aclwalker

I have a fifth full size standard speedline that I want to use as a kind of full size spare to allow me time to order a new tyre of my choice, should I need to, rather than struggle by with the space-saver or be forced to take whatever is available at the time. I have Toyo Proxes T1-S all round, which I am very happy with, however they are directional, and Murphy's law states that if I put a directional on the 5th wheel, then it will be the 'wrong' side that I get a flat on and I don't want to run directional tyres backwards. So, is it legal to have a directional and a non-directional on the same 'axle'? I'm thinking of just getting a cheap non-directional for this purpose as I won't be running it long term.

Thanks.

Last night when I turned off the engine I noticed (as often happens) that the fans turned on, drawing air through the radiator. This normally goes off itself after a minute or two, as, I believe, is normal. However, I quickly turned the electrics back on this time because I wanted to see what time it was and noticed that the fan immediately switched off again. So I put the ignition off and on a few times to see and the fan went on and off with the ignition: fan off when the ignition was on, and fan on when the ignition was off. Is this normal? I would have thought that once the fan came on, it would have stayed on, regardless of ignition state, until the temperature had fallen to the appropriate level. Does this point to a faulty temp sensor or am I worrying about nothing? Thanks.

It sounds like I'm going to need a new front wheel bearing fitted as it's groaning a fair bit, especially going round corners to the left, suggesting the right hand bearing is gone. I'm pretty sure it's the front bearing as the rears were replaced with the discs recently. Anyway, my questions are these: When I got the Corrado, I knew that lots of suspension work was needing done, so I bought lots of parts, most of which are now fitted. However, I never did get round to fitting either my new ball joints or my track rod ends. Since the bearing housing needs to be removed completely in order to replace the bearing (it does doesn't it?): 1 Is it worthwhile (or even vital?) getting the new ball joint and track rod end fitted at the same time? 2 Should I get them to do the other wheel bearing at the same time too to keep things 'in balance'? The car has done 191000 miles and I'm not sure of the replacement history of any of these components, but I don't have any discernable wander with steering or anything. It's a '94 VR6, BTW. Thanks.

Do you mean the Mk3 housing is slightly taller? I think the previous discussion on here talked about a Mk3 housing being too big. The first link I sent was about a Mk2 'frame' which replaces the leaf guard. I'm guessing that you need this frame or else the filter will simply be sucked into the air inlet by the fan and probably wreck it, so I think it would be risky to just place a filter under the leaf guard.

I'm getting the summer pollen problems and have investigated getting a pollen filter and found a few links of interest. The first is this: http://www.vwgolf-mk2.com/epollenfilter ... ation.html This guy talks about a "pollen filter frame" for the MkII Golf. If you look at the pictures you can see what is there before he fitted this frame is the same as what's in the Corrado (unless the pollen filter was available factory fitted, but mine doesn't have one). Does anyone know if this frame is still available? I saw an old discussion on here about pollen filters: http://www.the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewto ... c&start=15 And the last comment was a suggestion (if I understand correctly) to simply buy a MkIII Golf filter and cut it size and place inside the existing Corrado leaf guard. But will this not mean that nothing is supporting it underneath and it'll eventually just get sucked into the blower motor? I also found the following two companies who say they sell pollen filters for Corrados. I have asked them if they require any special holders and am awaiting responses. http://www.jetex.co.uk/website/pollenfilters.php http://www.puravent.co.uk/filters/dispf ... VOLKSWAGEN Anyone got any more info on a good solution for the Corrado?

LOL, if you reset the MFA while cruising in neutral (on a private track, of course, since it's not allowed on the public road), you can easily get 99.99. Seriously though, I did this very challenge myself on a 12 mile trip home recently, late at night, taking the route with hardly any traffic lights, and using an anorak level of knowledge of the timing of the unavoidable traffic lights to avoid braking, and managed 35 mpg overall. The norm for that trip is probably around 27-29 but my long term average over all trips is just over 25. This is mainly short motorway trips with some city driving.

Thanks for all the responses. I'm currently researching a bit more on the subject and I'll try to do some investigations at the weekend...

Scruffythefirst, What's "WOT"? I'm also interested in your comments re sleeving. I was under the impression that one of the differences between the 2.8 and 2.9 was (apart from obvious displacement differences) that the 2.8 was sleeved and the 2.9 wasn't. Are you saying that it might be possible to sleeve an 'ovaled' cylinder? I totally see where you're coming from with the 'no point in fixing stuff on a bad block'. kevhaywire, I had totally forgotten that there are two types of ring, compression and oil control. Are you suggesting that it's possible that I just have an oil control ring problem but good compression rings? Would this also mean I could have good bores too? If a compression/leak down test could confirm this then would that be good news in the sense that I could safely START on a full rebuild in the knowledge that the bores are likely OK? I guess I'm saying, "Is there a possibility of still having duff bores, even if a compression test shows everything as being OK?". Thanks again for all your prompt answers. Alan

Kev, I have actually done that with a torch with 6 and it was indeed wet. Sh*t! Sounds quite serious now. The thing is that it runs really well now and just has slight fluttering on idle. I manage 27mph on 10 mile journeys, even in the 30s if I take it really easy. Maybe the thing to do is to just fix the chains and clutch myself and forget about the rest for now if it really is that terminal. My mileage is only 4k per year (if that) at the moment.

Thanks for the responses. I did wonder about the cam cover gasket. Is it possible to do a compression and leak down test myself. Is the equipment expensive? How much should I expect to pay for someone to do it? Thanks.

I have a high mileage VR6 (190,000 miles) which I think is going to need some engine work done soon. The immediate concern of mine is the timing chains as I'm starting to hear the marbles-on-metal-tray sound I think, although it's hard to tell for sure. I also have quite heavy oil usage. I don't have any leaks. It's hard to say how much oil I'm using but it's probably just within the 1 litre per 1000km (625 miles), but I fill it up from half way to the top of the dipstick because it makes the engine noticeably quieter to keep it in the top half of the dipstick. Half way mark to the top mark is half a litre, I believe, so I probably put in half a litre per 500 miles at a very rough guess. I definately have oily cylinders. All spark plugs I take out have a coating of oil right up the threads and on the hex part and sometimes on the ceramic part too. Cylinder 6 (bottom right when facing engine bay (is this 6?)) is the worst and the spark plug is often very dirty. Cylinder 1 is quite bad too. All other plugs are nice and clean and dry on the combustion part but oily on the threads. I did wonder if I had oil leaking past the cylinder head gasket and falling down these channels. I used to have a problem with hesitation that was solved with a new blue temp sensor and camshaft position sensor. Before I replaced these I had to periodically swap plugs 5 and 6 so that it would get cleaned up in the good cylinder, because it would get so bad it would stop firing altogether. This has not happened since I replaced the temp sensor and camshaft position sensor, although my mileage has dropped drastically since changing job and no longer commuting. I don't detect blue smoke, either from blipping the throttle or on coasting or on startup. On cold days there is white smoke during heatup but I really think this is just remaining water in the exhaust. It goes away once the engine has heated up. People used to say I had a 'grey' smoke when driving behind me. I have not heard of this since I sorted the temp sensor and camshaft position sensor so I believe this was simple poor mixture due to the engine management going into emergency mode during the hesitation. The previous owner I'm sure said something about chains being done around 100,000 miles but he wasn't too sure about it, not being particularly technically minded. I think he ran the car low on oil, because he did talk about oil lights coming on and then topping up. (I think this was after I bought it!!) I'm not sure what to do now. I think I need to get the chains done and probably get a new clutch too as it's chattery and juddery when the engine is cold (like my old Golf was) and I believe this needs to be removed anyway when doing it. But, should I investigate the oil problem in cylinders 1 and 6? Is this opening a can of worms? If I take the head off and recondition it then I'm as well checking the bottom end am I not? Does it sound like a full recondition job? I am technically competent and have done many successful repairs on this car and other VWs. I have access to a good range of tools and don't hesitate to buy them when needed. I have never done engine rebuild work myself before, however. Should I attempt a head rebuild myself? I have the help of my dad too, who is technically competent in the same way and I have the advantage that I don't need the car for work. Is there any point in doing a head rebuild without touching the block on a 190,000 mile VR6? I don't think it's ever had the head off before. Should I just do the chains and clutch myself and put up with the oily cylinders for now? The car runs great at the moment with none of its previous hesitation. It's just the chain-like noise that worries me. I've lost an engine before on my old Golf through water pump seizure stripping off all the teeth of the timing belt and causing catastrophic engine damage, so I don't want a repeat of that experience in this far more expensive engine. I remember reading about a great price for a new/reconditioned engine direct from VW (but I can't find it for love or money using the search in this forum) which seemed to suggest that rebuilding was pointless due to the cost. Is this a better option? Swapping the engine for a new or already rebuilt one? I'm not really sure what to do and would appreciate any advice or suggestions on where to go from here. For the record, I am not interested in mods or power increases, I just want a standard car that runs well with reasonable costs. I don't want to scrimp on costs if it will cause problems in the long run, but equally I don't want to spend huge sums unnecessarily. Any help gratefully appreciated...

OK, I've just checked again and measured the other side of the connectors (i.e. the female end) and I'm getting a reading of 1045 Ohms on the good side and no reading on the bad side. Seems like an obvious dead sensor.

Hmmmm, I think the "1 Ohm" is actually not 1 Ohm, but simply higher than the range possible on that multimeter setting, i.e. 'infinite' if you like. It was the right hand one that said 1, but the 1 is not next to the decimal point so it probably isn't a 1. But the left one definately dropped to around 120 Ohms. Just to be sure, what is the correct way to do this measurement? When I disconnected the connector at the top of the strut, I measured the two male pins that are on the part of the connector bolted to the strut mounting. Is this correct? What is the 'normal' reading for a good sensor? 1 k Ohm? Maybe I should have measured on the '2000 Ohm' scale rather than the '200 Ohm' scale.

Hi, Here are the original codes. I've actually got it wrong. There were two codes on the front, not the rear. 00283 - Front Left ABS Wheel Speed Sensor (G47) 35-00 - - 00283 - Front Left ABS Wheel Speed Sensor (G47) 16-00 - Signal Outside Specifications 00290 - ABS Wheel Speed Sensor; Rear Left (G46) 16-00 - Signal Outside Specifications After clearing, however, and driving home I now only have the first code. This code appears immediately on ignition. There is no sign of the rear problem any more. Either it's not checking for any other faults cos it's already shut the system down, or the problem with the rear has gone away. Perhaps the cage has re-rusted itself into position again. ;) Anyway, I checked the resistance of the front sensor at the connector on the top of the strut. (Am I right in thinking it's the end that's attached to the strut housing that I should be measuring and not the 'loose' end? I couldn't get the pins of the multimeter to reach far enough into the other end anyway...). I found that this reading was around 120 Ohms, but would go to 1 Ohm and back again. I compared with the other side and it consistently read 1 Ohm. When I unplugged the right connector, I, of course, got a new fault in the right sensor which did not come back once cleared. So, it looks like I have a simple front sensor problem. Is there any point in investigating any further at the wheel end? Is there another connector down near the wheel or is it hard wired in and likely to be completely sheared off? If there's no point in investigating any further then I'll just buy a new sensor this week and have it ready for the weekend, weather permitting. Thanks for your help everyone.

Thanks for the reply. I've got the codes on a text file on my USB disk, but left it at home today. I'll post them when I get back. I was just sure I heard someone say something about the rear sensors 'sharing a code' or something. Maybe I saw it on the Yahoo group, or the VAG-COM Yahoo group. Or maybe I was reading the forums after a night out again. :) My ABS problems started immediately after I got my brakes done at the last MOT. I should have taken that car back at the time but had visions of it going back and forward while they tried to fix it, so left it to do myself, especially as it only came on at motorway speeds. However, after a few weeks it would come on immediately on turning on ignition and stay on, which is the current state. After noting the codes down the other day with VAG-COM, I cleared them and retested. Only the front one came back on immediately without moving the car. This suggests to me that the front one has an electrical problem since I never moved the car at all. The faults for the back never came back on after clearing but have likely come back after the drive home. I'll check that tonight too, as I haven't had a chance to yet. I think I need to look at the front one for either a broken sensor or lack of electrical connectivity and if my rear faults have come back after the drive home, then I likely have a problem with a rear cage. I'll post the codes when I get home and any other findings. Thanks.

I've got the KEY-COM version official cable and full software and am willing to help people in the Glasgow area. I don't have a 2x2 adapter unfortunately, so can't do the earlier cars. Mine is 1994 and has the 16 pin new-style connector. I try to check the forum regularly but can't guarantee to be on every day.

Ooops, I guess I should have put that under "Drivetrain". Can someone move it?

Hi all, I've just bought VAG-COM to help me with my ABS problems and to confirm that I have no engine faults (engine is fine, yippee) but I'm sure I remember reading on the forum somewhere, something along the lines of: "VAG-COM can report rear left sensor faults even if it's the rear right sensor"...because of something that was shared between them (sorry for the vagueness). I can't for the life of me find this same comment and I've tried every search I can think of to throw it up again. I never bookmarked it at the time. Can anyone remember this or am I just imagining it? Is there any circumstance with the ABS in which a "rear left" code will be thrown up even if the rear right is at fault? I've not started to investigate the problems yet with it but just wanted to check on this small point before I start removing wheels. VAG-COM has thrown up three faults, one on the front left and two on the rear left (don't have the codes to hand at the moment). Also, I am willing to help any Corrado owners in the Glasgow area with VAG-COM should they want a demo or their own codes read. Is anyone maintaining a master list of people with VAG-COM for this purpose? I think I saw a thread for this but wasn't sure how up to date it is. Thanks

This sounds like classic hall sender failure. I don't have a G60 but I guess it's got a traditional mechanical distributor with a hall sender inside it. The hall sender determines the position of the camshaft and replaces the mechanical points system on older cars if I remember correctly. These tend to fail intermittantly and when they do fail, it's all or nothing, because the ignition simply cannot tell where the camshaft is in its cycle and so you get no spark whatsoever. In contrast, when my hall sender on the VR6 went the engine management took over and went to 'safe mode' (i.e. run like a dog), causing pulsing acceleration. My old Golf's hall sender failed in exactly the same way as you describe and the car would start again and run great just minutes later but be completely dead before. I had to stop once at the very extreme tip of the arrow head bit of road between the motorway and an on-ramp once when it failed! In my old Golf, the hall sender was a replaceable part but required dismantling of the entire distributor. This is not particularly difficult, except for a few awkward rings which needed the use of some old nails to compress them to get them out since the tool could not reach. It requires methodical disassembly and reassembly. I also did this job on a Polo once but its hall sender was not removable, the distributor being peculiarly sealed. Luckily a new distributor was not that expensive (but was for the Golf). I can't see a garage replacing just a hall sender and so will push for whole distributor. If you fancy doing it yourself then the procedure should be covered in the Haynes manuals for Golfs and it should be the same. A new hall sender kit cost around £35 if I remember correctly. Good luck.

Hall sender? Since it's a G60, I'll assume that's got a traditional distributer and the hall sender is inside it (unlike late VR6s with a coilpack and separate hall sender unit, which is much easier to replace).

Here's a post of mine from a while back on the Yahoo group, describing how I did this job, without disconnecting anything except for two engine mounts and a few other bits and pieces. It didn't cost much either and involved a garden spade too...

Kev, How do you buy the injectors direct from Bosch? I found it very difficult to find any information on this and had to go through the distribution network. This would be extremely useful information for the future as the VWs are full of Bosch parts. Thanks Alan

Hi, I seem to remember it taking around 3 hours when I did it, but I was being ultra careful because petrol was involved. You have to depressurise the fuel system, remove the plastic engine 'trim', remove the inlet manifold (or at least one half of it (can't remember exactly)), then remove the fuel rail. Getting the old injectors off the fuel rail can be tough and getting them on even harder, but a garage should manage that no bother. 3 hours is probably not too far off, although a garage _should_ be able to do it a bit quicker I would have thought. Maybe the hourly rate is a bit steep too, but I suppose it depends what he's like whether it's worth it or not. As an aside, I got a quote from http://www.boxermotorworks.co.uk to refurbish my 6 VR6 injectors. This includes sonic cleaning and replacements of their internal filters. The cost was to be £95 inc. VAT plus £5 postage. This seems expensive at first until you remember that there's 6 of them and the description of their process sounded top notch. They thoroughly test them electronically too, so they'll not attempt to refurbish one that is beyond repair. And the 6 are done as a set and matched to each other. Considering that a single brand new injector (which turned out not to be my problem) cost me nearly £100, and I shopped around extensively, this is good value. I have not yet had it done, because obviously I can't drive the car in the meantime, but I sourced 6 from Ebay and may well give it a go soon as summer approaches. I'll report back if I go ahead with it. Alan

Mine is nearly 190k on original engine. As far as I know it's never had the head off either. I _think_ (hope too!) the chains have been done. There's no noise from them. Sometimes I worry about the mileage, but it runs fine. The only problem is the oilyness of cylinder 6 but it used to be sooty too and really foul up to the point of not running, but I think I sorted that out with the new hall sender and blue temp sensor. I have to put in a fair bit of oil, but I think it's still within spec. Alan