Dan_Storm

Sounds like it could be the auxiliary water pump? Can you place what part of the engine bay the noise is coming from?

Yeah, it's pretty mad isn't it! The neighbours thought I was mad when they saw the insides of the car :)

I really should get updating this thread more often!! The Storm is currently SORN'd and stored in the garage. It's only been off the road a month and I'm planning on getting it taxed again by the end of Feb. I did a fair bit of work to it last year, I replaced the heater matrix and fitted a fixed steering column. It's now passed the magic 100,000 mile mark too. Here's some photos.... Interior out for the heater matrix - pretty scary! passat climatronic wiring diags.pdfDSCN0915.JPG[/attachment:2f1b2sva] I replaced the matrix as it had never been done. I didn't seem to be loosing water, but the matrix had been seeping. Looks like I got to it just in time climatronic wiring-Golf from May 01.pdfDSCN0920.JPG[/attachment:2f1b2sva] These aren't very recent but couldn;t find any better newer photos 2.8l 24v Climatronic system.pdfdsc_0013.jpg[/attachment:2f1b2sva] dsc_0014.jpg[/attachment:2f1b2sva]

Yes, I've got a set of them and have been pleased with them. My only complaint is they sometimes struggle for grip in slow sharp corners. Aside from that I can't fault them much. They give way gently and have never caught me out.

I've had my Nokian WR G2's on the Leon for nearly 2 weeks now and put some good mileage on them. I'm very impressed with them. In the snow and ice the difference between my old tyres (Eagle F1's) is amazing. It is still easy to spin the wheels or kick in the ABS, but the traction control and ABS actually have an effect! With my old tyres I had a couple of scary moments braking for junctions - the ABS would kick in but not slow the car at all. The same happened with pulling away, if the traction control kicked in it would work away but the tyres never had enough grip to move the car. With the Nokian's on I have so much more confidence in the snow/ice. I can feel the car moving/sliding slightly when pushing it but it all feels very controllable. I tried a few emergency stops on an icy car park and it stopped amazingly well, it was very hard to walk on the ice without falling over which made it even more impressive. I'm also very pleased with the tyres in the dry & wet. With the Eagle F1's it was very easy to spin the wheels in cold or damp conditions when pulling into fast moving traffic. I have not had that problem with the Nokian's. They also handle better and give more feedback than the Eagle F1's! But that is probably because I dropped the wheels down from 18" to 17". The only negative thing I can say is that you can feel the tyre move/flex slightly when cornering and going over a bump in the road. I guess that is down to the softer rubber and bigger sidewall from 17" tyres.

Good to hear :-) I got a set of Nokian WR G2's delivered today, I am hoping to get them fitted to the Leon on Friday. From what I have read they are not a top tyre for all out snow but good for slush, cold damp roads and even handle well on dry roads at warmer temperatures. Sounds like they will handle the snow we get here with ease too. They're probably a bit of jack-of-all-trades but seem to be a good compromise for our Winter weather.

My Raddo is locked up in the garage at the moment, but i've ordered a set of winter tyres for the Leon. I went for a set of Nokian WR G2. Looking forward to getting them on as I don't have much confidence with my summer tyres in the current conditions. I bought them from www.reifen.com which is a German site but they ship to the UK for 4.95EUR per 2 tyres. It worked out cheaper than UK based outfits.

Wheeler Dealers is my favourite TV show at the moment. It's a bit cheesy at times but it's nice seeing an old car partly restored. Seeing a Corrado on there would be great. There is a forum for Wheeler Dealers on the Discovery website, there is a thread of 'cars you'd like to see' and the Corrado is mentioned a good few times.

I'm half way through converting to a fixed column. I have the adjustable column off and have drilled the ignition barrel out. I am just in the process of putting all the components together on the fixed column. I ended-up buying new parts from the dealer. I don't suppose anyone has any close-up photos of the top end of a fixed column? I.e. the end near the steering wheel? I am trying to figure out how the top spring/clamping washer/contact ring all go together, I've tried assembling as in the parts diagram, but I cannot figure out how the column is held into the tube :? Also, does anyone know how the spine adapter sleeve comes off the adjustable column?

Sixpotter, I installed the fuse for the headlight switch light as per CrazyDaves post here. It doesn't need the dash out, but I did it while the dash was out as the wires where a bit more accessible. Unfortunately I am blowing fuse number 3 when I have the headlights on and then open a door :confused4: I haven't had a chance to try troubleshooting. Has anyone else seen the same problem? Seems that fuse3 controls the dash, interior lights & number plate light. Other than that the engine is running great. I did 400 odd miles over the bank holiday weekend and it didn't miss a beat. The water and oil temps seem to be lower too :)

I think I must be! I had no luck finding a fixed column tube so tried ordering one at the dealers last week. It went to back order. I got a call today to say that it is now ready for collection :) No idea why I am having luck with getting supposedly obsolete parts, i'm not complaining though :D

I think its fixed :D I gave the ISV and the connected hoses a clean out, cleaned a few earthing points and all seems to be back to normal. I guess it was nothing to do with the matrix change after all and was just a co-incidence - in the way only a Corrado can do :)

Well I tried my replacement MFA and ISV, and still the engine stalled and didn't idle well. I checked all vac pipes but didn't find any leaks. I gave most connectors a quick clean and tightened vac hoses. I went for a drive and it was perfect, got back and gave it a rev on the drive and it cut out. The old MAF and ISV are suspect - I replaced them years ago when I had problems...but I was hoping it would help diagnose. So I swapped back to the original ISV and MAF, started and it cut out straight away. I started again and it idled fine for about 5 mins. I ran out of time so I will do a bit more testing tomorrow. Anyone know if any vac pipes run inside the cabin? Just wondering if I may have knocked one while removing the dash. Cheers

Roger, I did disconnect the battery. When I've disconnected the battery in the past it has always run fine after re-starting. I thought the re-learning thing was just to optimize the adaption values and would assume the car would run ok without? Maybe worth a try though. Cheers.

Thanks Supercharged, I'll give the vac hoses a good check over. I initially assumed it was something I had dislodged, but I'm now starting to think it may be a coincidence that something else has decided to play up. I'm going to collect my spare MAF and ISV from my folks to try eliminating those too.

Ok, I'm after some big help here..... I have just finished replacing the heater matrix, I've got most of the dash and switches back in place so thought I would try starting up to make sure there were no leaks and all was running well....it isn't :( It starts fine, then the revs drop to the point where it sometimes cuts out. I re-checked all the connections and retraced my steps but couldn't find anything obvious. I checked everything under the bonnet, re-seated the MAF connector and a few other plugs, checked the HT leads were secure, checked relays were secure etc. Still no joy....I let the car warm up for a few mins, but it didn't seem to make much difference. The car seems to run ok when revving or holding revs - i.e. it is not miss firing but doesn't sound 100%. I noticed it may be running a bit lean. I put a fault scanner on and it came back with "Idle Stabilisation adaptation limit exceeded". So, have I forgot anything obvious? I labelled all connectors meticulously when disconnecting and I'm sure I got it all connected back as it was. All dash switches are working as normal. Could it be I have disturbed something when moving the looms? I re-soldered a few connections when I had the dash out and I added a fuse for the headlight dimmer (as per the how-to). I was fiddling around near the ECU to undo the nut on the other side of the dash, I checked and all seems normal. Anyone have any ideas? :help:

I picked up my fixed upper and lower cowling from VW last week. No idea if it actually fits yet, but it looks like the correct part. FYI, 535 953 515B / 535 953 516B show as obsolete in VW's system. Parts 535 953 515B 01C / 535 953 516B 01C (with the 01C) show as back order - at least they did last week.

Started work on replacing the heater matrix. Took a long time, but I have the old one out. Annoyingly I found a few wires that were routed in front of the dash. I had to cut these so will go about re-soldering and tidying it all up. Tomorrow is going to be reversal of removal - as Haynes say :-) Look like I got there just in time too, after removing the old matrix I noticed it had been leaking.

I had the same problem with finding decent rubber for 15" wheels. I took a gamble and tried some Vredestein Sportrac 3's. I'm pretty pleased with them, they grip well in wet or dry. The sidewall feels a bit soft and sometimes the turn-in feels a bit soggy, but thats probably more down to my knackered steering column. They got good reviews in an autocar or whatcar tyre test.

I went to my dealership this morning to order the parts to convert to a fixed column. I asked them about the trim, they looked in the computer and said it had been superseded. The part numbers are: 535 953 515B 01C - Upper Trim 535 953 516B 01C - Lower Trim The parts were available, so I have ordered. I will update on if they fit....

No prob. I'm not far from Gatwick, just a few mins off Junction 10 of the M23. I can meet either next weekend or possibly a weekday evening. Send me a PM and let me know what works for you. Cheers, Dan

Nick, Check the hose I have circled. They have a habit of splitting and leaking on the manifold. Weak engine mounts can cause them to split. It almost looks like there is water residue on the bottom of the hose. DSC00399 - Copy (2).JPG[/attachment:3bdo6gtw] I have a spare coilpack. If you want you can try swapping to see if it fixes the jumpy acceleration. I replaced mine to try and fix lumpy running when cold/wet. I'm not too sure if it fixed the problem, because it hasn't been cold enough since I replaced it. The old coilpack isn't in great condition, but it runs fine when up to temp so should help diagnose yours.

sixpotter, I believe the part number is 535 419 503H I'm in the same boat as you, need to do both the matrix and column!

I had 2 chufties recently. I was driving up to Silverstone last week to drive an Aston Martin Vantage - it was a birthday present - great fun :) On the M23 a bike passed me, then slowed down and gave me the thumbs up :). Then on Saturday the Tesco delivery guy asked if the Corrado was mine. He was really into it and was asking questions.

I've got a Leon 1.8T (180bhp) as a daily driver and the Corrado in the garage for weekends. The Leon has been reliable - I've only had to replace a coilpack in 18 months. My Leon has had an LPG conversion, so helps keep the running costs down :) It's good as an everyday car, but it doesn't put a smile on my face or feel special in the way the Corrado does. If I had to give up one car it would be the Leon.