dr_mat

Is it, by any chance, 00276: left rear ABS outlet ??

From what I heard it's the rear engine mount that's a PITA, simply because of access being so tight. The gearbox mount is supposed to be pretty simple. But then, I didn't do mine either, so I could be wrong.. :)

Thought that was your point. We were stringing you along until you came out with it! ;) VR has timing chains. Use the search, lots of info about the place. At 84k miles they might be iffy (but it's unusually early), but they might have another 50k to go.

VAG-COM reads the same engine diagnostic codes as any other code reader, but is more advanced - you can read out values from certain sensors on the engine in realtime - such as the temperature sensors, lambda value and so on.

Dunno, I never replaced a mount on a G60, but it's probably the same thing, certainly your evidence alone suggests it is..

Wait till he gets that Bugatti Veyron tuned by his mate!!

That's what I'd expect. So why were you going for third at 40 then?

They're independant jobs, so the labour isn't going to be any lower by doing them all together, so it's up to you.

That's a fair amount of oil usage I'd say. Hard to know what the noise is, but I'd be looking for blue smoke and/or oil leaks myself.

OE engine mounts are oil filled for better vibration damping. It's horrid thick black oil too, so it's never going to go away.. Get the mount changed.

Change the oil?

Chris: correct me if I'm wrong, but listening to your clip it seems you changed up to third for the 40-60 sprint, then went for fourth just afterwards.. That seems bonkers low gearing, what's going on?

The injectors should have a nice, regular 4 bar fuel pressure behind them, thanks to the FPR on the fuel rail. I don't know why you might need additional regulation! If the default map isn't right for your engine (which is standard apart from an exhaust), then my guess would be there's something up with the engine! But then, I don't tune engines for a living, so who knows?

Equally there's no reason for you to get out your car with two of your mates and beat some bloke up just cos he chased you down the street.. Both parties are equally to blame for the whole incident, it seems to me.

Worked for me in galeon on linux..!

And now... my Schrick-ed VR. Time warp not working on this video, it almost looks real.. :) http://movies.mdr.me.uk/movies/dscf0674.avi (Note the fact I had to turn the wheel (and the camera!) to turn out onto the private racetrack in question, so you can't see the fact that I lost a butt load of time due to spinning of wheels in 1st, hence the somewhat early gearchange. Lots of grit/crap on the road, unfortunately...) * (de-embedded movie)

chris CORRADO? No, Doctor Who more like. Leave the tardis at home next time.. ;) Or are you really just chris COLORADO using a pseudonym?

Pretty unusual to be changing the big end bearings on a VR, I've not heard that discussed as a regular thing.. Not sure why you need to take the engine out, either, but there you go. Yes, replace the guides at the same time - they often break before the chains become a problem. Timing chains and clutch job is usually considered around 10 hours work, so your £400 isn't a bad labour rate, particularly as he's planning on lifting the engine out!!

Running lean? On a fully managed engine? Can someone explain why the ECU does all this funky lambda adaptation stuff at all times EXCEPT when on full throttle, where it goes back to some fixed map? Seems odd to me. But then, I don't design engines...

The V5 exists for people who want the 5/6 cylinder smoothness and reasonable power output (170bhp ish, iirc) but either don't want or can't afford the V6.. The V5 is a very similar beast to the VR6. Who would want a 2.2l 4-pot when you can have a 2.3l V5, all other things being equal?

Temp sensors could be iffy maybe? Maybe the cold start is ok because the ECU always thinks the engine is cold? You can check the sensor values using VAGCOM too.

A Peugeot dealer quoted us £800 for a 206 ECU when the fault was the immobiliser key reader coil... I find it weird that the engine speed sensor causes it to run perfectly fine for 5 seconds then cut out, reliably, consistently. If the engine speed sensor was truly dead it wouldn't start. And if it was intermittently dead, it would start and randomly die... Don't know about the Golf ECU, but certainly the VR6 ECU of the same age reports Engine Speed Sensor at any time the engine isn't turning. If they want to replace it, tell them you're not convinced and you'll only let them go ahead if they swap it back when it fails to fix the problem. Watch how fast they come up with some other explanation...

Interesting theory. The only way it can be true is if the battery is so weak that the ECU goes into limp home mode. But then your alternator would have to be non-functional aswell.. It may be true, I don't know for sure, but it sounds a little odd to me. Weak battery is irrelevant once the engine is turning..

Factory procedure is to remove the bumper and ease the slam panel forward, as stated here, but I understand it's possible to shuffle the rad up and out if you remove the fans first without doing any of this.. Not done it mind..

And the 406 Coupe is a 3.0 V6. No poxy 2.5 litre rubbish there.. Shade under 200 horses and more torque than the VR6, nothing to complain about I'd say. It's also a peugeot, so it weighs about 20% of a mid-range Passat too... I would seriously consider a 406 Coupe V6 if parking weren't so tight in my street... The 2.2 HDi is supposed to be a cracking engine, too.