Cluffstarr

I got one of those EBay ones as £70 was too much for me second hand. They're good quality / doesn't seem flimsy etc, I know it's not quite as original but the intention is to get the bodyshop to paint it flat red to match the rear anyway when having some bumper work done...! But could be just right for someone wanting a totally original car.

Well I got a pass finally :) The additive has done the trick! Car seemed to go quite a bit better and with the tracking now done it's quite joyous to drive! It makes a great noise, even without any trick exhaust so very pleased! Next stop a good clean and a few drives out before considering whether to look in to a replacement exhaust first or have a look in to getting some bodywork sorted and alloys refurbed

Evening guys, thanks for the comments. The car has been in the garage for two / three months really. I've had it out on occasion when I needed to work on my other car etc but it hasn't been for a drive at all bar the 4 miles long trip I did to the MOT guy this morning. Dox - Thanks for that list, I will pass it on to my mechanic see what he thinks. It was just a short phonecall today and obviously closed now but he still has the car so I'll try and catch him in the morning and see where the other readings were but he said it was just the CO2 that he couldn't get low after three tries. Cluffy

Well it failed on the CO2. He's going to try some additive that may temporarily get me a pass, but it looks as though I am looking for both a cat back exhaust system and a catalytic converter in the very near future. Can anyone recommend a company for a new catalytic converter as I have checked with TPS and they are no longer available OEM... Cluffy

Thanks guys. The Car's not without its faults and the paint isn't great close up but having a good hunt around there's very little rust I can see. I'm hoping that I have no issue bar a leaky exhaust that they may weld up. Should know in the next couple of hours...

Evening All, So, I've sold two cars in the last month so now feel I can splash a bit of cash on the Corrado over the coming couple of months as well as getting out and enjoying the car. First stop - MOT booked for tomorrow! FIngers crossed and then the decisions about what to spend on first (assuming I don't get a huge bill - think it will need some work to the exhaust..!) Waiting to be driven down tomorrow am: All the best to all - wish me luck ! Cluffy

[quote=seanl82;I got this one about a year ago in order to get it properly original though. QUOTE] What is properly original, then?? BTW, I'm working through your build / refurbishment thread as it's one of the ones that is inspiring me to do the work mine needs even though decent weather makes mne just want to drive it! Oh, and in your thread - how do you get the pics into the body of the post???!

Hi Geeba, Sounds ideal! What have other people done? Is it a case of just handing it over to a power coating company who will blast it and once smooth will give it a painted, even finish? I'm also on the hunt for wheel refurbisment recommendations. All of the Speedlines need sorting out, including some big kerb damage to the rim of the nearside front....

Evening all, So, I introduced myself here a couple of moths ago: http://the-corrado.net/showthread.php?96388-First-Corrado-Finally!-Dark-Blue-VR6 I've wanted one of these for a long time and it's not been plain sailing since buying this one but that's mainly down to not selling other cars and a holiday getting in the way of me actually using it. Once I have sold one of the other motors (it's on EBay at the minute and fingers crossed will go to a genuine bidder), the Corrado will be sent for MOT and (assuming no horror stories) be taxed and back out on the road. Since getting the car I have back flushed the coolant system which has resolved a hot running issue and changed the rocker cover gasket as it had oil on both sides and was leaking down into the spark plug wells on the rear bank. Since sorting those two issues, I still have an issue with the fans not running on stage 1 or 2 it would seem. Fans kick in very loudly at 110+ degrees (assume stage 3) Plans for the car are to keep it as stock as possible and tidy it into something I can be proud of and enjoy owning / driving, as well as bring to shows and not be embarrassed against some other quality motors, the likes of which I see quite a lot of on here. Honestly, there are some fantastic rebuild / restoration threads and they give me motivation to get going on mine as soon as practically possible First up will be tracking down this fan issue. I swapped the relay for a supposedly good one from a Golf Mk3 (same P/N) but same behaviour. Think I'm going to have to ring out the cables. I then need to give the Rear Spoiler mechanism a good clean as it goes up around 65mph and should be a lot lower than that. The car needs a service, including oil, air and fuel filters, plus I will swap the plugs. I also need to sort a blow on the exhaust which was an advisory on the last MOT. I will flush the gearbox oil too if it's not too big a job. Picture of the car attached in its new house. Also, one of the engine as it stands. I would like to clean up the manifold a bit. I've seen some chap on here did his in crinkle black / dark grey (and some other bits and pieces too). Does anyone know how to go about doing that? Looked very nice. Wont be stock I know - I should probably sand it and get it back to stock silver - Is there a recommended way to do this? I also need to get some loom tape as the original loom insulation has long disappeared in a lot of areas. Final picture is of the replacement hose clip I put on the tiny fuel regulator pipe (Below the black pipe with the green clip) after the gasket swap - does anyone know if this is acceptable or should I go to TPS to see if I can get an OEM type one (which look very fiddly to fit!) Oh, final question - is there an easy way to get jpegs/pics into the body of the post rather than just having pictures lumped at the end as attachments?? Look forward to hearing back from you guys and meeting some of you at any South West meets in the nearish future? Cheers, Cluffy

Evening All, Finally received some new bits this week so have been working on putting things back together again today. New rocker gasket and middle inlet manifold gasket with new bolts. All back together bar the battery back in as it needed a charge. Also I didn't get the fuel pressure regulator small hose back on to the manifold as the old clip was damaged I removal. Anyone know what size of replacement clip I need?? The one that came off looks as though it would be a bugger to fit - would love to replace with a jubilee clip if possible but I had none in my garage that were small enough... 8mm??

Ah that's good to know. Mine is the metal one and the EBay ad was 1991 - 1995 so should assume correct but obviously not. The one that was on there (and leaking badly!) was quite flat whereas the one I received had a seam all the way around that looks as though it fits into a slot on the cylinder head (of whatever it's suppose to fit correctly to!). Hope they respond early this week. Cluffy

Evening all, Spent the morning working on swapping the Rocker Cover Gasket only to have it turn out that what I have received will not fit my engine. Are the gaskets different between 2.8 and 2.9VR6s? I (perhaps foolishly) ordered a cheapish one but it was advertised as Corrado and not 'will also fit Corrado' or other such wording... Anyway, I managed to drop one of the 10mm nuts into the depths of the engine bay somewhere and I just can not find it so would like to get a couple of spares... Will TPS do them or is the car too old? Also, I think I might replace the Inlet Manifold Gasket while it's off. Any recommended suppliers? Many thanks in advance, Cluffy

Evening all, I spent most of the day working on my motors. A mate helped me to back flush the whole cooling system of the Corrado as it was the last option before me concluding that the waterpump needed replacement. Happily on an extended test drive it appears to have fixed the issue I was having!! :) Coolant didn't go above 90 on the dial - infact, it sat around 85 when pushing on and the highest on the oil was 102. Clearly the waterways or radiator were a little clogged... But it appears I'm not out of the woods yet with the overall cooling, as when I got back home I left the car running to check the operation of the fans. I replaced the fan temp sensor as I had bought one recently and it was easy to fit with the hoses off when flushing. However I noticed what looked like scorching / burn marking on the connector on the loom. Sure enough, absolutely nothing doing with the car sat stationery, ie no stage 1/2. The temperature of the coolant (dial) crept up to 110/115 while static at which point the fans both kicked on. I assume this was the 115 degree sensor triggering the stage 3 from the stat housing. Anyone with similar experience?? - I'm about to have a good search on here but having checked the fuses (all OK) I think I may need at the least a bit or replacement loom and perhaps a new fan relay switch / box that sits in front of the coolant expansion tank... A good day all round though as I replaced a broken wing mirror and painted the alloy wheels on my other car. But the best bit is I am now happy to go for a decent distance in the Corrado without the worry!! Cluffy

I think that's my next port of call... Have seen it's may be a bugger of a job having to disconnect the drive shaft and engine mounts?? Oh fun!

Well today I replaced my thermostat and coolant... To no effect...! I checked the old stat in a pot of boiling water and it was fine. I did notice on bleeding the system (letting it run up to temp with the cap off the expansion tank) that the bottom hose was cold (a lot of people on here had same symptoms fixed by a new stat - so obviously not that...!). After squeezing it a bit, it seemed to warm a little but the oil and temp readings were very much higher than I'd like, so a few questions: 1) Would a backflush help shift anything lodged in the lower part of the rad or is that just wishful thinking...? 2) Could the water pump be on its way out, not being man enough to get the coolant around the waterways? 3) Does the aux water pump only help the cooling when the ignition is switched off or does it run all the time too? Many thanks in advance from a very frustrated Cluffy!

Hi, Do you still have any? My central locking is only working to lock the car. Unlock - not so much! Have you heard of this issue before? Cheers, Cluffy

Well I have to say I have no idea what is going on with my car's cooling... Tonight I went out to get some fuel and take a bit of a drive. Oil temp hit 114 but the coolant settled bang on 100 even at traffic lights (no fans on). Once home, the fans still weren't on and they didn't kick in even when I removed the ignition key (as they did the other day). Oh and the kicker was that I learned the central locking isn't working properly so couldn't get the fuel flap open - I know there's a manual override but it was dark at the garage and didn't want to damage anything so that's another job to look in to at the weekend - will do a search on here - anyone recommend any threads?? Really hoping to shed light on it all and learn more about this motor on the weekend!

Evening all, Started making preliminary investigations into the cooling issues tonight. No fuses blown so I decided to find how to get at the radiator temp sensor for the fans as I wanted to order one as a first point to try on the weekend. There was a tie holding the cable to part of the headlight loom and I thought it was just a normal cable tie but seems it was one clipped to the internal panelwork that you can undo and re-use (didn't notice at the time - too keen!). So need a replacement for the photographed below - not important at all but would like to keep this thing as stock as possible. Any ideas where to source? Heading to the Haynes Motor Museum breakfast meet in it on SUnday and then hopefully my mate will help me diagnose the issue (praying for a dry day!) Cluffy

Thanks for the detailed feedback - I'll find some time tonight and give it a better look :)

I think I will check to ensure the rad switch is working but I will take precaution and change the Stat, possibly the sensors if they're not too dear these days and of course fill with some nice fresh coolant. I am trying to get to the fuse box on this thing to check fuses 15 and 19 - I have found the two screw clips under the steering wheel on the right that come down and out but have not found a way to access. Am I in the right place? Is there a knack or am I just being a bit weak with it and the plastic cover needs firm persuasion? From the manual it suggests just above the clutch pedal, but on mine this is all shrouded / screwed in...?

On Saturday driving it back from Cornwall it sat with that kind of temperature all the way.... 70(ish..!) most of the way back

Thanks very much!! On further thought (and hopefully logical thinking...!) I think the first thing I should investigate is the temp sender in the Rad? Can anyone confirm what drives the fans when the ignition is off..?

Afternoon All, I've been investigating the cooling issue a little. I went for a drive around town for a couple of chores at lunch and the temperature came up and hit 100+ degrees again (Oil temp only hit 94 as I was watching - I'm sure it would've gone higher if I'd have need to drive for longer). I opened the bonnet with the engine still running and no fan action whatsoever. However, on switching off the engine, the fans both came on... I am slowly reading though this thread: http://the-corrado.net/showthread.php?38925-The-definitive-VR6-cooling-guide but does this ring any bells with anyone as a common issue seen before? Many thanks, Cluffy

Sorry to bump up - but the front grille badge? Only a couple on EBay and not sure they're right and I have seen images of Corrados with them in both silver or red script - is there a difference to the cars the came with them or is it an aftermarket thing?! Many thanks in advance, Kieran

Great - that's how mine looks :)