dr_mat

Because the ECU can only adjust to "-11 degrees" timing offset from the base map. If your base map is now 12 degrees too far advanced, no amount of knock sensor activity will prevent the engine knocking. And we all know that knocking kills engines.

It's quite effective in the winter. It'll cost you MPG during cold starts if you don't keep that working. Up to you.

I always wondered how you'd cope posting stuff like that, but it must get done sometimes! It's heavy to damp vibration and resonance, and that's why it's so quiet. You can't have light weight AND quiet ..

You must like punishment. Use the search, we've discussed this at great length. Long+short answer is that it's very difficult to diagnose a failed crank sensor, and certainly you can't diagnose it when the car is not running.. you need an oscilloscope, basically. I suspect you have another problem. On the upside, you now have two spare crank sensors you can sell!

The answer is simple. Corrado drivers have larger testicles.

It's possible it's the battery, but I think given that the starter has been apart a number of times I'd say it's more likely you've got a bad connection of bad brushes or you've simply broke the coils. FWIW a 12v battery reading 12.86V has clearly only JUST come off charge, or your meter is inaccurate (12.6V is fully charged!). What does it read AFTER you've attempted to start the car? A battery with low current capacity will drain very quickly and the voltage output will fall quickly when you put it under load. If it's still reading 12.6 or above, then the problem is definitely not the battery.

Big problem with HIDs for me in general is that there's legislation in place to limit the power of filament bulbs to 55W/60W for headlamps, which places a certain restriction on the physical amount of light that can be generated. All HIDs, everywhere, on every car, produce obscene amounts of light by comparison and there doesn't seem to have been any legislative work to limit this. They are good for you, as a driver, because you can see much better, but even with perfectly correct beam patterns and levelling systems they are blindingly bright for oncoming traffic. The fact that people don't flash you is just because we're getting used to the fact that we're simply not going to be able to see anything when someone drives towards you with these things on.. The government should have stepped in a long time ago and placed a limit, in lumens, on how much light a car headlamp can produce throughout it's beam pattern, not just in the "blanked" area. Too late now and we're all stuck with it.

Sounds likely to be the power assist valves on the rack to me .. but no doubt the garage will find out.

"Power" is not rotation ... necessarily ...

VR6 traction control just operates the brakes slightly. Modern systems cut engine power too.

wouldn't it be 15bhp? Is the standard 190bhp that is quoted measured at the crank and not at the wheel? Or is it that 205bhp quoted by Dukest is at the crank and not the wheel? Rich My standard unmodified VR6 put out 201.3 bhp on Stealth's rollers, so... Now it's mapped and Schricked it's down to 199.9 ... assuming everything else is equal (it's not, the engine wasn't reading the same temperature). And numbers like 205bhp are always at the crank, unless you're running turbo/superchargers..

True, some are, but there's been about 5 ECU models and not all coilpack-equipped ECUs have imobilisers.

Yes and sadly they make bugger all difference except in direct sunlight .. :-( Not much of that around at this time of year. The average Corrado seems to drain a fully charged battery in about 2-3 weeks, no matter what you do. I didn't figure out which circuit is causing it. That's "only" 70mA current, but over a long period of time it kills the battery no problem.

I wouldn't get your hopes up. You'd not notice 5bhp difference on the road. Better to leave home ten minutes earlier every day and get cooler air into your engine - it'll make just as much difference! And look at the @wheel figures on a rolling road - that's the only thing that's measured. The crank figure is a finger in the air job. Ok Vince will say that he has his reasons to trust his rolling road, and it *will* be consistent amongst different cars, but the fudge factor can't be denied.

If you pick up an earlier VR ecu (I think the codes end "AG") then there's no immobiliser to worry about. Might be inclined to be 100% sure that the ECU is getting 12V supply before you go this route though.

And why are they obviously incorrect? Is it reporting in KM instead of Miles?

Extrapolated from the @wheel figures, obviously. [ insert standard disclaimer about accuracy of roll-down test to asses transmission losses here .. ]

"rear wheels lock" .. huh? The back brakes are pathetic at best, so I doubt this is anything to do with the ABS. Might have a problem with the rear brake load compensator valve (the front will lift quite high during silly acceleration) but I'd be surprised... Lacking a lot of power but no error codes .. fuel filter/pump? Is it pinking? How's the MPG? The cuts-out-straight-away is typical of the factory immobiliser. Use the search luke .. ! ;)

This is generally caused by either a busted/seized ISV or a duff sensor. It's typical with big sixes because they are run so lean to keep the emissions and economy under control. The VR6 is not alone in this.. You can work around it by resetting the ECU - it'll go back to running slightly rich for a while..

I'd get your rear axle bushes replaced as a priority - you'd be surprised how instability at the back can make the front feel weird (and don't forget to check the rear wheel bearings while you're at it too). May aswell do the front top mounts too, that'll only cost £40 or so all in for genuine parts. And yes, I had play in the adjustable column that was only evident around the straight-ahead. You don't usually feel it when in the middle of a bend because the steering loading takes up the slack. It's rare for the racks themselves to wear that badly, but you should be able to detect play in that system by waggling the steering wheel. Then it's a matter of trying to decide if the slack is in the rack, the UJs (which can be tightened up by the way), or the column itself.

Typical when removing/refitting exhausts is to knock the lambda around, so that's absolutely the most likely problem. The lambda will be fitted in the CAT pipe, just before it. If it's damaged the car will typically overfuel like buggery and produce black smoke a lot .. Fuel economy will be appalling too.

They have a point - in SOME cases. There are still idiots who leave laptops in their cars. Those idiots make it worthwhile for the inner city idiots to smash your windows just in case. If it was common knowledge that there just won't be anything in the car, then they just wouldn't bother and they'd go and rob old ladies instead..

Sounds like a "legit" service, but at the end of the day they're just collecting your name and address details, and selling you "security" crap. They also offer the dubious level of protection for your details of only allowing "law enforcement agencies, major lost property services and also airport baggage handling organisations across the globe" access to the data. Erm so that's pretty much everyone right? Gee thanks. The advantage? If you lose your bag with your keys in, they can find out where your house is to rob you! ;)

Dubious. "[ WARNING: the above message may contain irony, sarcasm and outright lies. ]" You decide. ;)

The first VW Tuareg off the production line was bought by Marlboro Cigarettes and used as a massive cigarette tester. They found that the big TDi engine was ideally suited for use as an air pump, sucking air through up to 250 burning cigarettes at the same time! It was also cheaper than other industrial pumps and did more "cigs per gallon". The emissions were found to be no worse than normal cigarette smoke.