dr_mat

The fuel pump on my VR6 doesn't start running till the engine is turning. I think it simply doesn't work until the pressure drops in the line, to prevent damage to the pump or the lines. I know very clearly when my fuel pump is running - it's getting louder.. :( But this problem *does* sound a lot like a faulty immobiliser. The VW original immob is well known amongst corrado drivers for doing this kind of thing. There's a sensor inside the steering column that detects the presence of the key (assuming it's working right). It's this sensor that usually fails.

Yeah, it should. Well mine does..

Personally I think it's time we had pressure-sensitive brake lights. Normal lights for gentle braking, and great big, fcuk-off lights for omigod-I'm-going-to-die braking... :) Gives the guy behind a hint a little earlier..

You're right about the hose virus - that's the same hose that went on mine a couple of months back by the sound of it. I'm still paranoid about the coolant system - I leave the oil temp display on the MFA permanently now! Let me guess - the hole in the hose was right down near the joint to the head? A split in the side? Can you spell d-e-s-i-g-n f-l-a-w?? :( Thank you VW!!

Don't do it! The later ones are crap - keep breaking. The early ones might look a little "functional", but they're cheap and cheerful and strong by comparison... ... is my observation!! :) Sadly I have no idea how much work it might be, so can't really help, sorry.

Note that it looks to me like that exhaust isn't complete. At least under *my* car there is another box between the CAT and that big centre piece - don't know for sure about the G60s etc, but I'd doubt the description "cat back" if it doesn't have 3 boxes.

Can you post a procedure? Or just rough guidelines? Ta.

I had a quick look this lunchtime. The calipers are both moving, and the cable is moving through on both sides, but it's definitely not "free and easy", so IMHO it's worth doing the cables first just to see if it helps. At the same time I'll put a few drops of light oil on the handbrake mechanism and waggle it back+forth to see if I can make it a little freer. As it were... ;)

The cable replacement is a mighty fine idea. Thanks. I must admit I'd discounted that simply because I've heard so many times that it's the caliper itself that seizes due to a design flaw... Start with the simple stuff though, I suppose!! :)

Hi all, I've a 96 VR6 with what appears to be the same old sticky rear caliper problem that everyone else has from time to time. Something to do with the hand-brake cable mechanism I believe? If anyone has any info about what causes this and what I might be able to do to fix it (without having to fork out the small fortune for a replacement caliper) that would be mighty marvelous! :) As I understand it you can "upgrade" these pretty easily to Golf Mk3 parts? Is that right? Apparently these are less susceptible to the problem? Would it be a gimme that you must upgrade both sides at the same time? Alternatively, are the VR6's rear calipers the same as e.g. the 16V or G60 cars, so I might be able to pick one up from a scrappy? TIA! M.

Where on EARTH can you get SIX wheels refurbed for only £210?? I've got FOUR speedlines in need of attention and I was quoted £280 all in... :(

My immediate observations this weekend: Saturday afternoon, drove from Reading to Birmingham (with, I *think* a slightly sticky rear caliper) and at 85-90 all the way I couldn't see more than 27.9 mpg. If I dropped the speed to 80 I might see 28 or 28.1. Sunday afternoon, however, the reverse journey (that sticky caliper wasn't sticky this time) - 85-90mph and 33.5 mpg!! I agree - the VR6 is really not that bad, considering the size of the engine. A mate has the "grand cruiser" V6 Hyundai Coupe (not really tuned to be a performance engine), and although it's barely run in yet, he's only getting 25mpg, even on a long gentle cruise...

Do you always cruise downhill? I always cruise uphills, so... ;)

BarneyVR6, I really wouldn't worry about it. If it wasn't running right, or the emissions were a bit high at the MOT, then I might be concerned, but my VR6 only does an average of 22-24 mpg on my daily commute too. The highest I've seen on a significant run is 31-32, but if you cruise at anything above 80mph that will drop to below 30 before too long.. :( The weather effects it a LOT too - I get the impression these things drink fuel while they're on their cold-start routine. Short journeys makes a lot more difference to MPG than most of the other factors (assuming you're not over 4k rpm permanently that is...). So if I were you, I'd chill out and ignore it. Get on with driving it, and just grin and bear the pain at the petrol pumps!! BTW - slam some optimax in and see if that helps too though. I've found mine runs better on it, and use it all the time now if I can.

Just to add my 2p - my VR6 has idled as described above for all of the time I've had it (well over a year) and no-one I've spoken to seems to be worried about it. As long as the rev counter needle is steady I really don't think you have anything major to worry about. As someone pointed out, the 2.8 VR6 engine in the golf is in quite a lot lower tune, and is likely to idle more smoothly as a result than the 2.9 in the Corrado. Learn to love it...

I've seen this on older cars too. Check all the 'lectrics. Mainly the distributor, if you've got one.. And when you say "cut out" do you mean the engine was actually lifeless (as if no spark or turned off), or do you just mean it stopped pulling..? Dirty dizzy can cause the latter, dodgy immobiliser is the most likely prognosis of the former. Meanwhile, my lovely VR6 once again killed it's battery while I was away for 3 weeks. Great. Hello, Mr RAC man. Again. We're on first name terms now... To make it worse, we had the technology - we had jump leads, but the "donor" car - a 1.4 Peugeot 206 simply didn't have enough AMPS to turn over my V6 lump!! :( Tip for the rest of you tho - if trying to jump from a weaker car, try charging your own battery from the other car (running, obviously) for about ten minutes or so - this charge, combined with the current from the donor car, should be enough to turn over your own car. The VR6 needs around 150-170 amps to turn over correctly, apparently.. Scary, I'd say.. Anyway... I digress. As usual.

Talking of grease and dismantling the tailgate, has anyone else noticed that sometime during the hot weather a load of waxy substance has oozed out of the rear gate and down onto the bumper? I had a look and couldn't see anything obviously fubar, and *did* notice a waxy substance all over the interior of the panel. I guess it's just a sealant that melted with the heat, but has anyone else noticed it leaking out when it's really hot? I saw one other car like it already, so I don't think there's anything unusual about my car, but I can imagine that stuff getting all into the spoiler motor and stuff would NOT help at all! My car is black, by the way...

Surely it would cost £28k just to replace all the bits that make up the suspension? This *is* a VW you know.. Having 7 Corrados is a really good idea though. That means that you'll only be stranded without a working C about once a month!!! The downside is you'll be in the garage approximately every 38 hours 20 minutes either picking up or dropping off... ;-)

>> " If Only Everthing In Life Was As Reliable As A Corrado" Ha!! Or is that ironic? :?

In my .. er .. tape player, I have .. er .. dust... I listen to the VR6, to see if I can guess what's going to go wrong next. (I don't do a lot of miles anyway.) And by the way, Papua New Guinea is on the "Accelerator" album (ironically for a Corrado forum), IIRC. Matt.

Well not in all cases, no. Just that I get the impression around here that a lot of people replace lots of things all the time, just because. If you know what I mean. I work in IT, and I know people replace too many bits of hardware here when there's nothing wrong with it... Admittedly, my VR is "only" 7 years old, so it's pretty young and spritely compared to many here, but I've already had to replace the rear suspension bushes, so I know the rubber bits wear out. (And being a VW you have to almost dismantle the whole car to replace the rear bushes...) Anyway, I'm going to stop now before I say any more about wearing out all the rubber bits!! ;-)

Very nice, but someone appears to have abandoned it in the middle of the road, mate... ;-) M.

Why does everyone assume you need to replace engine mounts? They should last the life of the car, more or less..* *- assuming no obvious abuse or extremes of cold/heat applied - but that's the same for all the rubber components on your car. I'd say replace if they fail the MOT (they are checked) and otherwise ignore unless you're feeling really flush... :-) M.

I'll second that observation. 0-30 the VR isn't really very good. It's way too heavy, but once you're moving and you're going for it there's not a lot that'll stick with it. Let's face it, from 50mph+, a VR will leave a Lotus Elise looking like .. erm .. a 1.8..! I was playing the other day and did a 30-90 sprint up a hill with three big blokes and a boot full of beer ( :-) ) in the car in less than 400 yards. Didn't have a stopwatch. The lads were impressed, anyway.. :-) I mean, I *do* notice the difference with e.g. a full tank of fuel or extra passengers, but it has such big balls in the first place that it's still impressive even fully laden.. ;-)

It's got another 5 hours left, actually... Still time! I know you're all gagging to bid!!