dr_mat

Well, that's only about the fifth story of timing chain snappage I've ever heard of!

How about you save up for the next year and then buy it all in one go? The practical alternative to paying monthly ...

That brand new VR sounded somewhat smoother than my 128k miler...

I think there's some good threads regarding experimentation with oils, have a dig around with the searchy thing ...

Maybe.. Dunno. I mean, these things are massively oversupplied, since the number of written off VR6s massively outnumbers the number of failed ABS units. Most breakers will have one of these kicking around. Of course, it is quite possible that when you fit a 2nd hand one, it too will have the same problem in 12 months time, and yes, a refurb job would give you more peace of mind. But I got my VR6 ABS unit for £20 and it's been fine since it was fitted, over a year ago now. The refurb job will probably only have a 90 day or maybe 1 year warranty anyway...

It's the dyno fudge factor. You're "losing" 48 bhp to "drag".. How accurate this figure is will translate *directly* to improvements in the headline bhp figure. About the only figure that you can rely upon there is the 108 bhp at the wheels, which is pretty healthy for a 1.8 16v.

Yeah, look for the piccies. Those guys almost certainly are selling the pump+valve block together and listing under the description "abs pump".

Let's be clear here: the pump was probably not faulty, but in almost 100% of cases, the pump is replaced at the same time as the valve block, which is what is causing the problem in your cases (and what caused my identical problems). People tend to use the term "abs pump" when they mean pump-and-valve-block assembly.

You've got six outlets? You've got EDL ... The Corrado VR6's all came with EDL.

I think you might be reading the part number of the pump sub-assembly, Roger ...? There's separate part numbers for all the bits, because theoretically they're available separately, but in practice VW will just sell you the entire lot on the 1h2 .. part number.

Yes. Did the errors come back after they were cleared? So many faults might be spurious...

Left rear outlet valve? That usually means the valve block is fubar. Buy a 2nd hand one, get it fitted.

Go on - I'll bite - explain how a K+N alters compression ratio! :) Or are you talking about "compression" - i.e. in-cylinder measured pressure in psi?

ISTR these are obsolete parts at VW, anyway. And, though £61 is a very good price compared to VW it's still a bleedin rip off!

I'll second the bad ref for UPS. Their vans are too big to fit up my street, so they always claim they called when I wasn't in. Despite never actually coming up the street. Fuckers, I had to drive to fucking didcot to pick some stuff up once just because their guy was too stupid to find a smaller van for the 2nd and 3rd delivery attempt.

I'd take exception with calling an insurance asessor an "engineer". This guy just looks at it and makes up a number. Are estate agents engineers? People who design and fabricate things from raw materials are engineers.. People who swap parts are technicians.. The rest of us are on the third ark of the Golgafrinchams..

They should claim the excess back off the other driver's insurance, too. As for the "breach of contract" bit, honestly, just tell 'em you changed your mind and cancel it. It's your car, you can do what you like with it.

it's the thermoswitch that controls the first and second speeds, so if the "first speed isn't coming on" - which I'm sure you're right about, by the way - it means it's the thermoswitch that's faulty..

The fans are supposed to come on at about 88-92 degrees. If they don't there are three possibles: - thermostat stuck closed (this means the temp sensor in the rad never "sees" the hot water) - thermoswitch in the rad failed (it never turns the fans on despite the water being hot) - fuse gone (there is a separate fuse for the low-speed fan operation compared to the uber-fan megaspeed that comes on at 105 degrees).

No idea until you read the error codes. Most likely the sensors. Get it scanned ....

Thermostat stuck closed: temp climbs rapidly to 110 degrees, fans never come on, steam erupts, bad shit, end of known universe. Thermostat stuck open: temp climbs very slowly, and only ever goes above about 70 degrees if you are stuck in traffic. Quickly drops back below 80 when you get moving in clear air.

I heard it somewhere... try trawling peppipoo or one of the other motorist's rights sites. Did you sign anything for this "claim company"? If not, walk away, tell them you are putting it through your own insurer. Since it's *clearly* a 100% a not-at-fault incident (and the guy has a criminal charge to prove it), *and* the guy was insured, your insurer can claim all their costs back from the other guy's company, no questions asked.

Probably the CAT. The lambda just controls fuelling, the CAT is responsible for burning off the remaining CO (because there IS always some left) into CO2.

Sounds like the lambda to me.

W8 in a kit car? Now that's going to pull some skin off many a rice pudding... Can't see why not. You'll need a degree in computer engineering, however, since like all new engines there's more electronics per square inch than anything else!