dr_mat

Well yeah .. a full tank of fuel weighs ~65KG. Equivalent to a small adult.

You can't corrupt the ECU - the only part that's programmable is the chip itself. You may well have fried something though - it's very easy to cause a static discharge that can kill a circuit board (or the chip itself). First step is plug in VAGCOM. If you can still talk to the ECU then chances are it's *probably* ok. Ask it what the problem is if you can.

I think it's balance and steering feel are the key factors of the Corrado that make it different from the Golfs of the era. How they did that .. probably a combination of lower centre of gravity, more weight, harder bushings, agricultural steering design ..

Yep, the ultimate cheap car: Pug 306 TDi. ~130 lbft torque so reasonably pokey about town, 50mpg+, group FIVE insurance(!). Don't buy the HDi - much more expensive to run (not in mpg, just in servicing/repairs/insurance). You can get an alright one for about £500, and a good one for £1k. Watch our for self-repaired bodge jobs. They're pretty easy to work on so idiots tend to do just that and bodge it up.

If you just want a manual for the engine, get the Haynes Golf/Passat that includes the 12v AAA engine code VR6, oh and there's this "Rustek" VR6 repair procedures manual kicking around, but I don't know how good it is.

That's a serious coke habit there ...

Use the search, luke! Try ISV, MAF, lambda, crank sensor .. etc etc etc.. First port of call is an engine error code scan. The "stalling VR6" issue is a well common problem, with a million different potential causes.

Check the battery voltage first. You need at least 11.8V to turn the engine on the starter.

And everyone who lives nearby gets a free ton of gravel deposited on their driveway/garden because so few of the stones actually stick to the road .. It may be cost effective compared to resurfacing properly, but it's a bit of a pain in the ass..

Yep. Start at the top. Given a free hand you'd adjust the castor angle first, then the camber, then the toe. Castor isn't adjustable on these cars though.

Yeah, but he fuel (octane) isn't anywhere near as good..... MYTH! ;)

Most likely this is the supermarkets doing yet another loss leader on cheap fuel from dodgy suppliers and trying to kill off the local competition from the mainline fuel retailers. Am I too cynical? I doubt it. I might have to put some petrol in the VR this month sometime ... you never know ...

TBH I think this "only adjust one side" stuff is just about keeping the steering wheel centred when local garages try to adjust the tracking without the right equipment. They also state that in the unusual case that the steering wheel is not centred, you should remove it, move it a couple of splines in the appropriate direction then re attach, rather than adjust the tracking. If the "centre" of the rack was so important, and it was possible to guarantee that the LH track rod was always the right length for a given tracking angle, then surely that would also imply the RH track rod would never need adjusting either..

Note that the ECU will ALWAYS report "Crank Sensor: No Signal" when the engine is not turning over. You cannot diagnose a failed crank sensor from that. Check the basics. Do you have fuel. Do you have spark. Does the immobiliser work. Wiggle ignition leads around, check fuses etc ..

Nope, not the chains at all. The chains are on the RIGHT, and don't make a high pitched squeal ever .. Sounds to me like you need a new aux belt tensioner pulley. Extortionately expensive for what it is, but we're talking £60 instead of £700.

Could indeed be the tyre. Like you say, if it's the bearing I'd expect it to just get worse as speed increases. Oh and if you take the hub carrier off the strut, you'll need to reset the camber afterwards. Might be worth swapping the wheels front-back to see if that fixes it first?

Gone almost one year without any new parts!!!!

Broken compression rings?

Anyone know what happened to Andy Brookes? I paid him for some bits a while back and never got 'em ..

Worst case scenario is the pump seizes and shreds your aux belt, but that's highly unlikely. Actually no, worst case scenario is the rack gets knackered cos it dries out, but that's also highly unlikely.

A month isn't always enough, and actually there was a much-publicised campaign about them automatically fining you for being a day late buying it. But you're dead right there's no need for the display of the tax disc any longer since every copper and traffic warden has the PNC database at their fingertips. The disc itself should be abolished, even if the tax remains.

Annoyingly, the offence is "failing to display a valid tax disc", not "failing to HAVE valid tax". The whole car tax system is deeply unfair right now. - even though if you miss the date by a day they can AUTOMATICALLY fine you, you cannot AUTOMATICALLY pay for it each year. - even though you may have purchased a valid tax disk, they can still STEAL and CRUSH your car if you don't display it in the window. We're halfway between the old, messy, manual system, but which gave the buyer some grace time and flexibility, and a new fully automated computerised system, and it's a difficult place to be right now. It is quite possible, under the present laws, that if you are on holiday for e.g. 6 weeks, you will be unable to prevent your car being stolen and crushed by the government, because you can't buy a tax disk early enough before you leave the country, and by the time you get back it will be too late.

An ABS pump will cost peanuts used, and all the other ABS sensors add up to a max of about £150 in parts, so even a complete ABS refresh will only cost £200 plus a couple of hours labour, and in most cases there's just one duff sensor and the fuse has been pulled to pass an MOT.. Surprised that a 8v can't average better than 27mpg, but it really depends on what type of miles those are. My VR on my "short" commute averages about 14mpg, so 27 would be a breath of fresh petrol ... And from what I've heard the 8v is by far the most economical Corrado. You should see 40+mpg on a run.

Shoes too big??

Yes, a replacement steering column is ~£530 + VAT .. you don't want to be buying one of those for fun.