Diesel Junior

Great thread Sean, am really enjoying the updates and well done for saving one of these fabulous cars. Keep up the good work!

I'm no mechanic (.....) but managed this ok. It's just a bit tricky cos the spoiler motor is there as well. There is a guide somewhere on this forum but you wil be ok

8 years with a vr6 and no real cooling issues? That's a good run given the problems I had on that score - Well done! Thermostat is odds on favourite here....

Hi folks, maybe someone out there can help me with this one. I brought a uk plated Vr6 out to Spain in 2007 and had it re-registered to Spanish plates prior to selling it. Now I may have the chance to buy it back and would bring it back here and would have to register it back on uk plates. I know this sounds very complex but the car is very special to me. However a local dealer says that I can't do this, I.e. re-register a previously registered uk car. The dvla website wasn't much help so if anyone on this great forum could help I would really appreciate it! many thanks in advance

ha ha, Actually The golf has gone and am now over here and have a bmw 318 as need something sensible to help my elderly dad. I will get a vr6 this year the prices are only going to go up. Good luck with yours mate!

Sorry to hear about this DavyDave, good luck getting the car back on the road every time you drive it its 2 fingers to the pond life that took it. When my Vr6 got wrecked by a Benidorm bus i got the same supportive messages you are getting to help you along. all the best from the Toon, Matt

This is so very sad, I am shocked. I never met Chris but his help and patience with non mechanics like me was much appreciated. When I stupidly sold mine he tried to tried to persuade me otherwise but it was too late, I hope his family get to see all these messages for him on this great forum. RIP.

Hi Marco, make it a vr6 I sold mine to a dealer in alicante in 2011 & have regretted it ever since. Prices here in spain are quite high compared to the uk but try our spanish forum as they come up there from time to time http://www.clubcorrado.com along with mobile.de and coches.net the car you want is out there, somewhere!

Me too :(

Lovely car Nick, really like the colour, what is the inside like?

Good thread this, have always had a soft spot for silver Corrados, very hard to find and this is a stroke of luck -well done! £900? Let me know when you see another one and well done for keeping it OEM! Keep us informed on how it goes, there is an absolute gem of a car here, well done!

One of the best things i have ever bought off eBay, doddle to use especially after warm water which softens up the residue.....BTW folks over here in Spain the talk is of a 25th anniversary (2013) trip to Germany, maybe i will have a LHD non sunroof VR6 by then!

Thats brought back a few memories Stone thanks! Maybe i should go and have a look at this one since the miles are genuine http://www.autoscout24.es/Details.aspx?id=189295442 you are right about it always wanting to move up to fourth asap i had forgotten that. Good call on the fluid, when i first got mine in 2007 the changes were a bit jerky so i took it to VW in Benidorm who looked at me as if i was a fool and said 'lifetime fluid'. A quick trip to the Spanish Corrado forum put me on the right track and a change and drain of the fluid (a cinch and i am no mechanic.....) and the car was 100% better.....

Dead right, it is slow to react and compared with the DSG of this Golf its ancient history...still a great car but manual it has to be...

Hola t5, well my beloved departed VR6 was an auto and when i lost my marbles and sold it it had done 126,000km and never gave me a hint of a problem at any time. Having driven a manual that would be my preference as at the end of the day the car is a sports car but I would buy another, in fact there is one in Seville with only 68,000km on and i am tempted.......as the others said the best is to drive both. IIRC Townsend have some of both at the minute, different strokes for different folks as they say. Happy hunting!

Bloody hell is all I can say. Emu I am gutted for you mate, I have just had to change the screen on my golf v gti and autoglass charged the insurers €325, the screen came with rain and light sensors granted but that price its just awful. Sadly many of us have been in your position, my beloved vr6 got keyed by some filth in benidorm, €500 bill. Try and keep your chin up....

Carrots, i got one of those extractor fans filters you get for the kitchen and used that it was only about £3, spray it with something nice and that will have the interior like new! My heater matrix still to be done, car is in the garage, i cant bear to look at it at the minute, i have nightmares of coolant light coming on, best of luck with yours.....

Cheers Super, how is the Dolce Vita? Tank is brand new, cap - original! Will leave the car with garage tomo, should have update on Tuesday evenig!

Well folks decision time is looming.....checked the levels this morning (when cold) and the coolant level is spot on, just below the maximum, was able to squeeze the top hose no problem either. On starting the engine, on comes the coolant level warning light so i left it running, had a look underneath and there is no fluid loss of that i am 95% certain. The top hose was beginning to 'firm up' but the coolant level was staying where it should be. I disconnected the sensor at the top of the expansion tank but the light kept on flashing so i drove round to get a paper (5 km, its remote here.......) with the light flashing and me cursing in Spanish. Anyway, when i started it up again the light didnt come back on and has stayed off...luckily i bumped into the trusty Joacquin from the local garage (who is excellent and has a Sharan VR6 so understands these engines) and i am going to leave it with him Monday and Tuesday for a full check on the coolant system. If its not good news then the Golf GTi it is (sorry folks....), much as i love this car i am not a mechanic and need a reliable car. The flip side is that the only real problems with this car have all been related to the coolant system and so in some ways we must be nearer rather than further away to a solution. The failure of the oil cooler seems to have created a domino effect taking out the radiator, heater matrix etc etc, time will tell, the worry is the pressure in the coolant hoses meaning short journeys over the next couple of days, oh well Madrid v Barca tonight and Grand Prix tomorrow! Any moral support much appreciated, happy motoring to one and all!

The cap would cause all of this post bodge? OK, will order one on Monday morning. I read you post about 'preventative' work as per the heater matrix on a previous post, wise words i should have followed. Since in the last year i have changed all hoses, water pump, crack pipe, oil cooler and associated pipes to and from, radiator, heater matrix (shortly), IIRC the only things left which i should change then are Auxiliary water pump and thermostat (incl changing the housing and O ring seals) and i have a complete new cooling system? Have i missed anything out? Thanks for the help and time taken. The DJ

Thanks for that. The top hose is only a year old and its new found pressurised state has only been since my bodge this morning (see pictures), hence my thinking that it could be an air lock problem. The temp gauge is fine, car running ok etc etc. Maybe tomo i should drain out the G12/water mix i have and refill it SLOWLY, maybe this would make a difference? The expansion cap is the older black one, a blue one would be a good call i suspect. Its the top hose pressure thats the concern, maybe there is too much fluid in the system since it is bit (a litre?) shorter now? Help! Thanks again, the DJ

Would rather have him than William Hague TBH.......Supercharged sorry to take some of your time but should i be worried about the top hose (as above)? Don't want to join the Dark Side since the forum cant be as good but the dark side is strong........

Just north of Benidorm so 30 miles from Alicante. What is Turin like? Can you still see where the minis went around the roof of the factory? I didnt realise about the importance of A/C as per the matrix, will check when i pick it up on Monday thanks for the tip. The car is worrying me though, the top hose is not rigid but not far off it, i am sure it wasnt like that in fact i seem to remember that you could squeeze the two sides practically together. Maybe there is some air in the system. I opened the expansion cap when i thought it would be cool but it started to fill up and now sits about an inch above the max line. Luckily i put the cap back on before i got singed....this is why the dark side (the Golf GTi with DSG) is tempting me i am afraid, i love this car but maybe a car of 17 years needs a mechanic-enthusiast not vice versa.......Enjoy Italy, i am told the Prime Minister's house parties are more fun than doing a Corrado heater matrix.....

Dealer has offered me mine plus €8000 to change to a 2006 Golf GTi DSG, for the first time i am being tempted by the Dark side of the Force, time to put the tin hat on i suspect.......:confused:

Good point, i bet there are a few over here running with this 'bodge espanol' the mechanics at VW reckon it would last they were quite impressed with my work! The service manager did offer to do the job quoting 8 hours of labour at €55 an hour but i politely declined.....