Diesel Junior

Greetings from Bodge City! OK, this morning tripped over a piece of aluminium tubing and before i could say 'hacksaw' it was heading upstairs for some 'treatment'. I cut it to about 4" in length and got it into the two pipes no problem. I was a bit worried as there was an OE pipe and a silicon Venair (from Barcelona) pipe and it was a tight fit but did it and got the OE green clips around them. I think its a decent join (let me know what you think) and have done 40km this morning without problem. A visit to the stealer was in order and a new matrix is en route for €110 and should be here on Monday. Dont think i am up to doing this one on my own so will ask a mate to help out. The sauna effect has now stopped and now its time to clean the carpets (again), tragically no heat available but not too much of a loss. BTW the internal diameter of the hoses were 22mm and 20mm for the non OE and OE respectively.

Do you know what size i need? Wish we had Unipart over here........

Good news well done....i see you just done your heater matrix, acco to the etka there are two gaskets at top and bottom of the actual matrix is that right? Is it advisable to do them as well? Any advice much appreciated!

Hi Carrots, hope things are improving with your car you were having a bad run. Heater matrix gone over here, woe is me......

Thanks guys. So far Carlos hasn't been able to find the U bend so a trip to the ferreteria it will be tomorrow. A straight connector will do it dukest and then some jubilee clips? Am still not quite sure about the size required tho, any advice much appreciated! Just been out in the car, the last time i saw so much steam was in a dodgy sauna i think.......to think i spent most of last week cleaning it to its peak and now it does this, grrrrrrrr, took this photo minutes before the matrix of doom caught another Corrado fan in its grisly net...........

Good luck there, always good to see a car being rescued, anything you need to know is on this forum - keep us all informed, especially with pictures!

I know,bloody typical its 80 degrees here and what trips me up but a heater matrix. I am annoyed as in the last year have changed the hoses to silicone ones, radiator, water pump, crack pipe, oil cooler and this is about the last thing left and its demise was inevitable and maybe should have gotten round to doing it but......the video was ok for a phone, it was great to hear it - especially without the exhaust!:smug:

Nice one! We would be the only Brits not wrecking Salou right now......off to see Carlos with his U bend copper tube (here's hoping!) now....great link on YouTube BTW, keep up the work on a top thread!

Tom, can you pop over here and do my heater matrix for me when you have a minute? They're really useful on the Costa Blanca........

thanks Alex have just been looking at it and it will have to be a U bend as one is above the other. Should have mentioned (.........) that changed the hoses last year after one of them split, one of the pipes going into the matrix is OE t'other is silicon........Anyway, my mate Carlos (15km away) has 2 Corrados and as a veteran of 3 matrix changes he reckons he has the U bend pipe that i need......here's hoping.....

Cheers and sorry for the mess i caused last night with that post BTW! OK, so i want a copper tube of 17 or 18 mm then and the jubilee clips? have seen some of the other threads (God this is a common problem.......) and there was a picture of a white plastic connector which would do the trick but in rural Spain thats a no-no......I await your guidance.........

Ho folks i fear i am the umpteenth victim of the dreaded heater matrix of doooooooom. Here are the symptoms....climbing up a hill (to take some pics of my car.......) steam pours out of the vents (pretty scary actually, cant think what that is like on the M1 in the rain at speed........), car chucks its G12, low fluid warning light comes on (an old acquaintance.....) and my footwells are wet and smell lovely......is this the dreaded matrix???? OK, assuming it is the above i will go and order it as i have a mate who can put it in....in the meantime i remember reading that you can bypass the heater system (i wont be needing it for 6 months) by a copper tube to link the in/out hoses that go into the matrix and a couple of jubilee clips will keep me going in the short run, does anyone know the width and length of copper (i presume) pipe that would do the trick? Any help gratefully received........as i become another victim of the matrix that has taken more skin of fingers than anything created........

Cheers Pete, £199 for a set of coilovers is darned cheap, are they OK? I would like to lower mine a little but baulk at the €1250 we have to pay over here for Konis adn Bilsteins, even Weitecs come in at over a grand. I am tempted as i dont need race track sharp handling but the 'buy cheap, buy twice' adage is ringing in my head. Would be interested to hear how you have found these, thanks, and enjoy a great car in a winning colour!!

Couldn't agree more....you ok Tom??

Great thread Pete have only just come across it and will follow from now on. As per the wheels i would stick with what you have got mate, i agree with Kip more and more are going back to the OE look, getting them refurbished a hell of a lot cheaper than new non OE. Have a look at mine on a near identical car! Sorry if i missed this but which coilover set did you go for? How much? Am looking at your picture out of one eye and my 'John Deere' out of the other and i am tempted! Best of luck with the car, the DJ

No idea, sorry mate just saw it and posted!

**MOD EDIT** - Deleted - please do not spam other peoples classifieds - Supercharged.

The Ship on a summer's evening is just the best. Am a tour guide and we used to take the Yanks to Dunottar then to Stonehaven, they loved it. That 50-60mpg on a Corrado is amazing i am going to try and get one this summer when i come back (and leave the VR6 wrapped up here boo hoo:sad:. Have you seen the TDis on the database (http://www.corrado-database.nl/index.php) they are getting very popular over here, i saw one at Essen a couple of weeks ago, it sounded a bit strange at first but i bet it goes well....happy driving up there and mind the gatsos (none over here - yet!)

Hi Craig, where is that church in the 2nd photo mate? Thats a great collection of Corrados you have there, quite fancy a TDi to keep the miles low on my VR6. Regards to the pub down on the waterfront (The Ship??) and welcome to the best forum going!

BLCSO......thats a mighty collection of cars if i may say so!! Two Mark II GTis? Respect mate!!!!

Couldn't agree more, its a buyers market at the minute, decent valvers going for less than 1500 quid etc. Will be back in UK for 4 months this summer and leave mine here all wrapped up, it's not going to be easy.........

As longas its been serviced with quality oil and filters it should be a good 'un, look at the mileages on taxis, they are intergalactic (700,000km plus over here.....) and granted while they are diesels and last longer i dont think mileage is the problem it was 20 years ago!

Some great cars there but if i was in the UK i would snap the dealers hand off for this gem, BBS always go well with dark colour. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201114384158439/sort/priceasc/usedcars/model/corrado/make/volkswagen/postcode/ne23nn/keywords/g60/radius/1500/page/1?logcode=p We just dont cars like this in Spain, just rubbish like this......... http://www.coches.net/volkswagen-corrado-corrado-18-g60-3p-gasolina-1989-en-valencia-25188891-covo.aspx :bonk:

Not sure which engine you have Andy so dont take it as verbatim......the ETKA is back and running on vagcat now, you will find the right part number there in no time.

Try vagcat.com Andy, methinks its 447133441 but double check!