Sean_Jaymo

Cool, just seen this edit. Hopefully my post above isn't too patronising and you enjoy a Corrado for what it is, but what it isn't is a 5 mile commuter.

Leaving a car running at idle is not the best thing to do unless you want to drive the car hard from the start and leaving a VR to get up to 70c can take 10 or 15 minutes, especially at this time of the year. The oil does not provide full protection until it warms up and it's viscosity improves. True it will provide some protection from cold but all manufacturers will advise getting in a car and driving off straight away. The key is not to abuse the car until pressures and temperatures are up to operating specs. VR engines are notorious for cooling problems and at the age and condition that a lot of the cooling system is in, not letting it get up to temperature and run properly is only going to cause expensive and time consuming faults. They should run at 85c water and 92c oil this time of year and about 10% higher in mid summer. The ecu takes a reading from the water temperature and anything below 70c (if the sensor is working properly) will cause the ecu to deliberately over fuel in an effort to get the engine up to temperature, leaving the car to idle for 10 or 15 mins before driving is a waste of money for a start and driving from cold will not give the car to properly reach temperature in that kind of distance. Do what you wish and I feel you are letting your heart win over brain here but be very aware of the implications of running a VR for this kind of lifestyle. We are a protective bunch on here and don't want to see another car broken because it has cost the owner a lot more to run and maintain than they thought. Hell, 10 minutes idling and 10 minutes driving, buy a push bike or a ****e box clio and drive the car properly at the weekends!

Elbow grease. Everything else will struggle with the heat and tarnish. It's one of those things unfortunately, shiney stuff means high maintenance. Just ask my wife.

5 miles is not enough to get a VR properly up to temperature.

It will cost a fortune over a 5 mile commute. It will very rarely get properly up to temperature (oil and water) so the car will always be in warm up mode. Definitely a longer distance cruiser and not a short distance commuter. It sounds as if you have made your mind up regardless but don't be surprised when it starts costing in fuel and parts. A lot of the advice given here is from experience and is not rose Tinted.

Ideally the brackets should remain in place. Finding someone who can realign the car once they have been removed is not as easy as it sounds. I'm thinking that you were hitting the sill because there was some weight on the bolt when you were trying to remove it, causing it to point upwards slightly. There is usually plenty of space to get the bolts out. So long as the the compensator is removed of course as per earlier posts.

You'll be back...!

Nothing much happening on this front at the moment. I don't like the cold and I'm busy with work. But I decided to go and plug the car into VCDS and see what is what. After 9 months, the only faults showing are mixed rear o2 sensor plugs and an intermittent MAF sensor fault. Having both rear o2 sensors in 1 pipe explains my first fault code and the MAF code being intermittent doesn't really concern me. My long term trims are also showing as -5% and -1.5% so that's ok too. All in all, not much to write home about but positive signs of a decent conversion. It's been otherwise faultless and reliable. Averaging around 31 mpg at this time of the year, which seems ok for how it drives.

I'm sure they are all much of a muchness. These just had a better advertising blurb so that's what ultimately got me!

Well as an update, I bought 2 polartec bags. They are black felt bags with a paper indicator on the outside. I put one on the parcel shelf behind a head rest and the other goes on the dashboard when the car is left and after 2 weeks I have noticed a huge improvement on the amount of condensation on the inside of the car. Money well spent.

Got to love an easy fix!

Only thing I can recommend is to get the multimeter out on the instrument plug and see what you find. If you find the electrics ok, it points towards the cluster being bust.

I'd love to have a go in a 997! Best looking of the water cooled versions! Mine was a carrera 4.

Sounds like your continuous 12v, isn't!

I went from Corrado to a Porsche 911 964 and lotus elise 111s and still came back to Corrado ownership! Can't put my finger on it and on paper the Corrado is a lot worse than either of those cars. I still came back.

I'd say waste of money, a good service as mentioned above will be far more beneficial!

I've always used Castrol LM grease, it's beige in colour.

Haha, all the cool kids are doing great it. And me!

Look forward to seeing this!

The gearbox tower suggests it's an 02a box but maybe with a different mounting system?

It must be! I do seriously like those wheels though!

Turning the lights on must increase the resistance in the temp sensor circuit. Strange that the water temp or air temp doesn't increase too!

I'm jealous! Do they still exist or are they long confined to the history books?

There is a bleed nipple on the master cylinder that normally gets over looked when bleeding. Being the highest point in the system, you'll struggle to get it out any other way!

My old Corrado did this and I never got to the bottom of it. I'm guessing it was an earth issue. My current one doesn't though.