timthetinyhorse

An ok I follow you mate, glad I didnt as I thought about it!

Rob does you car run ok other than having an idol issue? What symptoms do you have? Do you still use your car or is it off the road due to the isv? Cheers ---------- Post added at 10:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:45 PM ---------- Also the autocar quote in your sig, what BMW does it refer too?

Leww how do you mean? Tony it drops a bit like you describe, might catch some revs then drops, what does the throttle do? Where is it? Cheers ---------- Post added at 10:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:22 PM ---------- Infact the more I think about it no it dosnt, the revs just straight drop......

Just copied a post I have from my technical thread just in case someone reading this thread has had similar issues. Another little update. I fitted the new lambda today and fired the car up, it started up straight away and sat at an idle of 1000rpm, I allowed the car to get warm (Until the fan pulled in) by which time the idol was sat at about 900rpm and still steady, I slowly brought the revs up to around 3000rpm and let them drop slowly using the throttle and they settle again at around 900rpm, I then did the same but let the revs drop off quickly by lifting straight off the throttle, they drop as expected but then the car struggles to hold idol and is lumpy for about 10-20 sec before it settles again. I didn't little experiment with the ISV by trying this with it plugged in and with it unplugged, on both occasions the car behaved in exactly the same way so I'm wondering if this could be my issue? I removed it and cleaned it out, a had a fair bit of dirt come out of it, it was the refitted and tried again and there was no change however the pipe clamps were damaged some could have a vac leek also now. The other thing I noticed was that when I removed the ISV it was about 1/4 open, is this the normal position for the valve or should it be shut? I have put a couple of before and after pics of t he valve from cleaning below this post so you might be able to see what I mean. The other think I noticed was a loud ticking noise when it was cold, this faded as the engine got hot so I'm wondering if I could have a sticky lifter? I'm going to check my oil levels tomorrow once the car has been sat so the oil settles as its possible I presume that if it is low on oil and the oil is cold the lifter may not be getting enough? Thanks for all the help so fat, I feel like I'm getting somewhere now :-)

Ok guys that's for the info, Another little update. I fitted the new lambda today and fired the car up, it started up straight away and sat at an idle of 1000rpm, I allowed the car to get warm (Until the fan pulled in) by which time the idol was sat at about 900rpm and still steady, I slowly brought the revs up to around 3000rpm and let them drop slowly using the throttle and they settle again at around 900rpm, I then did the same but let the revs drop off quickly by lifting straight off the throttle, they drop as expected but then the car struggles to hold idol and is lumpy for about 10-20 sec before it settles again. I didn't little experiment with the ISV by trying this with it plugged in and with it unplugged, on both occasions the car behaved in exactly the same way so I'm wondering if this could be my issue? I removed it and cleaned it out, a had a fair bit of dirt come out of it, it was the refitted and tried again and there was no change however the pipe clamps were damaged some could have a vac leek also now. The other thing I noticed was that when I removed the ISV it was about 1/4 open, is this the normal position for the valve or should it be shut? I have put a couple of before and after pics of t he valve from cleaning below this post so you might be able to see what I mean. The other think I noticed was a loud ticking noise when it was cold, this faded as the engine got hot so I'm wondering if I could have a sticky lifter? I'm going to check my oil levels tomorrow once the car has been sat so the oil settles as its possible I presume that if it is low on oil and the oil is cold the lifter may not be getting enough? Thanks for all the help so fat, I feel like I'm getting somewhere now :-)

Ok so we're onto the next step now, I have the decat pipe fitted so I tried the car again today as I had to move it a little (it has no lambda in yet) it started straight away no problems and idols at 1k but when I tried to move it ie used about 1500-2000rpm when I put the clutch back in it drops to idol speed then cuts out. Once it cuts out its hard to get started again, once it does start the idol appears to be ok though, if I leave the car over night and try again it starts fine so I have a couple of questions...... Could not having the lambda fitted be causing this issue as the exhaust isn't functioning correctly? Could my isv have given up on me and if so how is it removed and cleaned? Could my throttle cable cause this? I seem to remember adjusting it so it was tight when I out the inlet back on and I'm wondering if it could cause an idol issue? (I moved the clip closer to the backed so that there was no play) I ask this as my throttle feels very snatchey. Any info would be great as I'm beginning to loose my patience with the car now and throw it on eBay as iv had enough, car has been in the garage for over a month now and I just simply can't get the car running. Cheers

I would be game for a rr day? Would we get better prices if we were to have a load of cars go?

I was going to ask this question too! Would be interested to hear opinions. Are they shorter that stock rubbers also?

Yeah I remember when I bought my first 16v back at the tender age of 20 I was paying through big money for the pleasure, I'm now 26, married, car parked in a secure garage etc and I'm paying around £400 with a 4000 mile cap on use but I only do about 2000 max a year in the car anyhow. The mad thing is about that price is that I started a brand new policy with 0 NCB as I wanted to keep my NCB with my van policy! I couldn't believe how cheap it was but that's the joy of getting older and classic policies :-) I would say your £650 is more than fair for a niche car that is hard to repair and run.......

I need to get a new lambda sensor for the VR6 as when removing the cat the wires got damaged very close to the sensor (too close to remake them to any sort of standard) but my question is this.... Which one do I need, euro car parts list 8 ranging from £105 - £60, these are all listed for my car so what do I go for? Some don't come with the plug on so I presume I just match the colours up and solder the join? Would love a little advice on this as I'm baffled! Cheers Rob

Another small update, this came today but of course the excitement was cut short by the fact it is in fact the wrong length by 150mm.....fear not though my local car parts shop has ordered me an extension to sort me out :-) Hope to get this fitted Monday and I'm good to go (once I tax the car and get all the little details done) Not much but I'm getting there.

First things first here, if you have replaced bushes, shocks etc you need to get the cars geometry fully set up, once this is done I would take a look at the settings on your shockes, I have adjustable dampers on mine and they can make the car feel very sketchy if they arnt set up properly, you may find that the front wheels are jittery due to the way the damping is set up..... I'm sure someone with more knowledge of suspension setup will post but it's a starting point. Cheers

Ah nasty! My old 16v had been cut back too far on the arches so was also a nightmare! This has been flashed over in the past so there is a good depth of paint on it and I will only be polishing it once or twice a year as a good coat of wax every now and again should keep the paint healthy along with the fact it covers about 2k miles per year and possibly less this year with the baby arriving in a few weeks! Yeah I think satin or gloss for the plate surround but I'm not quite decided as yet...... Rob

Cheers guys, I'm still in two minds about the plate surround myself, have another one lying about that I'm tempted to do gloss black and see how that looks as I think there is too much red at the back of the car. The car is on coil overs, FK Konigsports to be exact, I need to wind the front down about 1/2 inch as at the moment it has a wee bit too much reverse rake for me but I'm waiting to get the splitter fitted before I do that so I know what clearence I have. I also have a lot to do on the interior as I have been using it to store parts etc, think I will wait uinti I have the decat fitted and all is running well though as if it's still running badly I'm going to hand it over to a garage so there is no point it having an imaculate interior before that....... Rob

So with my mind at rest with regards to running issues and waiting for parts to arrive so I can get my exhaust fitted again I decided it was time to get on with some paint correction as the car was looking a little sorry for itself sat in the garage, it had a good layer of dust covering it, some panels had some bird lime marks and also under the rear badges etc there was some nasty dirt buildup. I started with the passenger wing that was slightly pink and had a bad build up of dirt under the indicator, I started with megs quick detailer to remove the dust and show the pinkness of the paint as below. A quick pic to show the hardened dirt under the indicator. The harsh dirt was removed using AG tar remover and then the panel polished with a medium pad and MEZ FF polish (can't remember the name properly) and it was looking like this. Next stage was a coat of AG super resin polish to remove a little marring that was left from the machine polish then AG HD wax to seal the paint and protect it. And also a quick pic of under the indicator. The same process as above was then completed over the whole car so here are some more pics. Some nasty water marks under the wing mirror before and after. And a few more after pics. You have to excuse the exhaust here I need to fit it. Front end is still waiting for the grill to be fitted as I have been painting it. Finally got round to painting the rear badge and also finished off the washer jets. Last thing in the day was to fit the jets. Sorry for the vast amount of photos, just shameless whoring but thought I would share what had been done today :-) Hopefully I will be updating next week to tell you all I have the exhaust fitted and the var is running. Cheers Rob

That is properly nasty and won't suit the rado dash at all, just my 50p though

Rams don't suppose you know the original length of the one you had to extend?? Think I'm going to order a 710mm one as my cat was a long way into the rear section so will most likely be ok. Thanks for the offer chaos3oe but think I'm going to go down the decat route.

Hi, gutted I couldn't make it but the car still isnt back on the road, made a bit of progress I.e. cat removed and the var now starts first turn of the key so looking for a new decat and a lambda probe (bloody fortunes those probes) Presume the day was good? What were the above mentioned issues?

Had a look at the eBay ones and they are 710mm long, I have measured my cat and it's 760mm long, I think it will still fit but m a bit worried about it, alsomtheybare listed for the golf VR, did they use the same CAT? Rams what do you mean by adaptor pipe? I was under the impression that a proper decat would be a simple case of bolting in and off I go? Cheers

Got bored today so turned the key to see what would happen with the cat and lambda removed, guess what, it started first turn of the key!! Just need to order a lambda and decat now and I'm go go go.

Got bored today so turned the key to see what would happen with the cat and lambda removed, guess what, it started first turn of the key!! Just need to order a lambda and decat now and I'm go go go.

Quick update for today invade anyone else is having similar problems. I managed to wrestle the cat off today and found that it was badly chocked up and melted in places so I'm pretty confident this could be my issue. I had to cut the sensor wires as I couldn't get the plug out but this shouldn't be an issue as I presume the new sensor comes with a cable back to the plug. Thanks for all the help guys. Rob

Time for another update from the poorly VR6. I still haven't had a look to see if it has an OBD2 port but to be honest I'm enjoying getting to know the car by actually looking for the faults etc. So the update........ Today I got out of bed after 4hrs sleep (gotta love working nights) and decided it was time to remove the cat, of course this was not going to be an easy task.....20 years of corrosion on the bolts ment that it was a job for the grinder so I set to work. After a hour or two with the grinder and of course the dremmel to get to those hard to reach bolts the cat was out, upon inspection it was clear to see it was totally choked and slightly melted so I'm beginning to think I'm getting cower to the issue at last! Pic is poor but if you could see it in the flesh I'm sure you would agree its finished and time to buy a decat pipe. Also I'm going to have to replace the sensor as I had to snip the wires due to the plug being rather stuck....... Cheers Rob

Cheers josh, the plugs are good and deep but I'm sure I can manage :-)

Had a quick look in the Bentley but just have it on iPad so not the best, couldn't find what I was after.....