dr_mat

How heavy was the CRX? The web suggests it's about 1000 kilos.. so yeah, the VR is about 200kg heavier, and not that much more powerful if you had 170bhp to play with before. Power/weight is probably lower on the VR as it happens.. You'd need 205 bhp in the VR to retain the same power/weight ratio. The gear change on the VR is lovely though .. bit of a long throw, but fluid as you like (at least when they're relatively new). But again, that's another common difference between german and japanese cars - the gearchange is always tighter and more positive. The big difference with the VR is going to be torque.. your CRX produced only 112 lbft at a scary 7100 rpm .. The VR will be positively lethargic by comparison - peak torque is 180 lbft at only 4800 rpm .. Chalk and cheese, really..! Don't talk about the door handles. The moment you talk about them they break ...

~ 180lbft, 190bhp, so more power than torque in pure numerical terms. But once again - it's no buzzing Honda CRX engine, it has a much more lazy approach to producing it's power. Keep it between 3800 rpm and 6000 rpm to get the most out of the VR, plus, if you DO have a faulty sensor on the engine, chances are it's not putting in the right numbers anyway.

Um, yeah, that might do it .. !?!

Don't think the cam sensor would explain the dodgy idle though. But hey, so far we're all just speculating till you get it VAGCOMed ...

The best is clearly the real thing from Ross-tech.com. But they're not cheap .. Though for $229 you get the cable and a permanent license to use the software, so that's not too bad - about £120.

Cor, he's alive! ;) Have to agree, really. I mean, partly everyone's response to SUVs is jealousy - because of what it represents - i.e. "I can afford to spend £70,000 on a car". You have the same gut response to people poncing past in Ferraris and so on, though in those cases it is tempered by the fact that you respect the car (or not). But at the end of the day the SUV is a pointlessly "look how BIG my car is" car. There should be a ring of car parks around london with lonely SUVs in - owners would be forced to drop them there and pick up a courtesy Renault Twingo to complete their drive into London.. It's like BMWs. Everyone hates BMW drivers, but most people who are "into" cars grudgingly admit they'd love to own an M3/M5. So we really only hate other people driving BMWs because we don't. Yet. If you see what I mean? A friend of mine is totally anti- german cars. She quite rightly points out that (particularly in the south), if there's someone driving like a nob, chances are it's an Audi or a BMW. I quite rightly point out, however, that something like 40% of the cars on the road round here are Audis or BMWs (and of those, most are company cars, not privately owned)... Lies, damned lies, and statistics?

Bummer. I got a cheap ebay serial one about three years ago and have no problems at all.

.. which won't work if your tester has his head screwed on cos he will know the light is supposed to come on and then go off. Get it VAG-COMed (yes the ebay leads are ok, even the old opto-isolated ones should work), and see what it says. The best way is to fix it.

Be fair: you used to own a Honda...!

Just resetting the ECU wouldn't cause running that poorly, sounds more like you have an actual problem. Easy way to find out is to scan the ECU for error codes ..

Either that or a dodgy master cylinder.

Steering column? Does the steering feel a little disconnected on bumpy roads when you're around about the straight-ahead (i.e. it's not under load)? You might have play in the mahoosive universal-joint at the top of the column, where the tilt adjustment takes place. But I restate - if you've disconnected and refitted all the lower suspension components you're wasting your time till it's been cast+cambered properly. Straight line stability comes from castor angle and matching cambers, not "tight" steering components.

You have the 4-wheel alignment all done right? Proper cast+camber setup done? Particularly after replacing all those bits it needs to be setup right cos otherwise you're wasting your time.

"It's not the matrix". Who knows? If it gets worse when the engine is up to temperature it's almost certainly the matrix. But if not, it's probably "just" a water leak.

I have to say I think I'd be looking at the ignition switch myself. If the car won't turn off, that means it's not closing all the circuits down. The ECU should lose power completely when you take the key out, and without power to the ECU that means no fuel, no spark, so the engine WILL stop. Regardless of the fuel pump (which runs on with the fans and electric water pump after ignition-off anyway), the rest should stop immediately.

Did you pre-pressurise the tensioner bolt? I've heard of one or two people say they've had DOA ones of these, they won't hold pressure.

.. but being fair about it the standard crap viscous one damps gearbox noise better and lasts ~100k miles. Your choice.

When you're arguing about a second or two, it's not possible to say anything like for sure without professional recording equipment.. My old 1984 1.6 Cavalier was ~2 seconds quicker than "book" to 60, but hey, I'd never claim that was down to anything other than my own dodgy timings.. ;)

Perhaps they have been overtaken by their success. They're probably struggling to maintain the standards when they have so much business.

Woz gonna say, you checked the oil pressures?

I'd be writing to Pristine head office myself, forget the local agent, they were probably trying to cover their own postage costs. Write to head office, explain the situation, explain you're still not happy with their work, and particularly that you're not happy at having been made to pay to rectify shoddy workmanship in the first place, and that you would like them to do something about it. Useful info: http://www.pristinealloywheels.co.uk/ Pristine Alloy Wheel Refurbishers Limited Newport Road Woburn Sands Milton Keynes MK17 8UD Managing Director's name is David James, apparently. Send the letter "FAO David James, MD".

Piston slap when cold is common on even young VR6 engines, let alone old ones. The timing chain sound is quite distinctive though and you're unlikely to mis-diagnose one as the other.

Indeed, but that was for the MAF from a late beetle 16v and a late Corrado VR6. The internal parts are the same because they're both 4-wire "hot film" MAFs. The beetle MAF was cheap because VW HQ had a run on the parts under warranty, and they reduced the price to cut down their "losses" under warranty claims.

Yes.

Aux water pump is an electric pump behind the block, on the passenger side of the engine. The main water pump is on the driver's side at the bottom of the block, driven by the aux belt. I would suspect that the pipe died due to old age myself. No need to turn the heater to "hot" by the way, there's always flow through the heater matrix on these cars, it's not like the old ones where the heater control stops/starts the water flow..