dr_mat

Probably, it'll just cost more ...

He didn't on mine. -1.2 both sides .. ;)

Stealth usually give you a print-out which shows you all the measurements and readings, but ottomh it's approx: front camber ~ -1.2 total front toe ~ 0.0 front caster angle ~ 3.0

I wouldn't touch anything till I'd consulted the ECU for it's idea of what's wrong myself...!

If you have a laptop you can get a cable off ebay and the VAGCOM software for free - fine for just reading/resetting codes. Go to http://www.ross-tech.com for more details. Otherwise there's a whole thread filled with people who have this setup and will scan your codes for ya!

They will generally only pay out for holes in "major" roads these days. No chance they'll pay up for a little side street being like no man's land in WW 1.

I think more likely the chip is just a bit rubbish then! Get rid! :) I'm not an expert on modifying cars, but from experience with other people's stories on here, you'd rarely expect to see more than a few bhp either way with just exhaust mods (even a decat - the standard cat is pretty free flowing). This is around the same difference you'll see between good fuel and cheap shite, or the difference between performance on a cold day and in the height of summer. Unfortunately, naturally aspirated cars rarely release big numbers from simple mods.. If you want 15-20bhp gains you need to be thinking cams.. As for the drive train losses (it's not just the gearbox..), 50bhp doesn't sound too unusual. BTW you might also find that you've got a dodgy camshaft sensor. Might be worth getting the ECU scanned for faults.

Well overfuelling wouldn't help, ultimately, if that's what it's doing, but don't forget different rollers give different results for point number 1 and for number 2 I wouldn't expect 15 bhp from just a decat and 6-branch on a naturally aspirated VR6. Piggyback ECUs are not that great either, they tend to perform fine on the rolling road but out in the real world they're not quick enough to respond to throttle changes. I'd go for a in-ECU rechip if that's the route you're going. And finally, the stock ECU chip should be perfectly adept at extracting pretty much all the performance available on those simple modifications, and getting the best from your nice shiny top end .. So if it were my money I'd go back to the stock ECU and see where we go from there.

Not a big job changing the sensor, but it's very expensive, so you don't wanna be changing it unless you're sure it'll fix the problem. Take the car to a decent auto electrician and they should be able to diagnose the sensor is faulty with an oscilloscope. Essentially they tend to lose resolution when they get warm *anyway* and as the magnet in it loses strength this loss of resolution becomes more pronounced until you get where you are now: hiccups while driving then ultimately the engine will stall and will refuse to restart until the block cools down a little. If this is too much hassle then start with the other things suggested above: ECU relay and ignition switch. The crank sensor is ~£140 so it may be worth ruling out the cheap stuff first.

People have been patching welding sills ever since the car was invented. You ain't driving a two year old roller here, so you can't expect everything to be brand new!

Could be the crank sensor .. sounds a little like the right symptoms.. hard to say though.

yourself

Yes, I think VW will offer to sell you a cheapie set for around that, but tbh you're better off going elsewhere!

There isn't a single part number from VW, you buy them individually and actually it's more like £85 + VAT from VW.

Right, I guess so. I wouldn't have thought the chain would suffer too much, I'd just replace the tensioner pad and bolt. But having said that, replacing the tensioner pad requires you to drop the gearbox off again so maybe you should replace the chain again, while you've got it off..? I doubt it will have stretched much in that time, even if it was under excess tension, but if you want to be sure ...

Indeed, the final cars rolled off the production line in May 1995 (mine is one of these, in fact), so anything that wasn't registered till August 1996 was kicking around unused for a long time ..

Not sure there'd be much of a premium.. after all: PLUS: extreme rarity (well not really, it's just a funny coloured VR6 with diff wheels) MINUS: absolutely whacked out colour scheme. Definitely not to most people's tastes...

Hmm, worn down in 1k is definitely wrong ... ! I can't see how excess chain slack could cause this - it's supposed to be slack! The only reason there might be excess pressure is if the bolt was over-pressurised when it was fitted, oil pressure is unlikely to be enough to have that kind of effect. The bolt has a non-return valve, so on fitting it is supposed to be loose; then when you fire up the engine oil pressure takes up the slack; then as the chain gently stretches over time the oil pressure continues to take up the slack. It's a good idea to pre-pressurise the bolt when you fit it, but you need to be careful not to overdo it! If that's what's happened, then whoever did it for you needs to replace the whole lot again!

I guarantee you did, with 155k on the car .. !

Quite normal for the tensioner pad to wear away after anywhere between 70k and 200k miles, depending on usage and phase of the moon.. The "tensioner bolt" applies no actual tension by itself, the slack is taken up with oil pressure within the bolt pushing a piston into the back of the pad.

The smoke isn't just burning residues that will subside .. ?

Pull the handbrake up half a click (without engaging it) .. the brakes feel fab don't they? I have to say I'm not sure I'd trust my braking system to a GSF part. Fine if you're flogging the car in 6 months, but if it's a long term prospect pay the VW tax.

if that was the case, then the abs warning light would remained on after replacing one side. It went off however once the drivers side sensor was replaced. Faulty != dead! Faulty sensors can read fine electrically, but produce bad results.

First three digits denotes the car it was destined for. Given that the last six digits are the same and they LOOK the same I'd say it's a fair bet it'll work just fine.

Did anyone ever figure out if you can replace the rubbers on these aero blades? Seems pointless to throw out the whole thing just to replace the rubber strip. (Though I know this is exactly what we've been doing for years I have to think there's a better way .. )