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Cheers for the advice -- I think I'll take it to the local VW specialist and get compression, sniffer and leak-down tests done and then go from there. :)

That's the thing, I haven't needed to top up the water for months now and the oil filler cap is mayo-free. Both oil and water temperatures appear fine, water sits at around 85-90 when cruising and goes up to 100 in traffic, and oil temps are around 98-100.

Hi all, I have some fairly major problems with my '93 VR6 ... I got the car back in September last year and the engine has been fine apart from a leaky radiator ~6 months ago, now fixed. Recently however it's started to use more and more oil, now it will pretty much go off the bottom of the dipstick after 200 miles or so. There's *loads* of white smoke from the exhaust on startup which continues until the engine gets up to temperature, and then above ~3k RPM it really billows out. It recently started misfiring, or firing badly on Cyl 6, (tested by pulling the plug leads one at a time -- pulling cyl6 makes the least difference) I checked the sparks by cranking with all plugs removed, and there are good sparks on all the plugs. (all new plugs now, old plugs were pretty shot with no.6 being really mucky) The PO did the bottom end (new rings) and the top end, but I'm beginning to think the valve stem seals weren't replaced -- hopefully this is the problem but I'd like to be more certain before I start dismantling things. The only other thing I can think of that would cause the misfire is a dodgy injector, but I suspect that's unlikely to be the cause given the massive oil consumption & smoky exhaust. So, I'm thinking of getting a compression test done to rule out the bottom end, then going for a head rebuild job, and maybe putting some nice new cams in (if the next group buy goes ahead!) Has anyone else experienced this kind of thing before? Image123.jpg[/attachment:3n09i21s]

Quick update about this, Koni finally sent a new pair of front suspension units down to Stealth, however one of the new springs was still wrong. The good one was swapped for the dodgy one in the pictures above and the horrible noise has now stopped. Car seems to handle a little better now but I think that's probably just me... :D Thanks to vince & Stealth for sorting this out for me :) T

Hahaha that is quality... Oh by the way I've just invented a new diet, instead of *standing* on the scales, you *lie down* on them so your weight is spread over a greater surface area, thus making you weigh less and look *much* thinner! :lol:

Hmm, the density of petrol is only about 0.72kg/litre, so a VR6 tank of 65 litres would weigh 65 x 0.72 = 46.8kg? Still enough to make a difference to performance if it's nearly empty though...

Not as such, although they are on to Koni to get a replacement shock & spring for me. Vince reckoned it was one of a dodgy batch of springs...

timg60 is right -- they do scratch the roof. I just had another look at mine and there *are* some scratches... sorry for confusion... Tom

3corsameal, no, I don't see how it could damage the paint, I think it normally just jams in one position, or won't move on one side. Sods law says it only jams open, just as it starts tipping down with rain though... :roll: :lol: Tom

Found out what's wrong with mine -- the part of the mechanism that is attached to the cable has snapped, looks like the whole casting just failed because the cable is still intact. Does anybody know if it's possible to get individual sunroof parts from the VW dealers? I heard somewhere they will only sell you the whole sunroof assembly, or is that not true...? Will post some photos of the broken part on here this evening... Tom

I have exactly this problem -- I took the whole sunroof assembly out yesterday to have a look at it, so will keep u posted as to my progress... T

Hi Zerocool, do you still have some of these left? Would like to buy if so, Thanks Tom

I was thinking it may be possible to unscrew the height adjustment rings so the spring is loose, then wiggle the spring about and see if it seats better in the top plate before winding the rings back up again to their original position? Car's now booked into Stealth on Saturday for a check-up, so hopefully they will sort it out for me... :)

Hmm, that sounds quite possible... I'm wondering if it could be fixed by screwing the height adjustment rings right down so the spring is loose enough to rotate by hand? Just a guess, I'm not an expert on suspension...

Yeah I think the spring is definitely contacting the threads on the shocker body when the car's sitting on the wheels. The pics were taken with the car jacked up and the wheel off, for info. As far as I can tell the wheel clears everything fine, it's not lowered a lot from standard.

Hi all, Had some new Koni coilovers fitted a couple of weeks ago, much improved over the previous knackered FK Highsports, however there's now a really funny noise from the front drivers side of the car, kind of like a see-sawing noise when I go over speed bumps at low speed (as I always do...) So... I jacked the car up at the front, took the wheels off and had a gander at the suspension, and to me, it looks like the driver's side spring is slightly wonky, i.e. the shocker doesn't sit exactly central in the coil of the spring. I took some photos to show what I mean... passat climatronic wiring diags.pdfImage047.jpg[/attachment:162qex7x] climatronic wiring-Golf from May 01.pdfImage048.jpg[/attachment:162qex7x] 2.8l 24v Climatronic system.pdfImage050.jpg[/attachment:162qex7x] Image051.jpg[/attachment:162qex7x] Just wondering if this could be causing the noise, the spring certainly seems very close to the shocker body on one side... Cheers T

Right, I've just had my knackered old FK highsport's replaced with some brand new shiny Koni coilovers -- first impressions are much better ride and handling, improved steering feel, and the car feels much more planted on the road.. excellent improvement... But... since the coilies were swapped a rather loud 'see-saw' type noise has appeared when I go over speed bumps at low speed, coming from the front of the car -- it definitely wasn't there before... and also if I come to a stop on a hill facing downhill, there is a kind of 'tink' noise, which starts off rapidly and then slows down.... tinktinktink.tink..tink...tink....tink... if you get my drift... that wasn't there before either. Just wondering if anyone has experienced anything like this before? Cheers Tom

Hi Adam, looks like a great install, nice one! What kind of drivers did you use? And how was the bass response? I can imagine it was significantly better than stock! At some point in the future I'm definitely looking to do something like this to my doors -- what tools do you need for this kind of job? Cheers, Tom

Hi Dave, I just tried your suggestion and it worked -- the sunroof is now most of the way down, thanks :) I think to get it fully down I'll need to remove the headlining from it as you suggest... Tom

Hi, cheers for the reply... but I already tried that and unfortunately it didn't work... I think the cable on the left side of the mechanism has broken so even using the screwdriver doesn't make that side move. I think you're right about the different mechanism -- my Corrado has a different one to the one you describe -- mine has an allen key in a clip on the motor casing which you use to turn a hex-head bolt to manually operate the mechanism...

Hi All Does anybody have any advice as to how to lower the sunroof down from the tilted up position? Something has broken in the mechanism and only the driver's side sliders are moving -- so that side tilts down fine but the passenger side stays put. I'm thinking I may be able to hook something around the mechanism somehow and 'help' it slide down...? Here's a pic of my temporary 'bandage' ;o) Image026.jpg[/attachment:2fqme5xx] Cheers! Tom

Thanks for the info -- I'll give them a call and see if they can help. I wonder if anybody has any opinions on replacing the dampers with some from a different manufacturer -- is this likely to cause problems with the springs not fitting, or incompatible spring/damping set ups?

The dampers (FK Highsport) on 3 corners of my Corrado VR6 are on the blink and need replacing, and I've been pondering my options. My main priorities are good handling and longevity of the components -- I'm a bit miffed that after only 2yrs of use the Highsport's have failed completely (not exactly "performance" suspension in my book) I'm not too worried about lowering it so the sump scrapes the tarmac or mega-sharp handling, but I would like to keep it a bit lower than standard. * Replace the dampers with the same FK ones -- although everywhere I've rung so far about this seems to have stopped dealing with FK.. have they gone bust or something? (The springs are fine, it's just the dampers that need replacing.) * Replace the dampers with some different ones -- I've heard Koni dampers are 'compatible' with the FK springs, is this so? Any others? * The next option would be to buy a whole new coilover kit, e.g the H&R ones for around £750 * Finally I could go back to stock VW suspension (unlikely as I was quoted £950 for this job!) Any advice would be much appreciated as I'm at a bit of a loss..! ) Cheers Tom

Quick update, just got the car back from the garage, apparently the front offside suspension strut had broken?! Cost £140 or so to fix but I doubt I could have diagnosed and fixed it myself so quickly... Good service from Bridge Motor Company in Manchester as well.

Hi guys Got a new noise coming from the front of the car, happens intermittently when I go over bumps. It seems to be coming from one of the front wheels, and sounds horribly like something stationary is coming into contact with something rotating :scratch: It only happens momentarily, and only started since last weekend when I accidentally drove over a kerb :oops: I was only going dead slow but it made quite a bang. Any suggestions appreciated... Tom