spoier

Hahah you beat me to it Henny - I'm an expert on the bloody things now :D Skye

ECU's are coool 8) It's amazing how much they can compensate Skye

Took this shot of the parking lot in front of our place this weekend.... only the Corrado is mine

Wow, wasn't attached to anything at all. Getting the new bushings pressed in tomorrow Skye

Thanks I'll let it drain... pretty paranoid about letting coolant sit around here though, there are lots of kitties in the neighborhood. I like to spin the impeller pulley by hand a bit too, that gets most of the dregs out. Toooo tired from clubbing last night, got the P/S pump out of the way but didn't feel like pulling the thermostat & elbow, do that tomorrow night :D Skye

Do you use a torque wrench on your spark plugs? You should. Were the threads dirty at all? You will get false torque values. Also plug threads should have a tiny drop of oil put on them when you put them in (with all aluminium heads - I assume the VR6 has alum head? I have a G60 :D) to prevent binding/galling from dissimilar metals Hopefully the plug hole isn't stripped. If it is you may be able to use an insert such as a helicoil to repair it without taking the head off... Skye

Does your car have a WOT (wide open throttle) microswitch on the throttle body like the Corrado G60? The contacts get dirty, it can be sending an intermittent signal to the ECU. Hook up an ohmmeter and have a helper floor it with the car off. Use some contact cleaner if its filthy and see if that helps. Skye

Already got all the parts.... just planning out the work.....

I just cleaned most of my engine bay last weekend, took out handful after handful of oily sand from under the battery and airbox... strange!! I used brake cleaner (non-clorinated) on the really oily bits and Simple Green spray on the rest... let sit for 10 minutes and spray off with a hose on really low "mist" setting. Then I let it sit for two days before starting. Skye

Did some investigation, apparently you can replace the thermostat pretty easily from the bottom, just swing the P/S pump out of the way, although one bolt is hard to get to. To replace the water pump is a major job though, have to remove alt, charger, and A/C compressor, timing belt, and then maybe you can get it out. I'll leave that for later when I rebuild the charger......... Skye

Does the knocking match the engine RPM tho?? That is, does the knocking get faster when you rev the engine

Just got the parts to do this, and wondering how much time I should budget.... It looks like the thermostat is in a small housing that bolts onto the water pump housing. Can you access this from the bottom of the car without removing anything (ie P/S pump)? Just remove hoses and good to go? 2nd question, if I'm draining the coolant I might as well do the water pump too, obviously I'd have to disconnect the tensioner, same questions is anything in the way of dropping it out the bottom of the car? Any other gotchas? Thanks! Skye

I would arrange some alternate transportation for your long trip just in case..... Important: does the knocking speed up and slow down exactly matched with the engine RPM? If yes, then its obviously somehting mechanically internal to the engine that's gone pop, not just a rattling cat heat shield (common) I would also pull the spark plugs and take a look if any are white or sooty/oily (they should all be light tan colour) Then I would do a dry compression test on all cylinders, and a wet test if any are abnormal to see if its rings or valves. Let us know how it goes.. Skye

Ouch... I hope you had collision insurance?

Hahah I sure do, because it was only 3 1/2 weeks ago.... and I remember thinking "sweet jesus I'm going to have to do a lot of work on this car" hahahah :twisted: Seeing the spoiler go up and down made me giggle like a schoolgirl tho Skye

Nope afraid that's wrong, running straight (distilled please) water in your engine will keep it coolest, but promotes corrosion, and obviously has a much higher freezing point. However many racers run straight water for enhanced cooling, and drain it after the race. In moderate climates (no trips to Lapland in winter, now) a 60/40 water to AF mix is a good combination. A bottle of RedLine Water Wetter will drop it another few degrees. I've heard theories about the water pump needing "lubrication" from the antifreeze but I don't know if that has any real basis.... Edit: forgot to add its actually the pressure of the cooling system that raises the boiling point of the water. For instance on cars where the pressure is controlled by the rad cap, if you change from a 7lb cap to a 15lb cap (assuming your system can handle the extra pressure) you will have increased the boiling point of the coolant. Skye

There's a "Buying a corrado" FAQ around here somewhere, that would be a good checklist even tho you already own it. This link has a lot of very useful things to check as well, even if you're not seeing the problems (yet) it describes - http://www.nwlink.com/~vdb/vw/Engine/g60_problems.html Skye

That's a thought.... here's a better one though, I don't smoke, maybe I'll replace the ashtray...... Skye

Come to think of it, it is kind of nice to have that bin there for odds & sods, I don't think I want to get rid of it. But I'm not sure I like A-pillar gauge pods either... seems like they would block your field of view a little bit. Altho its nice to not have to look down to see them while you're driving hard. Any other clean (read: factory-looking) options for mounting?? Post pics :) Skye

Might simply be that VW used the same loom in a couple of different cars and whatever it hooked up to doesn't exist on the Corrado.... Skye

Yeah that's the factory piece alright, but it doesn't look like you can put regular 2-1/16" gauges in there, I defo want to mount an A/F gauge. I swear I've seen an aftermarket gauge kit for that spot somewhere. Skye

I just ordered a set of Yoko AVS ES100's although high on my list was wet weather performance, I'll let you know how they turn out... they have a good rep Kumho Ecsta 712's get great reviews too but I don't know if you get those over there Skye

They may increase surface area but they reduce the amount of material available to "soak up" the heat at the same time. Which is better? I'm not sure. But I don't like cracked rotors. THere are some expensive rotors that have cast holes, but they are rare. Skye

I don't like drilled rotors personally, I don't believe they offer any performance benefit and they do introduce the possibility of hairline stress cracks around the drill sites, which under heavy braking (track use) can go kabooooooom Originally they were drilled to allow gas to escape that was released when the brake pad compound heated up but modern pads don't release gas.... Skye

Who sells the gauge mounting stuff for the cubby hole under the ashtray again? Or does the stock (factory option) unit accept standard 2-1/16" gauges? Skye