Bruno

My dealer said £600 inc fitting! :twisted:

High mileage 'Cs do have a problem especially if they have the old (pre-July 93 instrument pod and flex circuit board. Check your connections from the instrument pod to earth and also to the fuse box. Trace carefully each connection and use switch cleaner spray over the flexible circuit panel. Spray the contacts with switch cleaning spray. It may clear dust build up. Beyond this you need the help of someone who is used to debugging electronic kit, as they need to check each contact on the circuit panel and either find the naff one or the supply side protection diode on the board that coud be breaking down. It may be worthwhile is to buy a second hand cluster and if you have the nerve, swap the MFA control daughter board. Either way without the assistance of someone who is used to debugging electronics it will be difficult to sort out. I'm not hopeful. If the switch cleaner trick does not work, you should start searching for a replacement cluster or a good sparky.

Pull out the thermostat . It should work and enable the water to move through. Then open the heater so that the heater is on hot. Run the engine with the cap off until it drops, and fill it up gently with boiling water until all air leaks are out. Then cap, and run. Check your oil levels if ok, the oil temp can be monitored on the MFA, if this gets above 130 deg Cent before the water comes up to 100 deg F, then the oilways or waterways need to be sorted out.

Gave a look at the Canadian Corrados. Search on google for corrado canada. Their bumpers are dead flat at the front. I've seen the US flat front and frankly the European one looks neat by comparison. There is a problem with relocating the number plate lower because the steering rack coolant pipe runs behind the lower grill.

Huge part of German history. Designed the 911 body because it evolved from the Karmann Ghia variant on the Beetle shell. If I'm not mistaken they also had a hand in the design of one of the Trumph TRs (not Michellotti's ones, there was another one....dont remember which) - and they worked with Truimph when the Dolly Sprint engine was being developed in BL Special Tuning division. I think they worked on the suspension design for Triumph and also on chassis validation. 8) And yes it was the name of a guy who had really decent connections with some of the finest designers in Germany and Italy. The Ghia family connection sold out to Ford. What was odd about the Corrado was that it was completely sorted by Karmann as a plasticine body. VW only came up with the rest (I suppose thats when the trouble happened )

Its the coil pack. Search for the threads about it. Expect to spend between £180 and £300 depending on the source and version you get. You can fix it. And there is a thread about that as well..... http://www.gti-vr6.net/library/engine/f ... _pack.html Your choice. Most choose to replace the damn thing....

HT lead breakdown is a common problem. Run the engine until its hot, and wait until twilight. Open the bonnet and spray some water from a plant spray bottle over the leads and coil pack keeping a good 2 feet distance between the bottle and the engine. Its a sure way of finding the arcing point.

No used fans advertised on the bulletins that I know of, however I noticed this on ebay. Follow the link, its the switch to the fan. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 2432032969

I dont know what its like for the G60s and 16Vs but the trigger timer on the Vr6 post-ignition fan is set for 29-30 seconds. This setting is the relay itself. I'm also not convinced that the immobiliser is responsible: (i) the coolant control circuits are seperate from the ignition relay circuits (ii) the alarm system should not attempt to lock down the secondary relay circuits for 2 mins, (iii) the immobiliser should not cut in for 30-60 secs, because there are so many sensors that need time to reset after ignition is turned off. All the alarm system should do is sense that 20mAmps has been exceeded after 2 mins and if so, it shouts. It should not have the capacity to shut off secondary relays such as the fan relay. I strongly suggest that you get someone who knows how to trace electrical faults to look at this car. Theres more to this than meets the eye.

Two questions. 1. Would you mind logging, photographing the process? I think most of us would want to see how it compares to the ND, Dieselgeek and Mocal upgrades in practice. 2. Do you know anybody who's done this on a VR6?

They do look good, sort of freshen's up the car. So down to brass tacks.... Apart from the way they look from the outside do they enable the original plastic cover on the inside of the car to be refitted? Its just that I have a towbar and also low speed proximity sensors plugged into my rear lamp clusters......

Its fuel burning in the exhaust, hence the extra sound of a mini explosion - sounding like a pop. Its caused by a number of things (i) your driving tactics - loading up the injectors and then rapidly closing the throttle, leaving a ball of unburnt fuel on the next stroke (it can be done) (ii) leaky valves - VR6s used fireball concepts in the head design, hence their valves need to be tight (iii) cam timing off, or an excessively hot cam for a car that has a catalytic convertor still plumbed in (if you have put in a wild cam then you need to get the ECU remapped) (iv) plugs not firing at the right time with a rich fireball waiting.., (v) a combination of the above. Check your plugs, leads, throttle body. Make sure they are all clean and sorted. Then if that makes no difference, get a VAG 1557 on it and check for cam sensor pulse problems, or O2 sensor failure. If they look OK, then get a compression check done by someone who understands these things and search for a leaky valve set. If its that obvious and its a VR6, I suspect that two cylinders, not one, are affected - one cylinder is unlikely to upset the balance enough for the popping sound. Is it a problem? YEP. Unburnt petrol wrecks your cat convertor and that is expensive. Cheaper to find the problem quickly. My garage took a year to find it and then sheepishly told me that the cat had been wrecked by petrol, but of course that wasnt their problem....!

Andy. I think the one you are thinking of is a moonlight blue one that lives near Whitstable somewhere. Its owned by a major sailor in Whitstable. There are also two other C's in Whitstable, a pale sliver 16V, and a dark grey pearl VR6 (mine). I presume that your car is the one that blasts down the M20 from time to time....?

Whitstable, Kent

Five things worthy of investigation, which I have prioritised given that its a temperature independent but rpm dependent issue: 1. Check the cleanliness of your throttle body, and all pipes leading to the throttle body. Make sure it is pristine. Check the potentiometer and make sure it is smooth in its offered change in resistence as it is turned. 2. There is a small pipe at the rear of the engine near the air mass sensor, it is part of the breather feedback loop, and it can be cooked by exhaust manifold fumes to producing a hole and causing exactly the problem you have. Just run your hands over all of those pipes of 1" or less diameter and make sure there are no leaks. 3. The MAF sensor may be faulty. Rare but it happens. Disconnect it and see if the car runs differently. If it doesnt, then this maybe is the source. If poss, borrow one from someone else to confirm, before spending silly money. 4. The O2 sensor and its connections can be naff. Unplug it, spray its block connectors (near the firewall) with switch cleaner, and also wipe the sensor head with a dry lint free (also petrol and solvent free) cloth. Plug back in. Then disconnect the battery for 5 mins, then reconnect and see if the problem goes away (this last action is to reset the retard marker caused by a faulty sensor signal). 5. Wait until dusk and fill up a plant spray bottle with water. Run the engine on a fast idle (1500 rpm) and mist over the coil pack and leads systematically, and shine a torch over it. If you see any fireworks over any lead replace it. If the coil pack is faulty that will also be clearly evident as it will have its own pyrotechnics.....

I wouldnt even try and remove the cam sensor without disconnecting the battery. Its behind the coil pack and requires nerve and patience to replace it. So, in summary, yes do disconnect the battery and then go through the loop of driving it through slow speeds, varied speeds, then high speed run- this programmes the ECU....

Guy, the bottom end shells are really strong and dont have a problem. Bearings are good, I'd be surprised. However even if those cylinders look brill, get someone with eyes like a hawk to measure them up and make sure that they all come up to the same spec, then re-ring. As for the head, the yanks reckon its not a big issue, except for making sure that your valves are air-tight, that the airways are clean, your cam is dead true, and that the lifters and spacers are dead right. Apparantly ECS in the US does a head mod with port and airways mods that help considerably with t/s'charged engines. A few people on the west coast swear by them. Make sure that the engine is clinically clean when you rebuild it. Otherwise you will wonder why at 200 miles you have to open her up again. Dont ask why I know - and no it wasnt my fault - it was down to the VAG "master engineer"....(my hat!). The cam chain is a pain, make sure the tensioner shoe is replaced. Dont forget to replace everything with G12+ when you put it all together. There are some decent threads on this elsewhere - or was it you that wrote them.....?

Yep, dead right. Listen to it. Does it sound dry on the rails, does it click? Are there scratch lines where it has jammed up because somebody was silly with the interior cover? Any of these, aim for spending £60-100 on spares and a day removing it, cleaning it, putting white grease back into it, cleaning yourself, cleaning the headliner, losing bolts, realigning it, pulling it out because you forgot to mark where everything is and start again.....and then kick the cat. I have seen decent citizens lose it over the sunroof getting stuck. Its worth photographing and posting it to their bosses when you fancy getting your own back for some silly issue..... 8)

Lots of things Apart from body, 1. Listen for wheel bearing scream/rumble over 50 mph after 10 mins of driving; also check for steering bias that changes with speed. This is all wheel bearing related. 2. Check for caliper sticking by breaking progressively and also suddenly and see if she pulls about. 3. Suspension drive over a bumpy road and listen to the rear shocks. The n/s one tends to go early. Also check for steering bias. Its a common problem for the rack to drift to the n/s and thereby cause the car to bias towards the left- and indication that the driver has been hitting the sleeping policemen rather hard! 4. Look for oil leaks at the sump, between the engine and gearbox (usually a rear oil seal issue). If its there, also check for: a) Noisy tappets. (the cam/followers go around 90K miles); b) Rough idle (No 1 and No 6 usually have problems - either leaky valves or broken rings). c) Signs that the G11 reservoir has blown its load and sprayed the engine bay. If so, you get a chalky deposit over the engine bay, looks like whitish dust but it sticks together. 5. Check the gear change, it should be positive and no grinding/confusion. If not it could be an adjustment thing or it could be 2nd gear on the box needing repair. 6. Look for rust on the lower slam bar (it provides the footing for the radiator) - its a common problem. Check that it hasnt got out of control. 7. Check all of the switches on the dash - make sure they work. 8. Check the oil colour. Then take a lint free cloth and wipe the top of the tappets and compare the colour to that in the sump. If they are the same, then the owner will be telling you the truth about the engine. If they arent, then ask him what problems he's been having with the engine. Ask about overheating and rough idle. 9. Run the engine until warm. Get a bottle of plant misting spray, just filled with water and point it at the coil pack (n/s of the engine, its where the six spark leads come from) and spray lberally from about 2 feet away. Wait for 10 mins and then blip the throttle. If it shakes about or rough idles, you have a bad coil pack. Most VR6s are decent. However they dont like being pushed at the limit for too long. Ratting engine, overflowing water bottle, and coil pack problems are an indication of heat stress. If the signs are there, then dont buy it unless the engine is rock steady. If it shakes about or lumps a little - walk away until the owner has fixed it.

MPT1340 is a radio transmission standard. Its common to most alarm transmittors, including the scorpions. You are going to have to get somebody look at this, its not expensive - maybe £60-£100 to get it sorted - but your alarm should have an immobilisor. It was a standard feature on all C' that had alarms and also on VAG approved aftermarket alarm systems. Scorpion - by the way - is also used quite a lot on Ford systems.

I think I had the same problem. Here we go. 1. Take off the frame again. check where the motor interfaces with the screw tread on the feeder cords in the frame. Is there a small piece of metal which sort of caps over the screw-thread? Its about 1cm by 1.5 cm and curved. If it isnt there then the absence of that bit will prevent your motor from engaging properly. 2. If the damn thing is offset, ie it wont shut centre on, you have to mark the thing, remove the motor, move the cords by hand, until it closes, then put the motor back it. Em me if you need more help. Its a patience thing, not for people who have lives.....

It wasnt delivered on Storms/UK models oddly it was also discouraged as an option. You need to be able to spend around £1.2-1.5K if you go for an aftermarket kit installed. Diavia does one. VW did one as well, directly. The Corrado A/C system (modification of the Golf one) is as rare as hens teeth (whether they are VW or Diavia based). The option to install this from VW no longer exists on the EKTA listing. So you have to either make it up from parts or get a kit. If you can assemble yours using original VW parts instead of Diavia parts, then I'd say its a better thing. Most parts are common to other VW cars and are easy to source, the second hand versions usually being reliable and cheap on Ebay. The main problem is sourcing the replacement interior heat-exchanger unit for RHD with the mouldings for the A/C cooler. Alternatively if you know someone in Japan or another RHD country who has a smashed C'VR6, then you are onto a good thing. If you dont have the time, energy, and technical documentation, then get a Diavia installation from a serious A/C aftermarket specialist, (or they will bodge the routing of the 7 or so pipes and mess up your tidy engine bay). Thats what I did and I had to take it back twice to get them to get my engine bay tidy again. I also chose to obtain the European 3 rotary switch control assemby so that I could anchor the OEM air-con switch in the cigar lighter socket, correctly. I believe one or two others have dont the same thing. Jay and Guy (Corrado GB Club fame) have modified their cars to operate a Golf IV version (with Climatronic control). I understand that this is brill, but Jay doesnt really wanna do these any more. ...too much trouble unless one is doing this for a living, he reported.... Is it worth it? Absolutely. :lol: One cant explain it. But my family goes mad if its not working--- and they are all grown up!

Nigel Do you have any suggestions as to where that part can be found again? I know its as rare as hens teeth....but if you know any more Germans........I'd appreciate some help getting hold of one. 8)

Kev's right. I'd be surprised if the VAG garage changed it themselves. Mine's been changed twice, both times arranged by the garage, and autowindscreens did the job. The second time I hand to bounce on them, because if they dont clean the old seal off, and replace it completely, and take the time to have it set properly- you end up with a badly seated one, with wind noise and all kinds of new problems.... Wherever you go, make sure that the fitter understands that you know that C owners get p****d off if its not done right. Expect to lose the car for the day - its not a 2 hr job!

The one that tends to go is to the rear of the coil pack ( look for the 2 x 3 spark plug lead origin). Its not easy to diagnose it if you cant feel it being wet. I suggest you put plastic bags on top of your alarm siren, the ECU, the steering bottle and the brake reservoir, and then slowly wash the engine bay with hot (not steaming) water. After its all clean, run the car around for a few days. If there is a water leak you will see (i) a drop in cold water level in the reservoir, and (ii) white marks where the water has leaked and overspilt onto other engine parts. the white marks are a great way of chasing it back to the source.