dr_mat

I was going to say - definitely don't go straight into an insurance record with a Corrado. You're such an unknown risk for the insurance companies that they'd be mad to offer you a "reasonable" price, particularly with a relatively high risk car like the C. Even the 8v is a high-ish insurance group (15 iirc). You best bet is to get something much more modest (Pug 306td for example - ins grp 5!), run it for a year to just build some insurance record, then think about the C again.

I like the way they hopelessly optimistically keep your credit card on file so they can "automatically renew" next year. As if I'm going to have the same credit card account for a whole year?? :)

I will take that as a supportive comment... ;)

More likely lambda.. but the temp sensor is cheaper! Hook up vagcom and see what it says.

I did. But I used a VW toolkit, which broke due to being substandard, and therefore I survived to tell the tale.. ;)

I've heard about similar probs before - in fact I heard about a car where the metal "cup" welded to the chassis leg there split away at the weld line, basically leaving the front end dropped on it's wheel arches, resting on the underside of the bonnet.. Not good news at all.. It's those muppets in the Karmann factory - they are simply NOT as thorough as the robots when it comes to putting underseal into all the nooks+crannies...

When you say it "dies" does it stop instantly, as if all power/fuel was removed, or does it kind of splutter to a halt? Do the dash lights come on when it happens? (I.e. charging and oil pressure etc)

I read it on the back of a packet of cornflakes, how could it be wrong??

Dents! Ha! I had some kind soul leave a gouge out of my left rear quarter, with scrapes down to the metal all the way from the middle of the wheel arch back to the end of the panel about two years ago. Plus they sprung the bumper off it's mount and cracked all the paint on the corner. New bumper, pull the dent out the wheel arch, rub down and respray the whole lot. Out of my pocket. Thank you kind sir. No they didn't leave a note. Don't be so mind numbingly naive! :x

Temperature is NOT a problem. 80 is when the thermostat opens, so that's what the engine should stay at.

I love it. That is such a heath robinson hack.. :) :)

On some cars the ECU will not initialise if the immobiliser doesn't authorise from the key, but I don't know if the Corrado one was that advanced, and I think you said you didn't have an immobiliser ecu, so that may well be red herring..

Tricky. Technically, once the car has ABS fitted at the factory, it'll fail it's MOT if it's not working, even if it's been completely removed..

Of course you should buy a Corrado. It's one of the all-time "cars you must drive before you die".. Whether you'll keep it is another matter.. 1) depends on budget, character, insurance ratings. Only you can answer this question. 2) depends where you live. find a good VW specialist (independant). 3) high miles can mean high costs, but it really depends on how they've been treated. What do you want us to say? 4) autotrader, and here. there's other places, but how hard can you be bothered to look? Choice is limited simply because there's not many out there! 10,000 sold in the UK, TOTAL, over the 7 years the model was available. Of that, who knows how many have been written off or exported. That's not going to result in pages and pages of entries in auto trader 10 years later, is it!! :)

The single pump unit in the tank actually contains two pumps, iirc. One small lift pump that fills the inner chamber in which the main pump sits, and the main pump is the one that has to deliver the 3.5/4 bar fuel pressure. The lift pump just has to keep the flow rate up, not the pressure. You normally never dismantle this assembly though - just replace the lot in one go...

Had this once on a car that had been standing for a few weeks. Smacked the pad about with a hammer and it loosened up nicely.. ;)

No. Just saying this guy is clearly a prat...

Does it have a larger braking surface area or does it just have a hub with a drum brake (for the handbrake) in the middle?

I'd be interested to know of a single vehicle in the known universe that could be called a "car" that has a "rear-biased brake setup". Even rear-wheel drive 911s have bigger brakes at the front than the rear, so personally I think he's talking out of his .

Wait till VW run out of vital things, like door handles and headlight switches. Then we're screwed.

Strange, cos you've replaced them, but this is classic symptoms of seized top mounts...

So what do you suggest they do then? Have the engine rebuilt "just in case" when it appears to be working fine? Gotta be realistic here... :)

Have a shufty at the search button, I can't remember...

Most likely immobiliser, the ignition switch, or ignition relays, based on evidence of previous posts.

I've read it's possible without removing the dash, too. Someone did a write-up. But no piccies.. A write-up with piccies would be a huge benefit.