good to be true, might be an idea to go over & have a proper chat to see if i've got that right!!

i had thought about selling the car as a non runner & cutting my losses & let someone with alot more ability than me get on with putting the engine of their choice in,there's still quite a few vr's available at the moment but i would need to recoup some dosh from mine! have'nt got a clue what it would be worth, i could'nt bring myself to strip it for parts (not that i have the know how either mind) its such a beautiful car as it stands apart from the engine obviously!! as far as a new engine is concerned, i would definately do it to keep it not just to sell again & no Jonny_L i probably could'nt afford any more incase there were complications or extras needed, i agree with you tonytiger i don't think you can beat the car as an all round package as you've mentioned so what would i get anyway ??? So i definately have 1 or 2 options, i have even been offered a relatively low milage vr engine with good vw history fully installed & running for about £1200..... Aaaaggggghhhhhhhhhhh.....what should i do :drinking:

just been on to my mechanic & he's priced up a brand new engine from VW at £2400 & he reckons on about £400 to swap engines over, i know this is a massive initial outlay (for me anyway) but what would my car be then worth roughly. it's a L reg '93', done 117k miles, pretty good body no rust or anything. just trying to gauge if there's any point in doing that, financialy speaking !!!

thanks for the understanding words at least i know i'm not on my own anyway, it almost feels like a bereavement in the family at the moment :lol: :lol: (well not quite but you know what i mean) as far as budget i think i would definately have to go down the 'previously enjoyed' route, although i will check out VW if only for a giggle. thanks Jonny_L i'll try that link you put up & see what crops up, you mention getting proof of milage, is there really any way of doing this other than having the service book that matches the engine which probably is'nt very likely. How do you reckon putting a low milage engine would affect the future value of the car or even if i have a lottery win & put a brand spanker in would that offset the cost of doing it in the first place. tonytiger that sounds like a horendous time you've had lately with those spiraling costs, i suppose i'm lucky in that the garage i've used PIT STOP in newcastle are happy to source an engine & fit it, although i don't know how much for fitting yet, apparently they have done this on numerous occasions when its not financialy viable to rebuild. I just want to get it sorted :cry: :cry: :cry:

any idea how "cheap" they are like?

yep mate not too pleased...but what can you do!! no i have'nt had a second opinion but its what i was told it could be by a vw specialist when i explained all the symptoms & i do trust this guy. time to visit my freindly bank manager i think.... :roll:

cheers Karl, "hardly any miles", very interesting think i'll mail for a bit more info. thanks again

My car has been officialy pronounced dead today...well the engine anyway, head gasket & busted up piston rings, the garage have said it ain't financially viable to build it back up again & said he could try to source a nice low milage vr engine & that would end up the cheapest ( & i use that term in the loosest sence) way of sorting it. has anyone any idea if these are even available & if so how much are the usually going for...might go for a ford 1.3 engine for a bit more economy :lol: :lol: i've got to laugh or i'll just cry like a baby!!!

Well thanks for all that lads....but......even worse news now, i got rang up at work today about 2pm by the garage, & the conversation started by him asking if i was sitting down!!! On further inspection with the head off he told me that the piston rings are totally sha#%ed, metal bits flying all over apparently :mad: :mad: After me getting up off the floor he has basically told me that it would work out alot less expensive to source a nice low milage engine & fit that as opposed to rebuild from the bottom up, he could'nt even give me a ball park figure how much until an engine is sourced & i have'nt got a clue how much one would cost either, so i suppose i am in their hands at the moment unles anyone can think of any other options i might have !!!

just a quick update on the situation, took it round to PIT STOP in newcastle today as recommended on this forum & by a couple of mates who've had older vw's, the guy called Dave co owner seemed genuinely interested in the corrado especially the vr6 element of it,asking how much i paid, commenting on it looking beuautiful, gorgeous colour etc its just nice to see someone like that genuinely interested in the rareity of it!!, anyway he gave it a quick check while i was there & he thought it seemed to point towards HG just had a phone call off him to confirm that :( :( regarding price he has said somewhere between 5& £600 but that is including skimming the head...how does that sound? on the upside he reckons it will be done by friday afternoon barring any probs :) don't know why the vw specialist that is about 3 miles from my doorstep just did'nt seem interested :?:

don't think so, not really sooty just dirty white/grey if you know what i mean..

if it is the HG, would that also fit with the plugs getting oiled up or is something totally seperate (& more expense) :cry: :cry:

thats exactly whats happening, left it overnight started it & it worked fine for about 45mins with a couple of stops inc. then used it about 2 hours later then after maybe 15mins it started again. looks like you've sussed it, i've heard about £500 mentioned do you reckon thats about right & what about doing other things at the same time, timing chain etc is that advised? done 117k miles don't think its been done before.

yeah i have topped up the oil about a week ago, decent stuff for older engines , can't remember the make (but it is in the garage) it actually seemed to have quietened the engine down a bit. i've just been told by my wife who followed me & my crippled car home yesterday that it was like a dirty white colour, greyish i suppose, although i did think it was blueish when it first happened. why?

well spot on mate....he told me to take it out & see how it runs which i did & it was fine, but then just popped out to our local shops (about 3miles) & it started juddering,on the return trip all hell broke loose again....smoke from the exhaust, loss of all power, cutting out, backfiring....the lot, had to stop about 10 times wait a few mins restart then judder on for another 400yds or so conk out then repeat the process. this is also on top of showing no water temp & oil temp of 145 (both of which were tested 3 days ago & the actual temps are spot on just the the info thats wrong) & the speedo coming on when it feels like it :bad-words: :bad-words: i think i've heard the phrase 'money pit' banded about on here before, well i think i'm going to get 1st hand experience of it. :cry: :cry:

also rang another garage that my wife uses all the time, i know the guy quite well & he does'nt want to know, but after he suggested it might be the turbo gone....then it might not be the best place to take it to anyway :?

he just said it 'could' be the piston rings or maybe 'could' be the HG starting to go, could'nt really tell until he had a proper look inside, i know not really much help like, there's obviously something wrong somewhere!!

just had the vw round & would'nt you know it, turned the key started & purred like a pussy cat, no smoke from the exhaust at all in fact him & his mate both said it sounded sweet as a nut!!! he says its up to me but he said to just run it for a while longer & take it from there or he could take the head off & have a look but thats when it starts gettin expensive, i am going round in a minute to try some top end additive which he says may help with whatever the problem is...worth a try i suppose. he also said that the last vr he worked on that had piston problems it worked out cheaper sourcing a new engine :crazyeyes: :crazyeyes:

thanks Kev, i would love to think i could do it myself & save a fortune, i'll have a look at the info on here once its confirmed that thats the actual problem, but with my track record with anything mechanical it might be a non starter but then again how difficult can it be...& with christmas coming i could do with every penny, obviously to give to the mrs so she can waste it instead of me :roll:

omg... :( :( got no choice either really if it is that, the vw guy is coming around this lunch time anyway to have a look, so i'll soon see if it going to be wallet surgery