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So it looks like i'm stuck with dodgy rear brakes which may require a refurb every year or perhaps every two years if i go for mk4s. Oh well. The MOT tester told me the front brakes were at 300 - 300 what i'm not sure, kg/lb? - and the rear was at 90 and 100 for the handbrake. I was wondering if i can refurb my VR rears to get the figure up somewhat over 90 and have a friend of mine who's a CNC machinist to make a larger handbrake lever (the bit the cable attatches to on the caliper) to apply more force to get the handbrake figure over 100. What do you think? He's currently attempting to make a new part for me from inside the caliper. It's the shaft that the handbrake arm attatches to that goes inside and pushes the piston inwards. This shaft sheared off when i took it apart so hopefully i can soon have my original calipers back on the car. I think i'll give the mk4s a miss if i have to get new hoses for them as well for not much brake gain. I'll let you know how this 'conversion' goes.

Ok, this has been sorted now. My problem was that when i stripped the starter down i took the magnets out of the barrel and gave everything a good clean. Unfortunately i put the magnets back in the wrong order so the motor was spinning the wrong way. When it meets resistance from the flywheel it just slips and makes a noise hence i knew it was moving but didn't think it was meshing. So, strip the motor by all means but leave the magnets alone! Just got to sort the brakes and i might just get a drive out of it before the summer.

Hi My car has failed the MOT for rear brakes again. I'm getting a bit sick of having to mess about with them each time it goes in so i think i'd like to put better calipers on the rear. At the moment i have one original VR and one from a Golf mk2. That's how it was after it failed last time. Can anyone advise me what else will fit that will improve my braking please. I don't want to spend a load of cash but if there's something else that will actually work then i'll take a look. I don't have time to refurb them before the retest so i'm looking to get something on there to pass the test then i'll refurb later when i have time. Cheers.

70k doesn't sound good at all. That's not much better than a belt and i thought the idea of having chains in the first place was that they should not really need replacing for the life of the car. I know most people do it when the gearbox is off just to be safe as i have and you certainly don't want to have the gearbox off then have to do it all again for the chains later on. They should certainly last more than 70k so either i'm lucky or they were very unlucky.

I just did mine for first time at 185k so i reckon you're ok for a while.

You could also try these guys if you can't source anywhere else. AVS Car Parts 0845 226 5505 http://www.vwspares.co.uk They're from Norfolk, but don't let that put you off ;) They sorted me out with Febi stuff for £100 delivered. James. (from Suffolk)

I bought one that had been lightened. And no, i can't imagine anyone taking material from the mounting face. There just doesn't seem to be enough to take anyway so i'm inclined to agree, there's a problem somewhere else. But where? The starter looks fine and seems to be travelling the correct distance but thats why i wanted someone to measure so i can be sure. It would be handy if i could also get a measurement from someone from the starter mounting face to the ringear in the bellhousing.

Hi, i have a Corrado VR6. I recently removed the engine to do a lot of jobs, one of which was to fit a lightened flywheel. I also got my starter repaired with a new bendix while it was out. It's all now back together but my starter no longer makes contact with the flywheel ringear. I'm a bit baffled by this and i can only see two possibilities; one is that whoever skimmed the flywheel took off some material from the mounting face where it connects to the crank and so setting it further towards the engine and away from the starter. Second is that the starter repair has caused the starter gear not to travel out as far as it should but i've tested it and it looks to travel fine. Can anyone shed any light on this? I can't really believe it's either of these options but i can't think why else it won't mesh. Maybe if someone has a VR starter they can measure the distance from the mounting face where the bolt holes are to the circlip on the shaft which stops the gear going further forward. I can then be sure that the starter travel is ok. As far as the flywheel goes, the ringear is only about a half inch thick. So, assuming the starter gear connects all of that half inch then i've lost a half inch somewhere (there's no crunching at all, just a spinning starter) and i can't figure out how that can be lost by skimming metal away from the mating area where the 10 bolts connect to the crank as that's only half an inch thick itself. There's not a spacer between the crank and flywheel is there? I don't remember one. Please help, my poor car hasn't been driven for three months.

Oops, sorry. It's a VR6. I mentioned that originally then must have deleted it when i edited. Thanks to Mystic Rado for the link, it is the same wire. That's put my mind at rest.

Hi, can anyone tell me where this little one pin yellow lead is supposed to be connected to please? I've had the engine out and didn't bother to label everything as they should only go back in one place but i can't find anywherefor this one to go. The lead isn't long so it's connection can't be far or it's not used. Thanks, James.

Thanks for the offer mate but i've got my own VAGcom now. James.

Ah, i wondered if he was. Thanks.

I may need some codes read in Suffolk and i noticed that my local VAG-COM helper is kevhaywire but i can't find him. Has he changed his username or something? Anyone else in Suffolk willing to help? Cheers, James.

Sorry, i didn't mean those ones, i was replying to Steve's post saying he was getting new wheels similar to the RX. He should have them by now.?

I had my rear beam on my Corrado off for a few days so the brake lines were left to empty themselves. I tried to block them up but it didn't work. Consequently i had to bleed them quite a few times after reassembly to get the brakes working again but still something is not right. My ABS warning light is on constantly. This started when i took the dash apart and disconnected the warning lamp. Maybe that has to be fixed with VAGCOM or something. When the light occaisionally goes off, my brakes are prone to grabbing really tight, much harder than normal. I prefer to have the light on so i know my brakes are constant though that means i have no ABS. Due to the reservoir running out my brakes were a bugger to bleed. I eventually got it done by bleeding with the engine running (hoping to get the ABS pump working and the air out). Still, it took a few attempts and i had to bleed it at the pump too. Does anyone know if i can solve the ABS light problem with VAGCOM and get the ABS working again? Also, when i took the beam off i also had to disconnect the wheel speed sensors. One went back ok but the other doesn't seem to sit properly. Consequently, when the ABS decides to work and this sensor also tells it that the rear wheel has stopped, the brakes go funny and start grabbing as explained above. Anyone got any thoughts on how to get the sensor back in without damage? It's kind of in a tight spot and i should have connected it before i mounted the beam but it's too late for that. Thanks, James.

Ok, here's mine. It's been lowered on a set of Weitec coilovers. Unfortunately i was in such a rush to get them on i forgot to measure the stock height so i can't say how much it's been lowered. The wheels are ASA AR1 17"x8J offset 38. Black powdercoated with polished front. Stock Not stock Clearance issues, d'oh! I can't go any lower due to the coilies fouling on the drive shaft boots, i guess this will have to do. Hope you like.

Thanks for your advice. Tonight i seem to have finally fixed the problem. Yesterday i bled the brakes again (4th time), this time with the engine on, that firmed the pedal up. Tonight i had the wheel off and found that a bolt holding the pad carrier had come out allowing the carrier and caliper to lean onto the disc which was the cause of the awful noise i've been hearing. I nicked a bolt from my mk2 and got it back in there for the time being. I'll have to get some new ones as they have a locking compound on them. Maybe that is how it came out in the first place, because i used old bolts. Unless i never put it back in when i had the beam off, maybe thinking that i'll do it later and forgot :? Anyway, all sorted... for now.

The caliper isn't seized, i've had the piston out and changed the rubbers. It's just not gripping the disc like the others and so it's wobbling about while i'm driving. This lack of grip on the disc i'm putting down to the fact that there must be air in the caliper which gives me the less than confident feel at the brake pedal. This is probably down to the fact that i haven't bled the brakes properly which is why i was asking for clarification of how exactly it needs to be done on a car with ABS, engine on? pump brake pedal etc.

Hi guys, My OSR caliper siezed on my Corrado so i have swapped both rears with a set from a mk2 until i can source another Corrado rear. I have bled the brakes with a pressure bleed kit and thought i'd got all the air out but my pedal travels almost all the way to the floor. My OSR caliper now rattles while i'm driving so i guess that there's air in it which has stopped it from gripping the disc. It's tight while the hand brake is on so at least that works. Does anyone else agree that this is my problem, just air in the OSR? If so, do i need to have the engine running whilst i bleed it as someone has mentioned? (it has ABS). Can i only bleed it properly with VAG COM as someone else mentioned? Also, do i need to pump the hand brake or the pedal during the bleed? I also found that the slide bolts were not all the same, one on each side was smooth, one had marks on it like it was tapering towards the end, can anyone shed any light on this? Unfortunately i don't know which one came from where so i hope this has nothing to do with the caliper not working. Thanks, James.

Well, i haven't been on here for a while. I've been quite busy as you can see below. I finally got my wheels this week. I had to wait for them to be made in Germany but they turned up this week at last. While i was waiting i busied myself with the new suspension and bushes, experimented with various lighting including Angel eyes and clear indicators and fog lamps. I thought the Angel eyes and the clear indicators looked a bit too sparkly on a black car so i experimented with black tape on the headlight reflectors just to get an idea of how they'd look had i have bought the black version. They looked ok but then i stumbled on some light smoke tinting film and covered both the headlights and indicator/fogs with this. It just takes the edge off them. Here they are standard And here they are fitted with the tint film Unfortunately i didn't take any pictures of them on the car as standard nor with the tape on but i think they look better as they are. The suspension are Weitec coilovers and a before and after shot of original suspension and orginal wheels then coilovers and new wheels. I welcome your views, let me know what you think. At first i was not sure if i liked them as they stick out a little due to being 8J as opposed to the original 6.5J and an offset of 38 instead of 43. You only notice it when looking down the side, you can just see it in the first shot but from side on i don't think it shows. When buying these i only considered the offset in relation to whether there was enough room for the wheel to turn left to right and completely forgot about caliper clearance. It turned out that they fouled on the pad carriers. I nearly cried and after a few minutes of various scenarios going through my head like spacers (would have made them stick out even further) and machining the inside of the spokes for clearance ( i have a friend who can do this but not what i wanted to do to a new set of wheels), i eventually decided to get the grinder out and grind out some material from the carrier itself. It's a tight fit but i'm hoping i have the problem solved. The wheels are ASA AR1 Schwartz frontpoliert (black polished front - actually diamond turned) 17 x 8. The tyres are Dunlop SP maxx 215/40/17. They feel so much better than the old tyres - though they had become slicks! They didn't give a lot of grip in the wet conditions we've had but i had hoped to be shot of them almost 2 months ago but had to wait for the new ones. It's a good job i wasn't stopped in that time. There are some other, minor things still to do and of course there are the rust spots to be sorted but they'll have to wait for a while now. I'll get some more pictures up soon.

Hi mate. No, definitely don't cut the tracks. Just connect the resistor across the two outside tracks as i did (assuming your tracks go to each side of the bulb, there's no reason they shouldn't). Make sure the resistor you have used is the correct value. I can't remember what it was now and the link earlier in this post doesn't work so try calling Autobulbs on 08708 964650. Leave the relay in place, you need that. The resistors are only to be soldered across (not inline, hence no cutting of track) those bulbs that have been replaced with LEDs. Hope this helps and good luck.

Either that or try charging it completely overnight and don't try to start again until it is fully charged.

I was fitting new headlights yesterday and these are the wires that come out of the back of mine. There are no blue/white ones. Are you sure they come from the headlights and not something else that may be obselete/disused? You say you can't see any difference between the lights so maybe you just need some fresh wire in there with an uprated loom?

Could it be a bad earth at the battery affecting a few systems at once? BTW, my window motor used to click and not work. It turned out to be full of rust. That may also explain blown fuses if there is dampness in the wires.

They look fine to me. Nice and bright. All seems to be working and looking as if they're normal lights.