dr_mat

Could be pressure yeah. There's been a number of cases of VR oil pumps failing prematurely (not a vast number, but some), and there's cases of oilway blockages in the head (or the return valve), or of tappets failing due to bad oil or overheating and bad oil or whatever. Anything that prevents the head from getting full oil pressure could potentially cause a seepy tappet to become noisy where otherwise it would be nice and quiet. And by this I mean full oil pressure when hot - because obviously although pressure is higher when the engine is cold, it's also harder to get it into those tight oilways in the head. That's another reason why old engines always seem to run better after a bloody good thrash in nice cold air at high revs and full engine temperature... :) I believe Mr Bucket (sorry Bouquet) changed his oil 4k miles ago ..

I don't know of a car built in the last twenty years that DOESN'T use hydraulic tappets .. do you? (Apart from maybe the 950cc mini engines ..!) Generally tappet problems can be caused by blockages in the oil lines or low oil pressure. The tappets themselves rarely fail, they just become blocked - they should self adjust for wear as you say. More than that, I'm not sure on ...

http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?t=51593

They're oil filled, or they're supposed to be. If you have sufficient oil pressure, they will stay pressurised and keep the valve gap down reducing clattering. Do you have an oil pressure problem?

The VT mounts have a renewable rubber insert - presumably that's what he's replacing only. And the starter sounds like it's probably staying engaged, or the ratchet on the sprocket is seized meaning that when the engine fires the starter gets pulled up to stupid revs instead of just freewheeling till you release the key.

As I explained a month or two ago, you don't need a supercharger on a VR6 corrado to match an XK8 inch for inch ..

I think all VRs sound a *little* like that, but that's pretty loud - though it's hard to say if that's just because the mic is making it sound worse than it really is. I reckon it's tappets, as said. Take the car for a really good thrash (having double checked the timing.. ;) ) to pump some good hot oil into the tappets and if it's not cleared up you probably need to look closer .. ** Apparently "the book" says that to sort out noisy tappets you should hold 3k rpm on a lightly loaded engine for five minutes .. It actually says while the vehicle is stationary, but I can't see any *really* good reasons why just taking it for a thrash won't do the same thing.

Symptoms could go away, they could not, it depends on exactly what's wrong with your MAF ...

You might also want to check your brake fluid .. if it's not low, it's not leaking and your master cylinder is likely to be fubar.

Living in a terraced street I can tell you that an exhaust that is "slightly louder than standard" at idle would be a nightmare. Every single tick/click/clank/clatter/pop/bang from under the bonnet sounds about 20 times louder when you're trying to park between two rows of houses .. I remember one Corrado owner in the area popped round to pick up some bits once with either a Milltek or a Magnex exhaust on his 16v and parked up the street. Even from 200 yards away it was uncomfortably bassy .. It's an object lesson in how to piss your neighbours off if you have to get up early ..

Find a local scally. They'll have the car sorted in a few minutes...

Tell ya what would be really handy? Either edit the first post in *this* thread with the repair kit details (prices, how to buy them, contact details and so on), or start a *new* thread with this information at the top. I've not looked in for a while and I had to dig to page 3 of 11 before I found a price, and I don't even know if that's current yet .. ! :)

"next to none"? Methinks you meant "second to none" .. :)

OR: you're sitting the wrong way in the seat. Try facing the round thing ...

Remember fast is not equal to fun, necessarily.. You can have more fun with a slower car that responds nicely than a stonkingly fast one that doesn't involve..

It's a no brainer, really. Diesels don't rev much, and without the turbo they're pathetic, but with the turbo they're both economical AND performant. Small petrol cars can easily do 45-50 mpg on long journeys, but they'll come nowhere near the torque of a TDi. Of course, you might well find that the TDi is dull, soulless and uninspiring. But you pays your money, you takes your choice. Essentially, if you want torque and easy driving and economy and enough pace to worry the hot hatch brigade, TDi it is, but if you want free revving and an interesting noise and excitement .. you need a petrol engine for those moments when you want to play, not just "go fast".

It's the gremlins I tell ya. They don't like the mornings.

And the VR has wider tyres and a heavier front end than the 16v ...!

I'm not sure you can imagine just how heavy the steering will be without PAS mate - you want to be very sure that you can cope with it before you commit to it. Plus you'll just wear out the column with the amount of force you need to push through it.. (Though the mk5 column is probably better designed than the original Corrado one.)

There's always an exception that proves the rule ..

Which leaves ... VAG group cars. Boring to a bolt/nut. Keep the Corrado. A mate of mine told me the other week he was considering getting a mk5 Golf GTi, it being the homogenised "fast car that ticks all the boxes" of the week. I told him he was selling out and perhaps he should sell his SLR and his nice Cyrus Hifi and buy a Sony Cybershot and a Sony Mini System. Oh and start reading the Daily Mail and being horrified by "the youth of today".. ;)

Big bore throttle is cheaper than a BMC, exchange, and probably more effective.

Mazda RX8. Alfa Romeo? V6 pocket rocket .. ? That's about it, in the realms of "interesting modern cars".

I think a VR6 stat is supposed to be 80 degrees too ..

Indeed, but the fact that the light stays on means that when it runs the test it finds a fault .. quickest way to diagnose is to plug the computer in when the light is on and read off the error code.