aclwalker

Matt, I wasn't aware that there were two different versions of the FPR. Is this maybe only on the Golf? Remember that that the Corrado VR6 is 2.9l, not 2.8l. I bought my FPR from VW and my Corrado is 1994 and I got a 4bar FPR when I asked for it from VW. You say "late" VR6. Maybe "late" is after Corrados were stopped being made. You also mention OBD-II. As far as I'm aware, the true ODB-II VR6s were not put into Corrados. They came after the Corrado was stopped being made. I've seen websites selling OBD-I and OBD-II versions of the air intake, for example, and the main difference seems to be that the OBD-II version doesn't have the bypass for the ISV, as the ISV is built into the throttle body on the OBD-II version. As far as I'm aware, NO Corrado has an integrated ISV (unless someone has modified their car). Also, my Corrado has a coilpack but not the full OBD-II setup. I don't think coilpack equates to OBD-II, but then again, I'm not sure how 'OBD-II' is defined with regards to this engine. I'm not sure if any Corrado SHOULD be running a 3bar FPR. I thought it needed the 4bar due to higher displacement, but I guess that was just an assumption on my part. Also, interesting info about the PCV. I should have tried that myself. I more or less did do that though, except I bought the Galaxy version from Ford, which I would hope would be identical, given that the cars are supposed to be identical bar branding.

I got a response today from Halfords saying: So, it seems that I was either told a lot of rubbish by the guy, or my local Halfords hasn't been ordering the stuff in.

Hey, good timing. I was just about to start a new thread about this. I went to GSF and they only sell 5mm, 7mm and 9mm hose. The 9mm looks about right from an external diameter POV, but the internal looks too big. The 7mm just looks too small. So, I went to Halfords and was told that they don't do any hose at all now. I asked when they started not selling any hose and the guy said "Years ago. There's no money in it.". So I said: "Well there's even less money in not doing it, because I'm not going to buy the hose clips I was going to buy." Is he talking rubbish? Have Halfords stopped doing hose altogether? Anyway, that cbsonline website looks good. I was thinking of buying some of that Sytec hose from Ebay. There's somebody on there that seems to be a Weber carb specialist, but sells fuel injection stuff too. They seem to have their own website as well as the Ebay shop, but this cbsonline lot look OK, except the delivery is £6! Here's the Ebay link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FUEL-INJECTION-HOSE-BLACK-RUBBER-NITRILE-8mm-ID-1m_W0QQitemZ130249049676QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item130249049676&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Thanks. :oops: Any comment from mods/management?

I thought it was only the cars with the metal rocker cover that had it? Well, I'm pretty sure mine has a metal rocker cover. Are there Corrados with non-metal rocker covers? If so, what are they made of?

Well, I'm pleased to say that my car passed with flying colours today. I take it to a guy in the town I grew up in (rather than where I live) as he never fails it on trivia (although has failed it on brakes a few times, but, on inspection, I've agreed with him entirely any time he's failed it!). I asked him how it looked and he said "It's really good.". I said I've done quite a bit of work on it recently and he said "Aye, I can see that.". The only thing that he commented on was that my front number plate has mould growing inside/behind it which is starting to obscure the lettering. I thought he might comment on that. I think I can actually get between the plate and backing to clean it off, so I'll try that. I'm quite relieved because I've been unemployed for months now after redundancy and I can't really afford expensive repairs right now. Anyone looking for a software tester in the Glasgow area? Look at my write-ups to get a feel for my attention to detail. :wink:

Early VRs didn't have the PCV valve, they had wire wool in the outlet of the rocker cover, and a bit of ruber pipe instead. They also have different carbon canister pipes, as the late cars have a take off to the PCV, while the early cars didn't. Hope that's of use? Also my old PCV valve was so knackered the diaphram section had perished, so air could flow in either direction with ease. Edit: After having read back a few posts and read your comments about the pcv valve being vaccum operated, then thinking about mine being perished, this might explain some VRs having a shoddy idle, where the pcv valve is letting unmetered air into the inlet manifold.... I can confirm that later VR6s with PCV valve also have the wire wool insert. I wondered what it was at first, but then I read that it's a flame barrier! :shock: It's to prevent misfires from making their way into the throttle body and doing some sort of burny damage!

Just because I'm a good guy, I looked up ETKA. This hose can be bought separately (it would seem). It's not part of the air intake as such. But, the interesting thing is that two part numbers are listed, so perhaps early VR6s did not have the PCV valve right enough. ETKA says: 021133518B for VIN numbers up to 50-R-001 800. 021133518H for VIN numbers from 50-R-001 801 onwards. Now my VIN number is after 50-R-001 801 and I have the T-piece, so it looks like the "H" version is the right number. For those that don't know how to work out the VIN numbers above, look at the VIN number for your car (on your V5, windscreen, MoT, etc.). The dashes above mean that this character doesn't matter. R is the year (1994) and is a VW code, not related to our old registration lettering. So above basically means that cars made in 1994, but before car number 1801 were fitted with 021133518B, whereas all cars (VR6s) after the 1801st in 1994 were fitted with 021133518H. Sorry, if that's stating the obvious, but I don't think it really is all that obvious when you first see how they specify this in ETKA.

What car do you have, I'm guessing a G60. Yes, the pipes are reasonable to change, check out ProdigalSon's thread, he did his a few months back. btw, if you don't have a G60, disregard this :bonk: It's a VR6! Anybody? Any view on OEM vs Halfords specially-designed fuel clips?

LOL, you know, I effing knew it was something to do with that suspicious-looking tab. Oh well, it's done now. Cheers!

Yes, you would have to fit that. This is the vacuum that drives the PCV valve. If you don't have that then I reckon the valve will just be open all the time, which will be the same as just having a straight hose.

As far as I'm aware, the PCV valve (positive crankcase ventilation) is designed to stop combustion gases that leak past the cylinder rings from entering the engine on idle, but to gradually allow them as the throttle is opened . That's why there's a vacuum connection to it. As the throttle is opened, the vacuum drops and the valve opens to allow the vapours to be burned off. These vapours can be oily too, which is why the throttle body and ISV get gummed up with oily deposits over time. So, if you've just got a straight hose, with no valve, then you are effectively circulating those vapours all the time, with no adjustment relative to vacuum levels in the engine. This possibly doesn't matter too much if you don't idle a lot, but I guess it's not the way it's meant to be. My problem was that my PCV valve was actually leaking air from the atmosphere, which was messing around with the mixture. You won't have THAT problem (assuming your hose is not leaking) and so the metering will probably still be correct, it's just that you might be having too much of the blow by gases going in when they shouldn't be. You can't buy the hoses or the valve from VW, you have to buy the whole air intake, which includes the big diameter bit and the breather stuff and PCV valve. However, you can get all these bits individually from Ford. Inspect your whole system. If it's in a poor state then it would probably be cheaper to buy the whole thing from VW, but if you only need a PCV valve and the bit of hose, then it would probably be better going to Ford. Tell them you have a 1994 Galaxy VR6. You may be able to get away with simply shortening your existing hose enough to accommodate the PCV valve. There is one more important consideration. See the small diameter hose that goes from the block down under the main air intake and to an electrical device? You will need to get the version of that hose with a branch off it to operate the PCV valve. There's no point in fitting the PCV valve if you don't have the vacuum connection to it, and it looks like your small hose is not the right one. Compare carefully with the picture of the VR6 with PCV valve. Once again, I'm not sure why yours (and some others') are like that. There might be a good reason for it. (Edit: on second thoughts, it's almost certainly just garages bodging it because they can't source a replacement PCV valve from VW without buying the whole thing, so they probably just end up bypassing the valve and making it recirculate all the time.)

Mine looks exactly like the last picture. Note the difference in the corrugation too for the air intake? Yours is all chunky, whereas mine is like the last pic, very narrow bands. I wonder if somebody has put the air intake from a newer VR6 (Golf, Sharan, etc.) onto your car. However, the newer ones (OBD-II, they seem to refer to them as) did not have the branch off to the ISV as I believe the ISV is integrated into the throttle body on post-Corrado VR6 engines. So I'm not really sure where you've got that air intake from. I suppose it could be third party. To answer your question about the blanked plug, this is meant to be like that. North American Corrados have a heater element in here to prevent the vapours freezing in winter. European (or at least UK) spec Corrados never had these heaters, hence the redundant connector which is just plugged into a dummy socket.

Yes, it's the bit of the handbrake that your hand goes on. No matter how much I huffed and puffed, I couldn't get it off. I wouldn't be surprised to find it's superglued on, because somebody has broken the plastic bit just down from that on my handbrake, because that's ultimately how I managed to get the whole thing off, without taking the hand grip off. Handbrake is tight in about 3 clicks now though, which is a novelty.

In a recent thread I suggested that editing rights be expanded for the knowledge base. I've done a few write-ups now, and none of them are in the knowledge base, because I don't have permission to edit. Perhaps a thread could be started looking for volunteers to add their write-ups? I would obviously volunteer.

Things were going so well today. I finally managed to get the handbrake surround off and get the handbrake adjusted. I'd waited until it got dark and faced the car towards the brick wall of Hampden stadium and 'bettered' the headlight alignment, but then I smelt petrol. I could see the bit of the fuel rail where the hoses attach was wet with petrol. I think it must be leaking at that famous rubber hose to fuel rail bit. I've never been happy with the jubilee clips that are there. They're far too harsh. It looks like somebody has shortened the rubber hoses already, presumably to cut off a burst section. Are these hoses easy to replace? Are they cheap? Please don't tell me they go all the way back to the tank! I think I'm just going to tighten the clips up a bit to hopefully stop it leaking tomorrow, then fix properly when I've got time. It can't be that bad because I can't actually see it coming out, even after letting it evaporate away. I know some people use two clips per hose. What's the best type of clip? The OEM? I've seen special fuel hose clips in Halfords. They're very flat and look kind to hoses. Are they any good? Any help appreciated. Thanks.

I've looked up my paper Bentley and it says that both adjusters are got at with a long Philips screwdriver through holes in the top of the light and surround. The picture also shows that the outer adjuster is low down. So, what is the thumbscrew thing at the top of the outer of the lights? It doesn't seem to show up on the picture.

Hi, thanks for the answer. I've found finger turnable knobs on the top outer corners, but there are no other knobs like this. There is a sort of white thing that looks like it might be adjustable with a hex socket, but it's hard to say. The last time I did it, I just turned the finger turnable ones and I'm pretty sure they just adjusted the height. I reckon it's only the height that will be off anyway, as the middle screw not being attached should not really affect horizontal alignment (I hope).

Well I've managed to do the adjustment, but I never managed to get the hand grip bit off. As I said before, somebody has already broken the bit further down from that, presumably because they couldn't work out how to get the handle off. With this bit off, it's possible to slip the other bits over the hand grip. Anyway, you need to take the rear arm rest off (4 screws underneath it) and the 2 screws on the centre surround in order to get the whole thing off. I didn't do a proper adjustment, just took up the slack and ensured the car still freewheels. It's binding a lot lower now though, 3 clicks as opposed to 6 or 7 before.

Thanks for the reply. Well, I can see how somebody's got into in the past. They've simply broke the bit behind it. No wonder it rattles so much. I still can't find this button. Can anybody help with the location of this release button?

Hi, I've got my MoT tomorrow and I've decided to try to adjust my handbrake cables a wee bit. I believe there's a button to press to release the handle cover, but I've got the full leather interior and the leather handle doesn't appear to have such a button. How do I get it off?!? Where is this button, as it may still be there but simply under the leather? Any help greatly appreciated as I'm currently stuck unless I can work out how to remove this handle. Thanks.

Cheers for the information everyone. I'll give it a go when it gets dark tonight.

Right, I've done a search and can't find anything, and I feel I've contributed enough write-ups to entitle me to ask this, even if somebody immediately finds the link and posts it as a reply! :D I've got my Ministry of Transport test on Thursday and the only thing I know that it MIGHT fail on is headlight adjustment. When I did my crack pipe replacement (which I wrote up :D ), I noticed that one of the headlights wasn't attached properly to the front of the car. The deep-set screw had nothing to screw into because the bit had been bent down. So I bent this back and now it's attached properly. But I think this has now changed the alignment of the headlight. So, to the questions: 1 What adjustment is possible? Is it only vertical? Or is there a horizontal adjustment too? 2 What's the easiest way of doing this? I've heard of the wall method but can't remember the details. Any info would be appreciated, and by the way, I think the knowledge base could do with some expansion. I'd be willing to add my write-ups to it, but I don't think I've got the permissions to edit it. Perhaps the permissions to edit could be spread about a bit? Basically, any work I do on my car, I try to take pictures and write it up, if it's sufficiently complicated.

In my experience, high oil temperatures can often be an indication that you're low on oil. There's much debate about what grade of oil to use, but many people here would say that 10/40 is too thin. I would tend to agree with that. Maybe it was fine when the engines were new, but I think most people here probably use 15/40 (prepares to be corrected). It doesn't get burned away quite so quickly and so you don't need to top up quite so much. However, the VR6 IS an oil burner, it even says so in the instruction book. Burning up to a litre of oil per 1000km (600-odd miles) is within spec. even from new. You have to keep on top of the oil level in the engine all the time. I check mine very often, even though I don't drive very many miles. I try to keep mine in the upper half of the shaded area, i.e. closer to max than min. Cars of this age likely have minor leaks too. The other thing I've found that can cause high oil temperatures is a defective cooling system. If you are loosing coolant, or have inoperative fans or stuck thermostat, then the oil cooler is unable to transfer much heat to the coolant and your oil temperature will rise too. Are your coolant temperatures high too? I recently totally overhauled my coolant system to fix a leak. I replaced the so-called crack pipe and associated hoses. At the same time I replaced the thermostat and housing. The year before I replaced the main fan and cowling, all temperature sensors (including radiator sensor) and the heater matrix, which was leaking. I am pretty sure my coolant system is working near to new spec. My coolant temps have dropped from 110 at its worst (in normal driving conditions) to bang on 90 in normal conditions. My oil has dropped from nearly 120 to seldom going over 100. This is totally 100% standard spec. No fancy thermostat, no modifications. These drops were even evident in hot summer days this year. If I go straight onto the motorway then the oil will often never reach 100 at all and coolant will never go above 90 at all. Our cars are old now and everything is tired. And my new mantra with the Corrado definitely applies here: "Never assume there is only one cause of your Corrado problem.". Hope this helps.

So going by what boost has said above, it WOULD matter if the PCV was missing all together. My 93 VR didnt come with one, I think others also have it missing. If i fitted one, would it make a difference?[/quote:3ejt0mfd] If it's missing but the pipe going to the much larger diameter pipe is properly sealed off, then I don't think it would affect performance, except I don't know what happen to the oil vapours that would normally be burned off. Are you sure you're not thinking of the charcoal canister? I'd be surprised if lots of people had this breather valve missing (unless, of course, they've simply replaced it with a normal hose). Many people have removed their carbon canisters. I still have mine.