Bruno

ACE Air conditioning in Chertsey. He did Guy's, mine, and really does know the car well. He will be straight on price and you need to be hard on him on the time he takes to finish the damn job. If you have the later type dash, you should go to GPC and buy: - the LHD fan/switch control mechanism. - the replacement housing and switches for aircon that go over the present cigar lighter position. Make sure he understands that you want him to route the pipes neatly and if necessary, fashions metal pipes to get it right. The Diavia one is rare now, but it does include a spur that hops onto the Engine's Brain to enable it to boost the throttle position slightly everytime the aircon relay kicks in. Em me if you have any final issues

ACE Air conditioning in Chertsey. He did Guy's, mine, and really does know the car well. He will be straight on price and you need to be hard on him on the time he takes to finish the damn job. If you have the later type dash, you should go to GPC and buy: - the LHD fan/switch control mechanism. - the replacement housing and switches for aircon that go over the present cigar lighter position. Make sure he understands that you want him to route the pipes neatly and if necessary, fashions metal pipes to get it right. The Diavia one is rare now, but it does include a spur that hops onto the Engine's Brain to enable it to boost the throttle position slightly everytime the aircon relay kicks in. Em me if you have any final issues

Rob. What car is this? If its a VR6, then the sensor that should have been your problem is to the right of the intake manifold, near the coil pack, facing to the right. Part No is 046 905 379 - it opens and closes the choke if I remember correctly. Another thing. After you have changed it, you have to disconnect the battery for 1/2 hour and connect up again on a cold engine. This will enable the ECU to recapture the primary cold settings. Train the ECU by driving it through a range of speeds and loads. When hot- stop the car. Let it sit for 1/2 hour again and start again. If it still hunts, then tap the throttle body. Failing that you will need a VAGCOM or VAG1551 review undertaken.

My experience too - I had to go to 3.1 and got my bits from the US, then took the best part of 6 months to do it right. Everybody in the US thats done something serious has said the same thing: (i) get the temps down, (ii) the quality of piston and bore quality up to max available (iii) take your time on the rebuild. The higher compression config has much higher temps and does tend to be less reliable. So I went for a cooler block and decided I'd recoup the power difference with a supercharger one day. Still saving for it. Yet strangely it out-accelerates a standard VR6 C in its present (3.1 L) form. I didnt expect that. 8) Remapping is vital. In the end I had a specialist do it. I understand that both AMD and Stealth are good at this. If in doubt search the US sites. Many vortex forum users have taken the Passat 2.9 engine (which is an ABV), stroked and bolted on a charger of some kind. Thats where I got all of my info, and in fact, my parts.

The ECU is meant to handle this and normally does, even on full throttle depression. I suspect that you have butterfly flutter on your throttle body. There are a few threads around on how to clean the throttle body. I suggest you do, and at the same time make sure that all of the airways are absolutely clean. Be careful with the MAF sensor that lies between the air filter and the throttle body - go out of your way to ensure that the thin wire that runs across its is not damaged when you do clean things out. If this fails. Disconnect the battery for 2 hrs and reconnect it. Then take the car through a range of low and high torque driving exercises including a high speed run. If it comes back after 20 mins or more, then you have to look at the O2 sensor and check that it is clean.

Oddly Kev, the grey leather electric sets (fronts backs and sides) are going at seriously high prices. I've been watching em go on Ebay in Germany for 900-1000 euros - even 1200 for a 1993 version! They were rare.-

It depends on how you drive. I've owned both, and the fundamentals are (i) the G60 sits up begs, is always dying to go somewhere, and with attention can match a VR6. Its a revver, not a cruiser. (ii) the VR6 is front heavy, has tons of bottom end, and gurgles its way up the revs. Its not so reliable, as it runs very hot and the electrics dont seem to like it as much....but hell if you've had one for a week it charms you more and more and more. Foot down and in decent tune it will go some. If you then add the right supercharger it will blow off an M3. But it is front heavy, and takes some effort working it through windy lanes. Drive the two. Dont decide until you have. I prefer the cruise gurgle of the VR6 now but thats my opinion.

I think you got it at the beginning of the sentence. Have u checked that the CAM sensors were correctly realigned? Its dead easy to get it wrong.

Nick I'm really astounded. Whoever fitted this thing needs his balls tapped. The alarm system is a piece of intelligent kit that can only take off on certain rails, specifically set aside by VW. It seems as though: 1. Instead of operating the cars' own total closure system and waiting for it to come back with a confirm, it has spliced into the door pump relay, and also directly into the roof motor relay. I'm sorry mate but I'd get the damn thing removed, speak to the distributors about how to plug it into the VW loom, and have it put back in, using the right piggy back points. There are specific take off points. Believe me, I've had too many problems with the ABS system and the EMS simply because the alarm system was in the circuit. 2. The sunroof has a stepper logic motor. That clicking sound a lot like it was removed and that precious clip dead centre of the front on the sun-roof rail has been removed and put back, back to front. Either way, I dont think theres much u can do unless you can get it in front of an old hand with Corrados. Try and turn up at the next Club meet, and I'll have a butchers for you. Failing that, keep asking questions here. ...... :(

Only one problem with that approach. It really opens the door to the rest of the world and allows them to interrogate your computer quite effectively. The kludge for 127.0.0.1 is useful depending upon the version of Java you are running. Personally I wouldnt allow anybody that kind of access to my session variables. Doesnt anybody want to obtain a legal working copy anymore? :oops:

Andy, Kev, all the "C"s do it. They are meant to, but just until the car switches its monitoring system to electrical idle, around 30 seconds after the key is removed (not just turned off). Whats interesting here is that Andy has it going on for 5 mins. Andy I'd suggest you check for petrol leaks around the tank. Also check the petrol filter.

Given that your plugs and MAF is fine, you have three options available. 1. Most likely : coilpack. Warm the engine up. Wait until dusk. Spray some mist over the coilpack. If it fizzes or produces a nice display, replace it. Do check the archives here about which one NOT to buy! 2. If not that, disconnect the battery for a couple of hours. Reconnect and, after warming the engine, drive the car like a horse with a demon in its belly for 10 mins, then toodle about for 10 mins. Stop and let it idle, if the lumping clears at any time in this process, then you need to pull the O2 sensor from the CAT, clean it gently, replace it. also clean the blukhead junction points where the O2 sensor lead links to the normal loom lead. 3. If not that, is your engine radiator fan behaving badly? Ie your car seems to get too damn hot and the fan, when it gets around to kicking in, goes like the blazes, as though its auditioning for a jet engine film role? If so, get your car in to be checked by a VAGCOM analyser and see if your ECU is reporting a cold temperature feed. If so, check the cables and each temperature sensor and if these are all fine - you are unfortunately left with the ECU. If you are really now facing the option of an ECU problem one way of confirming this is : - somebody ran your car thru a very large puddle recently and washed the engine bay. the ECU does not like getting wet. I know, I know. - somebody decided to steam clean the engine bay without bagging the ECU and other key brains and the coilpack. that guarantees the little devils will get their own back for getting so wet! Probabilities: 1 in 800 cases go to ECU, 1 in 40 go to coilpack, 1 in 20 have a temperature sending problem. Hope this helps

Just go back to whoever u got the battery from and ask them to put a charge tester on the battery. It takes 5 mins. They are duty bound to do that as it is in all european manufacturers protocols for their retailers. If it confirm that you are charging, (I'd be surprised if you weren't) as the ignition light would come on - then, check for really daft things like - your bootlid switch not working, leaving the bootlid light on all nite, or the alarm system not dropping to 20ma default current drain. In either case, an inductive test of the power cable off the battery will enable you to work out whats happening. Its only 10 mins work from a good battery shop!

Nick, I think there is something more serious happening here. Your car should have a total closure system which throws the relays and monitors the sunroof switch states as well as the door lock pump state. When all have hit home (ie and confirm that they have in fact done what they were meant to do, and invert the signal), the alarm goes into the next state (ie beyond immobiliser) and actually arms the car, killing access to the switched (not permanent) 12 volt rail. If this state is not achieved before the countdown is completed (it depends on your alarm system) the alarm should sound to tell you that your car is still open! Some further thoughts. 1. Turn on the ignition, open the sunroof, turn off the ignition and remove the key. Stay in the car, with the doors closed and then run the sunroof motor to close (using the switch on the interior light control panel). The sunroof should be allowed by the car to close completely even after the light has turned off. If it hasnt, I'd bank on the suggestion that your alarm system or total closure system is sensing the sunroof off the wrong circuit! Has anybody repaired a door, or taken out your fusebox around the time when this started happening? :? 2. Auto-opening when the ignition is turned off is actually a country level option and was not delivered in the UK. Where exactly is this car from? :roll: Without this information we cant trace how your circuits are meant to work. If you have an alarm system I'd go straight to that and get the delay controls reviewed by the installer.

I am afraid stu that you arent the only one with the problem. Some pretty hefty techhies have also tried to nail this one and it isnt that simple. The original bentley manual was designed for Win 95/98 settings with a specific type of communications interface, and a specific form of Java (a language that is used quite often in your internet sufing program). Unfortunately applications such as firewalls, antivirus software that control email systems, and your current networking configuration and operating system all affect the viability. Bentley know about this and will help you somewhat if you have a genuine Bentley CD. You'll find them on the net. However if yours turns out to be bootleg'd, simply accept that you've been hosed, and that whoever sold it to you had not taken the time to include the 10-15 patches needed to enable it to work with current configurations. I have that T-shirt! :( The good news is that Bentley are planning to release a whole new version. The bad news is that it costs around $90 US for a new copy. So here's the proposition - MODERATOR - could you help out here - What if we attempted a group buy? I reckon we could push Bentley to do this for a lot less. SO what does everybody think? :?

Two possibles 1. Your O2 sensor was covered in rubbish and the detergent (which holds beyond normal engine combustion temperature), washed your catalyst. If so, you are dead lucky that your catalyst is still holding, as it doesnt like such poisons...I'd avoid doing it again. 2. You have a really common VR6 problem - a sticking valve. The most common source of VR6 oil leaks is not piston rings at first - its the valves. If your engine used to have a hangover after a hot run, and felt rough in the morning, thats the valves.

Assuming you still have the problem, you need to: 1. Remove the bumper (go under, remove the spoiler, remove the four bolts that hold the bumper underneath to the body). Note where all the leads and plugs go (be obsessive!). 2. Remove the slam panel. Lots of little screws in front of the rad, and by the headlights. 3. Let the rad lean forward (gently!!!). 4. Loosen the hydraulic tensioner (looks like a small shock absorber). 5. Put a NEW belt on. 6. Reverse process checking as you go along that you have definately put the cables back where they belong. 7. Get some G12+ coolant from your dealer (dont even think of something else) and mix it correctly, pouring it in with pre-boiled water in the mixture. 8. Disconnect battery for 2 hours. Reconnect. Turn on the ignition for 10 mins. Dont start the engine for those 10 mins. All the sensors need to reset and the ECU needs to do its maths. 9. With the bottle cap off, and your heater turned fully on, and lots of coolant mixture to spare - start the engine. If it clatters, or blows blue smoke, or lumps for more than 20 seconds, STOP it immediately. Otherwise let it warm up, adding coolant as it drops in level. 10. When the level starts to rise, put the cap on, keep the engine running for another 20 mins. Stop the engine. 11. Wait for the engine to cool, and remove the cap, top to max level, and refit cap. Cross fingers and if you have got to this point consider yrself a lucky bugger. Loads of VR6s have dropped their valves for much less.....

Now yr talking. Your ECU map needs to be redone. You've got two problems with a no cat system (i) NO oxygen feedback to the ECU (whoooops); and (ii) unburnt fuel in the exhaust line. Most VW ECUs bias the opposite way to Ford ECUs, ie they run rich and require the lambda probe to pull back the timing and drive up the oxygen ratio. If you dont have a cat, your lambda probe shouldnt be there any more. Now unless you ran an intake mod and remapped the wire-only-ignition that seems to be where the problem is. Assuming u like the no-cat system (I dont understand how you get thru the MOT) your only option is to have it remapped. If Im right thiscould be replicated by driving up a hill, foot down. As the car gets to the top and the revs become easier and the engine works less hard, you the immediately lift off completely and - it should pop.

Odd Kev, I'm going the same way- but I'm buying a set from abroad and having it shipped across the atlantic. I've reupholstered 3 cars of mine in the past, 2 by hand, and its hard work. In choosing suppliers, look at the quality of hide they keep, and the quality of stitching. Do take your time to choose colour, and also think about the seat fit all over again. You might also want to think about your lumbar and upper back support as well, and experiment with cheap foam before you get them done- it helps to get the seats back giving u a bonus - not just looks.... These bits of foam make a lot of diffeence. Good luck.

Actually no. The early VR6s only had ABS with traction control as an option. There is a difference (i) the brain (ii) the ABS loom heads to the brain and the pump (iii) and the pump take off points - there are two instead of one. The Storms and later VR6s had traction control thrown in 'cos VW gave up as it tried to empty its shelves of silly stock. Dont try to fit a VR6 system in a G60/16V version - there are huge balance problems you will have with the brain.

Andy, it is your disks. Your pads are either very hard or have become glazed. Either way as long as they dont squeak or judder or pull one way or another, or cause the ABS to flicker theres nothing to worry about.

Have you tried to contact Niko in Finland? His VWvortex Addy is Neils. He has a strong link with VWVORTEX members and often sells 2.9 manifolds to the USA. Also, interestingly I notice that in the last month at least 5 2.9i manifolds have been on Ebay, usually put up by the Germans. Another source is the Passat engine which is sold in the USA often with the 2.9i engine. If you are in California however dont bother as the 2.9i would never meet the emissions regs there. EIP tuning in the USA also sells an open throated 2.9i intake manifold on an exchange basis which is reported to be much better than an Shrick or VW VGI (no midrange spike).

Thats oil on the pistons if its really happening when its warm. Best option is that your oil's too thin. Make sure its thicker or the same as 10w40. Check the oil levels as well and oil colour. If its dark and sooty get it replaced and then see what happens next. If it soots up quickly, check the compression.

Two months of unburnt fuel from one cylinder landing on the cat is all it takes to wreck your catalytic converter and make it brittle. Without this they last upto 200,000 miles. With this damage they can go within 70000-10000 miles, usually within 30,000 of the damage. They cost silly money (£500-600). You wont regret it if you can replace the coilpack now. You've just helped me make up my mind about the leads Kev. I'm buying a new set. Now has anybody got a spare plug lead remover? Mine's been stolen by my stealers who wont admit it! :evil:

Part number ????? Please? :roll: