dr_mat

Fifty five quid for five litres !? You need 7 to fill a VR. It's an old, low-tech engine, stop worrying about it and stick with the reasonably priced semi-synthetics..

Oh yeah and a sharp-eyed MOT tester will fail the car even if you COMPLETELY REMOVE the ABS system - their lists show what cars have ABS and it's required to be fitted and working. It's really not that difficult to get fixed though, so just try again.

They're probably right - the symptoms point squarely at a failing sensor. Find someone who isn't a dealer and ask them, you'll get a more sensible answer. As for "obsolete".. that's nuts, the parts are completely generic. The only thing that might be an issue is the cables not being quite the right length if it's not made for a Corrado ..

Great cars, they're a stunning shape. Makes a Corrado look the ugly duckling it really is. Peugeot know how to make engines too.

Why not just buy a Golf??

So if your trickle charger is still working then it's just as likely the starter has seized up. One thing I have found with trickle chargers (got an optimate myself) is that they lose the ability to decide if your battery needs charging or not if the cables and connectors are absolutely perfectly clean.. A bit of corrosion on one of the contacts and the charger "sees" all kinds of weird numbers from the battery and it gets confused. The ultimate check is to lift the bonnet and slap a voltmeter across the battery terminals. If it's reading less than about 11.6 volts it won't turn the car over.

The engine should adapt. It shouldn't run "smoother" really, but it should produce very slightly more or less power. I don't know that it will adapt in the space of one tank of fuel though, it'll probably take a lot longer than that so whatever you buy doesn't matter so much as the fact that you stick to it .. !

I get this when the alternator isn't charging the battery. Basically any of quite a lot of different fault statuses on the ECU will cause it to go to a high idle.

The book time for the timing chain replacement is simply quoted as "10+ hours". Even the official factory manuals don't quote a number..

The boot floor pan is usually replacable. It's part of the car's impact absorption zones, so it's designed to crumple and be replaced if necessary. The big issue for yourself is that psychologically it'll not be the same.. In principle, if repaired correctly the car *will* be as good as new and if you can get over the irrational but understandable feeling about the car you'll forget the repairs ever happened and quite happily drive it for a good few years more. The issue is you're running a risk of the repairs being poor quality - that you can't ever get over. Does my head in that car repairs like this never have long enough warranty periods to be any use. If someone does serious body work on a car, they need to warranty it for five years so you can be sure it's not just going to go porous..

Two rear quarters, plus a new rear hatch. If the chassis and floorpan are still straight the rest is just bolt on/bolt off. Seriously, it's possible.

You can't change the chains without taking the gearbox off. Having the cams out is pretty much irrelevent at that point.

Hey, seems like a good time to join the SP263 cams group buy while you're having all that done! ;) ---------- Post added at 11:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:32 AM ---------- Ouch, 16 hours labour! This is why Stealth are so good value. They can do timing chains on a VR in 6 hours... Worth asking about getting the intermediate pulley and the oil pump transfer shaft replaced at the same time. I believe that's what rattles in high miles VRs..

Boring is .. one issue. But it's quite important that even if the Leveson doesn't come out and make changes at the end of it then at least the political system will have had a wake-up call. We cannot afford to let them brush this **** under the carpet and quietly drop the story. The population (controlled by Murdoch in most cases, remember), have the attention span of goldfish. We let these politicians do this **** TO US and we should make them stand up and justify themselves so they think twice before doing it again. The Euro issue is of course another significant problem, but there's room in this world for more than one significant problem. Such as global warming, finite oil, the UK's impending inability to make electricity, our inability to pay for the money our parents spent, etc etc ..

I'm not sure "enjoy" is the right word. But I see what you mean ...

You have to pay for cleaning up all those oily birds in the gulf of mexico... ---------- Post added at 11:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:40 AM ---------- ^^ make of that comment what you will .. ;)

Well don't ask HERE, phone Vince!

If it's the valve block chances are it's not fixable and you'll need to replace it. You should be able to pick one up used for not much cash if you need to. I think I paid £20 for mine .. !

If it comes on as you pull off, it's a wheel sensor - a physical issue. So you're either missing a sensor ring on the hub, or a sensor isn't positioned right. If it comes on as you pass 10 kph (exactly 10 kph) then you have a valve problem in the ABS control block in the engine bay. A VAG-COM scan will confirm which ..

If the output voltage from the battery drops then it has loose contacts internally. That's really not going to help ...

I have a dodgy regulator on my alternator - it doesn't start charging until the engine revs over 2k on startup. There's all kinds of weird ways these electrical circuits can fail ...

Meanwhile, I've had two people drop a note through my letterbox asking if the Scirocco is for sale ...

Dolce and Gabanna?? ;)

I can't think of one ... up to 20bhp on a non-turbo engine for under £400 worth of parts? It just doesn't get any easier than this.

.. unless you happen to know someone who can get them at cost - about £60 the set. :) (I don't, any more :( )