dr_mat

Not a lot of magnetic material in petrol.

Mine was registered on an N plate on the 2nd Jan 1996. Didn't check the VIN.. Doesn't really matter anyway, they stopped making them in May '95.

Oil temps oh 110 - 114 are perfectly normal for a healthy VR6. Change the oil a few times - costs less than an oil cooler.

Amex charge them even more. 3-4%.

That's the PCV valve. Typically it has fallen apart after many years of heating and cooling cycles and is breathing crank case vapours straight to the atmosphere.

I'd expect it to blow a puff of blue smoke on startup too, if that was the case.

Yes.

Well anything bolted into slotted holes has room for movement, but it's a tiny amount and everyone always says "don't do it". The laser alignment rigs calculate the castor angle when you've put 20 deg of steering angle on. (i.e. turned the wheels!) They look at the difference in "camber" between when the wheels are straight ahead and at 20 degrees and that difference allows you to calculate the castor angle. Any reference made to the rear suspension is just to gauge the thrust line. Of course, the only way to *accurately* measure castor therefore is to set camber and toe *accurately* before you start, and given that you can't adjust caster, most places never re-check it after doing the camber/toe so the readouts you get are not very accurate.

The rear axle can be twisted easily, particularly if it's ever been off the car, so ignore the placing of the REAR wheels when computing caster. Caster should be calculated using the amount of lean on the front wheels when steering lock is applied - and ONLY that. The rear axle mounts with bolts in slots to allow alignment, or plain moving it backwards and forwards. If you drop a plumb line from where the centre of the top mount sits, you should be able to measure ~3 inches BACK to where the bottom ball joint line is. It's not easy to see this though. If your steering was consistent I'd say you should worry about the caster angle, but since you say it feels inconsistent there must be something moving about .. and chances are that's the wishbone bushes.

Replace the wishbones (and their bushes). Also there's a small amount of movement possible by shifting the position of the three bolts holding the bottom ball joint in place. Bear in mind that 1 deg of castor is about 1 inch of movement at the BJ. It's highly unlikely that the chassis is twisted.

Hold on a moment .. just because it says 150,000 on the clock doesn't mean the engine is about to go pop. If you *want* to upgrade, or there's a good reason to (it's burning tons of oil, or it's knocking like the bottom end is dead) then fair enough.. but don't just assume. These things are good for 2-300k miles if used carefully, maybe with just a head recondition here and there.

They usually do a load test. Corrados are notorious for draining batteries, don't assume the battery is at fault just yet. Get a multimeter and measure the current drain when the car is off and the alarm is alarmed (assuming you can get to the battery while this is the case). Anything over 2A will drain the battery overnight, easy.

What is it then? They're both hall effect sensors.

It'll show up as "implausible signal - intermittent" if it's on it's way out. You really need to scan it while the engine is still running and the power has been lost though. As soon as you turn the ignition off you'll lose the temporary error code and the ECU will go back to trusting it after the next "reboot". The cam sensor, like the crank sensor, is a magnet with a coil wrapped around it. The magnet can become weak over the years, or the coil can physically break or short out. Typically it will lose resolution when the sensor becomes hot, and that might cause more errors than normal, but if you allow it to cool down and you STILL have the same problem, it's probably not a marginal cam sensor.

White smoke isn't smoke it's steam. It'll happen all the time the engine is still cold on these cool damp mornings, but if it's still happening when the car is fully warmed through (I mean five miles later) then chances are your head gasket is on the way out.. :( As for the alloys .. they ought to be able to scrub down the inner rims when they re-fit the tyre. It should be possible to make it seal, but it's not uncommon on these old cars. They might well be due a refurb.

One final, very important question. What colour is the smoke??

First of all the guy who aligned it is talking bollocks. Secondly he should have clamped the steering wheel in the dead straight position BEFORE adjusting the track rods anyway, you shouldn't need to touch it. Thirdly you should take it back, shout, and make them do it again, properly this time.

I believe the Germans thought of the Corrado as a girlies car too, which is one of the (many) reasons why it didn't sell so well.

Doh! :)

Also check the hose on the back of the cylinder head, underneath the HT lead cable tidy. And if that's gone, check your engine mounts ....

Yes, I've always heard they closed the production line in May/June '95 too.. but you just don't know what's true and what's not do ya..

It might just be that someone replaced your dual-chain setup with a single-chain one when they replaced the chains. I don't think it really matters either way. Sounds like the single-chain setup fails just as annoyingly as the dual-chains do. But if it IS a full 2.8 block with 2.8 cams and 2.8 inlet manifold it's 175 bhp iirc. The biggest difference is the inlet manifold iirc, and I've heard mixed reports that they might have different cams too.

I guess it all depends how extreme your "revs rise" is. When it happens to mine it's just a case of a couple of hundred rpm then it drops back. Plus it will depend on what rev range you're in in the first place. If you're on light throttle at 1500 rpm and you drop off, the revs won't drop back straight away and that's deliberate. Tbh if the ECU scans clean and there's no obvious physical reasons why the throttle might not close quickly enough I really think it's just "one of those things" and you shouldn't worry about it so much..! :)

The engine computer will tell you what's wrong .. if you ask it!

Mine does it too, if I mis-time my gear change.. ;) It's just minor timing differences between cars. Let's face it there's a lot of inlet manifold between the throttle and the cylinders on a VR, so there's a lag between even sharp throttle operations and what actually gets to the engine. Plus there's a damper on the throttle housing the prevents the throttle slamming shut. TPS throttle position sensor. I wouldn't worry about it, just learn to get off the throttle sooner and the problem will go away.