aclwalker

Hi all, I've got a thread running in the engine section about how my VR6 has dumped all its coolant on the road due to a burst crack pipe. I live in a flat and park the car on the public road, round the corner and up a hill from my house, so it's not very convenient to work on it there. Coupled with the Glasgow weather (currently pishing with rain) and the fact that it's parked 200 yards from my flat (up two floors!) and I don't have access to all the tools and stuff at my dad's, I'm seriously considering getting him to tow me to his house where we can have some shelter and hot tea, courtesy of mum, while we're waiting for the rain to go off. I've done a search and all I can find is info on people towing OTHER cars with a Corrado, not posts on being towed IN your Corrado. I know the steering is VERY heavy on a sleeping Corrado, so I just wanted to know if anyone has any experience of being towed IN their Corrado. Is it feasible? I am considering buying this: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/tb-2s-towing-bar-with-spring-damper as I've been towed in my old Golf with a rope and it's very scary. Is it possible to steer a Corrado while being towed? I've got the advantage (!) that I was recently made redundant and my dad is retired, so we can pick and choose the quietest time to do the towing and do these repairs at our leisure (almost). Any advice gratefully received. Thanks.

You can get a login for www.vagcat.com at http://www.bugmenot.com. Just type in "www.vagcat.com" and you'll find one.

Listen carefully when you turn the ignition on (don't need to actually start the engine). Do you hear a click after a few seconds? If not then it sounds like the ABS has been disabled. I'm not sure if removing the bulb would disable it. You should also probably check the fuses. There might be one blown or missing. The ABS does a test when the ignition is put on and clicks when the light goes OFF to indicate no problems. The light will light for a few seconds during this test. Some people disable the ABS to hide problems when selling the car but I believe it should be an MoT failure as if a car was fitted with ABS then it should work in order to pass the MoT. The fact that your wheels lock up also points to the ABS being disabled or having a fault which makes it self-disable.

Copper is the standard replacement material and is perfectly safe. And all brake pipes are pressurised when you press the pedal. :D Apparently, the only reason (or at least original reason) that original pipes are steel is because the US has a protectionist law dating back decades, designed to protect the US steel industry at the time, which mandates that any cars sold in the US must have steel brake pipes. So all the manufacturers were forced and so decided for consistency and cost reasons to use steel in all markets. But steel rusts. If original pipes were copper they would probably last the lifetime of the car. Rusting brake pipes is a safety issue! Currently though, of course, copper is very expensive so manufacturers probably save money by using steel these days. Steel brake lines are very rigid and probably only suitable for fitting as a car is being built and all the other bits are not attached and in the way. It would be incredibly difficult to fit replacement steel pipes in some parts of the car because of the lack of flexibility and space to work. You'd probably end up using shorter pieces and joining them with unions, but anywhere you have a union, you have a potential point of failure. If you are worried about the strength of copper, then you can opt for copper nickel. This is more rigid than copper, but the thickness of wall is actually a lot less, I believe. I'd just stick with standard copper. You probably end up needing to use more brake fluid with copper nickel (as the overall diameter is the same, but the wall thickness less), which might be no bad thing for heat dissipation. In short, copper replacement brake pipes are standard, perfectly safe (if done properly, like anything else) and nothing to worry about. I would opt for brass unions though, if you can, as they are virtually corrosion proof, unlike the steel ones you may be offered, even when using copper pipe replacements.

Well, it sounds like the inner CV joint of the driver's side may be about to go. Here's something you can try. Jack up the car and carefully rotate the driver's side front wheel and see if you can feel and unnatural resistance at a particular point. You may get a click as it goes past that point, but I didn't until it was totally shot and clicked all the time. If you get this resistance, at the same point in the rotation every time, then I'd suggest it's the driver's inner CV joint that's dried out. See my description in this post: http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=69094#p803668

Last year I replaced all brake pipes right up to the ABS unit under the bonnet. The only original pipes are now under the bonnet (ABS to master cylinder etc.). I got all the bits from http://www.automec.co.uk. I bought their "Universal Light" flaring tool I think it was, which was around £100 but it's a lovely piece of equipment which makes great beautiful flares on your pipes. It's a lot of money but even if I only used it once it's paid for itself. You can get hand-held flaring tools much cheaper but in my experience, the force needed to make excellent flares is too great for a hand held tool. The Automec flaring tools are used in a vice. Hand held tools allow you to do a pipe in situ though, but I don't think that's really necessary or advisable. I bought the normal copper pipe from them. Some people prefer the copper nickel as opposed to the standard copper as it's harder, but that just makes it much harder to bend, so I opted fro the standard copper. It's advisable to get a bending tool too from the same website, as although you can easily bend copper by hand, there are places you'll want a tight bend. Their basic bending tool isn't very expensive. You may want to also buy the deburring tool to clean up the cut pipe. Oh yes, you'll need a pipe cutter too. I got one from a website that a guy on here started I think. The name escapes me, but any adjustable copper pipe cutter will do. I think B&Q even sell them. My original brake pipes failed the MoT and I'm actually glad the guy did it. I really like the MoT guy who does my car. He really likes the car, squeezes us (me and my dad) in to his schedule when he recognises the car on the phone and doesn't fail it on trivia that you can't prove otherwise. When I saw the pipes I was actually shocked. Also, my brake hoses were bulging at points. If you're going to replace your brake lines and your hoses are old too, then I would just get the full set of 6. I got mine from GSF but others prefer Goodridge braided hoses. Incidentally, you've got virtually no chance of removing the unions from the old pipe anyway, as they will be corroded on. The best way to remove the old pipes is with bolt cutters. Try to catch the fluid with newspaper. Fitting the new pipes around the car is surprisingly easy. Some bits are a bit tough because you have to get it behind heat shields for the exhaust, but be systematic and it's no problem. You may have to use cable ties to secure them to places as the original plastic clips will likely have broken off. It's a good idea to 'seal' the brake reservoir with cling film, then put the lid on as this helps to minimise leakage and prevent the complete emptying of the system. Another tip is to make a sort of plug with one of your new unions and a hammered down small piece of copper pipe (flared at the union, obviously) and place this temporarily in the ABS unit for the particular pipe you are replacing. This again helps to minimise leakage and air ingress. You need to watch with the unions, as most are the standard M10 male unions for German cars, but one of them is an M12. I'm not quite sure why this is but I think it's to ensure that you fit the pipes back in the same order. So you'll need to buy M10 unions and a couple of M12 (if you want to make an M12 temporary plug too) unions from Automec. All in all, I replaced all four brake lines right back to the ABS unit, all new brass unions (lovely quality), bought a brake flaring tool, cutter, bending tool and deburrer, with new copper pipe and new flexible hoses for probably around £150-170. Something like that. Most of the cost is the tools, but you'll always have them. Also, when you make the flares up, take care to make the right one. VWs use what I think they call a single flare, whereas the tool can make single or double. Basically, just read the instruction carefully and compare your flare with those on the original pipes and you can't go wrong. It's very important to remove burrs though before flaring as they WILL leak if you don't do this. Oh, another thing. You will likely want to replace the brake pressure compensation valve which is attached to the rear suspension and reduces braking pressure on the rear as the car tilts forward (to prevent rear wheel lock under heavy braking). Mine was original and was totally gubbed and just about seized. If you're replacing all your pipes then just get a new one of these. They are not that expensive if bought on the Internet. Be careful to note which pipes went where (there are two inlets and two outlets). After bleeding the air out, check very carefully for fluid leaks. New fluid is harder to see because it's clean. I had a very minor leak which was cured by tightening it up. I was worried about over tightening them and deforming the flare. Just remembered, you might want to get a brake pipe spanner. I'd buy one from Halfords for this. The Automec one is very cheap and not really up to it. One more thing, the hardest bit with the fronts is probably getting it through the sidewall of the engine bay. There's a rubber grommet that you need to remember to put on the pipe BEFORE doing the final flare. Likewise you need to remember to put the unions on the pipe BEFORE doing the last flare, otherwise you'll need to cut the pipe again to get them on! Aligning the pipe through to the engine bay, with this grommet such that it doesn't rub and follows the rough path of the old pipe can be tricky. Lasty(!) the size of pipe is 3/16".

Yes, this sounds like an inner CV joint. I had this problem. Which driveshaft did you get replaced? Passenger side? Is it a VR6? Did they just replace the shaft or shaft plus CV joints? The driver's side (UK cars) inner CV joint is only about an inch away from the exhaust and the heat dries out the grease to a black powdery mess and then the whole thing will just wear itself away.

Well, last year I had to replace an inner CV joint as it had got to the point where it was a horrendous continual clunk which could be felt through the steering. I had had an intermittent problem ever since I got the car but couldn't quite pin it down. With the VR6, the driver's side inner CV joint is right above the exhaust, like about 1 inch away and all that heat dries out the grease over time. Non-VR6 cars seem to have a heat shield but I could could not get a definitive answer as to whether or not the VR6 should have one. IIRC, ETKA doesn't list one for the VR6. My grease had turned into a black powder almost and the ball bearings were totally pitted. I could barely rotate the wheel there was so much resistance and when it got past the resistance point it clicked very loudly and rapidly rotated round until the resistance point again. With inner CV joints you get the click in a straight line. Inner CV joints are barely stressed by steering at all. They mainly move with the up and down motion of the suspension and in fact more or less stay in the same orientation in the horizontal axis all the time. Inner CV joints, if worn, will click on application of power, or sometimes during engine braking. Only outer CV joints will click on full lock. Some cars have a cheaper tripod design for inner CV joints due to the fact that they get very little angular motion, but I'm pleased to say that the Corrado has huge hefty ball-and-cage designs for the inners. Obviously the outers are ball-and-cage. I decided to buy both inner and outer CV joints, from GSF, but I've only fitted them on one side so far. My boots were showing signs of cracking in the rubber, but were not yet contaminated. My outer was very free moving and was probably OK, but I decided to change it anyway. The job is not too difficult, provided you can get the 3 bolts holding the ball joint onto the wishbone off. I had huge difficulty with this because the welded nut came off and simply spun with the bolt, so I had to dremel it off, which is not easy due to the access. You are as well to replace the ball joint at the same time as it will almost certainly be burst if it's the original. Once this is off (and the hub nut is off too), you basically swing the strut away from the car and push the outer CV joint half shaft through the hub. The only other difficulty is that the driver's side assembled driveshaft (i.e. with CVs attached) is really heavy and so you will need another person to guide it through as it's far to heavy to hold at one end of it and try to fit it through the gap. Tie plastic bags over both ends to keep out contamination while you do this (especially the inner CV as it is not actually sealed. It seals against the flange on the tranamission.). All in all, it's not that difficult a job if you don't have difficulty with seized nuts.

How did you manage this without removing the thermostat housing bit? Or did you just remove that one bit of the housing that attaches to the pipe, while leaving the main bit in situ? I would be delighted if it's possible to do by just removing the whole thermostat housing, removing the oil cooler hose and then sliding out, as these are all the bits I want to replace anyway. The less dismantling on the public road the better.

Thanks for the answers everyone. How easy is it to remove the front bumper and the front bit holding the lights, radiator etc? Is there a risk that I won't be able to re-attach everything due to corrosion? A year or so ago I replaced the fan cowling and powered fan and that was a nightmare fitting it in WITHOUT taking the front off. Maybe I should have taken it off.

My crack pipe has finally given up and I have just witnessed it spilling the contents of my cooling system on to the road. I've read all the threads about the metal replacements but I think I'll just replace it with the OEM plastic one, since it lasted a long time anyway, provided the cost is reasonable. Does anyone know how much it is from VW? Is it cheaper from Ford? The good news is that I've had a full thermostat housing and thermostat waiting to be fitted for ages, so now's my chance. The bad news is that I don't have a garage or driveway and I can't drive it over to my parents' like I usually do for repairs, so I'm going to have to do the repair at the roadside. I park the car in a dead end street, which is obviously very quiet, with houses only on one side of the road, so I should be free to work on it safely but is this possible to do at the roadside or should I get it towed to my parents? It's a good 15 miles away and it's a heavy VR6. I've read that you really need to take the front end away (radiator, grille, etc), but somebody also said you can get away with just disconnecting the front mount, loosening the rear mounts and jacking the engine up. I also suspect that removal of the top part of the inlet manifold (this is quite straightforward and I've done it before) would also help for access. What do you all think? I'm a confident home mechanic and do nearly all of the work on the car myself anyway. I'm just a wee bit worried about being out of the comfort zone of my dad's driveway with his 80 years plus of bought and inherited tools. Also, what's the consensus (if there is one) on fitting the cooler (70C?) thermostat as against the standard (80C?), bearing in mind that I'm in cold Glasgow?

All, I've just replaced my driver's side front ABS sensor. While it was a total PITA to do, since I've done the passenger side one twice, it wasn't all that difficult. You just need to make sure that you destroy the old one completely while removing it as it will not come out otherwise! Remember to clean up the hole well so that the new one will go in. Which brings me on to the main tip. The driver's side sensor and the first replacement of the passenger side sensor were both destroyed by the corroded ABS ring rubbing on the sensor tip and wearing it away. As steel rusts it expands and it can expand enough to touch the sensors. If you are replacing front brake pads then it would be a good idea to file off any rust on the ABS ring on the side that faces the sensor, to prevent premature failure. My first replacement on the passenger side died prematurely because of this touching. I may have put the replacement sensor in too far (this is actually possible, as the sensor is bolted on to the side and the plastic has some flexibility to allow you to push slightly too far), but I also noticed that the ring was distorted slightly. So, take the chance to correct any distortion with a hammer and remove the corrosion with a file/screwdriver.

I see. The links above do specify that these are temporary spare tyres though. It could be useful for people who want to just keep the car as original as possible and still maintain a usable spare without having to encroach on the boot space. The 2CV wheels were seriously skinny! And only held on with three bolts, IIRC!

I'm in the market for new tyres as my slow puncture has developed into a fast one. I've currently got Toyo Proxes T1-S which I'm very happy with. It seems that they are all but discontinued though, even though the brochure I downloaded from the Toyo website itself lists them for the 205/50/15 size (VR6 size) as being one of the "remaining twelve" sizes they will continue to make them in. Doesn't seem easy to source them though. I'll probably try the T1-R now though. Or does anyone know a supplier for the T1-S for 205/50/15 size? Anyway, I've been re-reading about the space saver tyre, as I remembered people saying that they were no longer available, but I found the following interesting tyre: http://www.rotationuk.com/tyres-online/gbu0-prodshow/toyo_e08a_125_70_15_95_m_spare_tyre.html http://www.easityre.com/w-125pr-70dia-15id-Toy-174802-E08A-125/70/15-95- So Toyo appear to do a range of temporary spare tyres called E08A. The first link prices them at £41.75 but the second is selling them for £33.55. The PDF brochure from the Toyo website also mentions this: My space saver has actually never been used but I thought some of you might find this useful and maybe fancy enquiring about it. The size mentioned seems to match one of the sizes that the Wiki mentions for the space saver but it isn't really very clear as it mentions two different sizes and mentions a date cut-off for the non-VR6 models, but not for the VR6 models. Does anyone know what is the correct size for what dates? Perhaps somebody who knows could update it? This would be useful for people to know. I could check my car when I go home and see what size of space saver I have.

I spoke too soon. The water deflector/seal/trim thing flew out while driving along at 30 mph. The gap is too big at the top of the screen so the trim has nothing to grip to. They must have let the screen slip. So much for my "old hat" instructions from Bentley. Maybe if the guy had followed them then this wouldn't have happened. I don't know if he used wedges to keep it in place. Probably not. I've booked it in for Saturday morning. What's the bets they'll just want to glue it in? I don't think that's good enough. I suspect it's leaking as I've seen two drips from the same area. If the gap is too big for the seal then the channel will collect water, whether it's glued in or not. Do you reckon I should insist on the screen being completely removed and refitted? I'm worried they will damage the ceramic black-out band when scraping the old bonding off. I gather this is a UV barrier to protect the bond. If they scrape that off then presumably the bond will deteriorate with time and sunlight exposure. Incidentally, despite my comments above, the Bentley manual seems to be wrong. It says the gap up the top should be "42 mm (2 in.)". Firstly 42 mm is not 2 inches and secondly a gap either 42 mm or 2 inches would seem to me to be an order of magnitude too big. 4.2 mm would seem more like it to me, although why bother with 0.2 of a mm? Does anyone know what the correct gap should be at the top of the screen? Everyone at work is slowly beginning to see why I personally do all the work I can on my Corrado. They can scarcely believe the problems I have with mechanics (and tradesmen, and anything I buy from any shop).

Cheers. Yeah, I'm still parking up there. I don't often get a choice though, so under the three trees it was that night. I was just unlucky. The good news is that it's all fixed now. I went to National Windscreens in Bridgeton (Admiral wouldn't pay for Autoglass to do it, even though they had the glass in stock and could have done it yesterday). I was a bit wary of the place at first, but to be fair the guy was fine and did what looks to be a good job so far. I queried the thickness of the bead for the sealant and had a printout from the Bentley manual. He said that these kinds of instructions were a bit old hat now (which got me worried) but after the job he explained that it probably was indicating the thickness of the bead BEFORE pressing the glass down. I had pointed out that the old windscreen appeared to be pressed down really hard and low and was possibly a cause of my poor wiper performance. I know all Corrados have poor wipers, but I've done the Lupo mod and also re-assembled the wipers correctly after years of them being wrong with bits missing. This new windscreen must be about 5mm out from the metal of the body whereas the old one was almost touching it. I think the old screen was probably not fitted with spacers. This would make wiping poor as the screen would have been further from the wipers. He could see I had an interest in it and that I knew about the car, so maybe that helped. I'm not sure if the rubber seal is different from before. I should have taken a picture. But the plastic bits were all put back correctly, although the exterior trim had the clips broken before and been glued down with the sealant, so he had to simply do the same this time. The good news is that the windscreen says "Saint Gobain Sekurit" on it. At first he discounted my thoughts about Pilkingtons, saying it was one of the top manufacturers but then he backtracked and said "Actually, come to think of it we did have problems with a few vans with Pilkingtons.", so maybe there is something in it. Now I just need to try to un-dent my sunroof, but there's no great rush for that.

Cheers for your thoughts guys. My bad day was nicely put into perspective by the girl in the pizza place telling me about the problems with her mother's dementia and then later being told by my other half about the 20 year old boy in her operating theatre today with a 40% chance of survival due to cancer developed from lumps he had been ignoring. At the end of the day, it's just a car and I can be thankful I've not had things like the above to deal with. And I suppose I've had the day off too! On a lighter note, here's a wee tip I put to use on my telethon this morning: http://www.saynoto0870.co.uk 0845 and 0870 used to be the same as local and national rates, respectively (0845 used to be known as "lo-call" a play on the word "local"). However, almost all telecoms providers have flat rates now so there is really no such thing as national rate any more. Further, local calls are often free now, or in inclusive minutes. 0845 and 0870 numbers don't count towards these. 0870 is particularly insidious as the rate is often at mobile-like prices, and the companies who only give out such numbers get a significant cut of the call costs. They probably get a cut from 0845 too, but obviously a smaller amount. You just enter in the name of the company or the 0845 or 0870 number you're looking for and you'll likely find a geographic equivalent which will be treated as a normal call as per your tariff. The reason why this works is that 0845 and 0870 are just fronts for the real numbers. It allows them to change their number without changing the front number (a bit like a PO box) and probably allows them to load share across multiple numbers. You might have noticed on credit card statements and the like they always give you a geographic equivalent to phone if you are abroad, because 0845 and 0870 numbers don't work from abroad (I think). This is mostly where these numbers come from on that website. Happy cheaper calling those insurance companies and others. And Butterfly, I'm digging out my flask for tomorrow. Top idea! Cheers.

Hi all, I've not posted for a while but last night I was a victim of the weather. We had a really bad storm last night in Glasgow and even though I don't commute any more with the Corrado, I walked up to the street where I park it having a feeling that the trees might have damaged it. My windscreen had been hit by a big chunk of branch right in the top of the driver's corner and has totally smashed it. It's held in by the laminate but it's leaking slightly. Also my sunroof is quite dented now and there are one or two other smaller dents. I have an appointment with National Windscreens tomorrow. RAC (the first company my insurer deals with) could only do it on Friday. What a sheer hassle I've had today. I read about the problems with Pilkington glass on the forum and I checked and sure enough, I've got Pilkington but all other glass is Sekurit, so I guess my windscreen has been replaced before, probably by the fandan who reassembled my wipers all wrong such that the arms were rubbing off the bonnet. The schoolgirl on the phone couldn't tell me who made the glass but came back and said it was "the good stuff". I asked her to confirm it was Sekurit and she said it was, but I'm not at all convinced. She probably thought I was some sort of weirdo. The RAC woman claimed that they made their own glass. When I did a double take and asked her if I'd heard her right that she was saying that RAC actually _manufacture_ their own windscreens, she repeated the claim, as if I was the daftie for asking. Why is it so hard to get someone on the phone now who knows what they're talking about? Is this progress? You can't even phone the branches of these places any more as the numbers are hidden and if you can find them they will go to central HQ if you choose the wrong option. All I wanted to know is if they had the screen in stock AT the branch. This morning was spent on the phone and this afternoon was spent removing all the interior trim that I don't want them to break. I've had too many things broken by ham-fisted morons to trust any of them now. I'm a bit worried about the outer trim down the bottom where the wipers poke through, but it's dark now and it's been raining for ages so I think I'll need to just risk it. The body repair place that the insurance company gave me for the dents also phoned up and the guy warned me that I'm "looking at a total loss"! WTF? I stopped him right there and said: "Mate, I'm not going to scrap a perfectly good car for the sake of a few dents in the sunroof. I told the insurance company that there were dents and that if it was uneconomical to repair (as if there could be any other outcome!) then I'd just not bother. At the moment I'm picking glass out the seat and the windscreen is the priority so I'll phone you back once I've inspected the damage myself and it's not howling a gale." I've just also done a new quote with Admiral (except I had to invent a name or else it refuses to give you a quote since I've already got a policy with them!) and it saves me virtually nothing if I take off the fully comp. I would have to get glass cover on top and it's almost the same price, but it looks like the old Corrado is essentially never going to be repaired by an insurer now as it's past it. Do you hear guys? Our cars are old hat, and not worth repairing. What a laugh. I was going to post a few weeks ago about my 200,000 milestone, but this has really taken the shine off it. My car is much better than cars I know half its age, apart from my tatty bodywork (even before the tree assault), so I'll pretty much be keeping it, I'm afraid, despite what everyone else thinks. At least I'll have a new windscreen now and the fact that I've got a Pilkington already means that I can't really be more disappointed if another one gets fitted tomorrow. What a stools (can't say sh it) day I've had. If you feel like cheering me up then some congratulations on the 200,000 would be appreciated. I'll pass on the message to the faithful wee VR6 tomorrow morning.

I've posted numerous times in the past about a clicking/grinding noise I got with acceleration after long runs on cold days in my VR6. Well, I thought I'd just report back about the final resolution of this years old problem for anyone else who may be getting similar problems. To recap, the noise used to only appear after a motorway run, once I'd come off and come to a stop and then picked away. Picking away, I would get a grinding noise for a short while and then it would stop. It initially only did it in winter on cold days, but got progressively worse over the years (I don't do a high mileage these days, so the progression was slow) until last week where it had got suddenly a lot worse. The clicking was almost continual but especially bad under acceleration and when letting off the throttle. Keeping at a steady speed reduced the noise. There was no clicking on full lock. I thought a long time ago that these symptoms were a worn inner CV joint. I jacked the car up at the weekend and could barely turn the driver's side wheel, whereas the passenger side turned freely. Turning the driver's wheel, I would get worsening resistance until it would barely turn, then it would click and turn more easily again until that point was reached again. So, at the weekend, I fitted a new inner and outer CV joint to the driver's driveshaft (the long one). On removing the driveshaft I could see the problem. While the outer CV joint moved freely, the inner was almost seized and the grease had degraded to a thick black putty-like material. The joint was essentially dry and I could see clear pitting in the ball bearings. The job went well except for the removal of the 3 balljoint bolts. One snapped (which was not actually a problem as it's screwed into a replaceable plate/frame), one came out fine and the other spun! The welded nut had broken free and so was spinning with the bolt. I had to Dremel away the bolt and frame to such an extent that I could chisel the frame off, which took around 5 hours, stopping for the rain numerous times. The ball joint was burst too, and since I had had a replacement for 3 years waiting to be fitted, I decided to replace it. I had real difficulty removing the main nut too, but my Irwin bolt grips saved the day. I can't recommend Irwin bolt grips enough. I used them the other week on my rear brake disc carrier bolts. They are incredible. I bought the base set and the expansion set for about £45 from Machine Mart. You could probably get these two as cheap as £37 on Ebay but I needed them quickly for an MoT so I was willing to pay the higher Machine Mart price. They are well worth the money though. Some other points and observations I made: 1 I posted recently about the uncertainty in the hub nut torque for the VR6. It is a 12 point nut (6 point on non-VR6) which suggests a lower torque (confirming what Bentley says). I got the old hub nut off with one hand on a breaker bar. It was still tight, but nothing like as tight as other VWs I've worked on. It sounds to me like the Bentley 90Nm + 45 degrees is probably about right. Somebody else said 50Nm + 30 degrees (but after initially torquing to 200Nm and backing off) but that this was for post April 1994 VR6s. I did it 90Nm + 45 degrees anyway. 2 I know my wheel bearing is also needing done (it's groaning a bit) but as this was an emergency repair of the driveshaft and I need the car this weekend, I elected to leave the bearing until I've got more time and better weather. I was wondering whether to use loctite or not on the driveshaft splines since I will be removing it again soon to do the bearing. AFAIK, only the VR6 is supposed to get loctite on the splines of the driveshaft (2 x 3 mm beads according to Bentley). However, when I dismantled it all, mine was coated liberally in copper grease! So much for the experts, once again doing it wrong. Since the wheel hadn't fallen off in this time, I elected to simply clean the copper grease off (the inside of the hub, as I was replacing the outer CV joint and hence splined shaft anyway) and not use loctite for the time being. When I do the bearing I probably will use loctite. 3 My balljoint appeared in good condition until I had taken it off. It had a pinhole in the rubber right against the knuckle where I couldn't see it and the grease had leaked out. Now that I have replaced that balljoint, the right side of the car takes the rough of the roads much better than the left. It is really quite noticeable. Clearly I would like to have done the other side too, but this was an emergency repair so it will have to wait until I have more time and better weather. However, if you are hesitating about re-newing your balljoints, I would say to just do it if you are at all suspicious of them. I've had mine for 3 years waiting to be fitted! 4 I had difficulty withdrawing the driveshaft from the engine bay as there is not much clearance between the sump and engine mount bit. I think my replacement CV boots were slightly narrower than the old ones (which helped), but the trick seems to be to keep the outer joint high as you're feeding it through. The gap is slightly bigger there. I fed the driveshaft in the way from the wheel well when removing and out the way when refitting, if you know what I mean. This way you keep the exposed inner CV joint clean (put a bag over it too to prevent contamination until you are ready to re-attach it. 5 Refurbishing a driveshaft is actually very easy. I was concerned with all the clips and so on in the kit, but it really was easy to do, providing you are methodical. I bought 3 tools from GSF for the job. I got a 30mm 12 point hub nut socket (£6.50ish), a CV joint boot clamp (£15, but well worth it for proper clamping of the outer boot) and the 800mm spline tool designed for VW driveshafts (again, around £15). The long spline tool was very useful indeed, however, it tended to twist when I was torquing the new bolts back on, so care needs to be taken that you don't over-torque and snap the tool. If you prefer though, you will probably have good enough access from underneath with a normal spline tool. The only other tools I needed for refurbishing the driveshaft was a mallet and a screwdriver. The outer CV joint is simply malleted on and off. If you are re-using your joints then more care needs to be taken with this. I used the screwdriver to remove AND fit the circlips. You can lever the circlip on with a small screwdriver, like levering a tyre on. You hammer on the inner CV joint with a socket of the appropriate size. 6 I found that disconnecting the 3 balljoint bolts is enough to give you clearance to remove the driveshaft. You don't need to disconnect the tie-rods for the steering. It may help to use spring compressors to allow you to refit the balljoint as the strut expands once the balljoint has come out of the control arm. I simply got my dad to press down on the control arm with his foot though when I needed to slot it back in. 7 I bought CV joints from GSF. They are GKN and they said they are new, not refurbs. They worked out at nearly £60 each including the VAT. The outers are the same but the inners are sided. Their new system only seems to list one side but their old system, which runs the website (which apparently came from the URO part of the business), lists them correctly. They can look up your car anyway using your registration. 8 I read on the Canadian Corrado Club website that the driver's inner (or passenger inner from their perspective, being left hand drive) on the VR6 suffers from heat from the exhaust which dries out the grease. This certainly seemed to be the case with me. ETKA lists a heat shield for non-VR6 models that appears to bolt on to the engine block, but I could not see a similar shield for the VR6. Perhaps such a shield would lengthen the life of this particular joint. Sorry this isn't a write-up, but I could maybe turn it into one if people want. I forgot my camera, so I got my brother to take a single photo of the state of the inner CV joint. I have no other photos of the work. This job would have been a single day job had I not had the problems with a bolt and a nut. My car is far smoother now and the grinding has gone. I would say if you have any clicking or vibration on acceleration or on releasing the throttle at speed then consider replacing your inner CV joints.

Andy, I'd think the fairest way to do it would be to ask those who were first in the queue before, assuming you still have that information. I think I must have been reasonably high up the list :lol: , although I don't know how near you got to me. Do you still have those records? It would be useful to post the list of names in their order so that people could judge whether to wait or try to do it themselves. Also, it might be an idea to take orders for the parts lists (i.e. a DIY kit), or if somebody organised bulk buying of these parts for those who want to do it themselves. I'd imagine that if everyone went off and bought the parts individually, then it might be more costly.

Right, I posted this earlier but it seems to have gone missing. Anyway, I was in GSF for other stuff today and asked if they had springs for a VR6 (not expecting much as I know all about the multitude of springs on Corrados). To my surprise he said that Lesjofors did them, but only up to 08/94. he said that they make OEM springs. I asked him for the numbers so that I could research it later. He gave me this: Front 4095028 Rear 4295022 If you go to the http://www.lesjoforsab.com/automotive/eng/default_eng.aspx?p=automotive&s=company website you'll see a "Catalogue" link and a "Download" link. The situation is not straightforward In the catalogue link you can select VR6 Corrado and you'll see what I mean. It lists only one "standard" spring and one "sports" spring", but in the description for the sports spring it mentions that this car was originally given two different spring and spring cap diameters (which I already knew about due to this forum), but it fails to say which of these that their "standard" and "sports" springs replace!!! Presumably it can't be both! Only one number is quoted for each of the "standard" and "sports" springs. If you download the PDF from the download section, you get a bit more information, like dimensions, but I'm not sure what these mean. You can look up the part numbers above and go to the end of the PDF to get these figures. Does anyone know if these will be suitable for a 94 VR6? Mine was first registered in March 94, but I'm not sure when it was built. The price was quite good from GSF for these springs (£45 I think) and I'm not wanting to lower the car, so these would be ideal if they were suitable. Can anyone decipher what model of VR6 the "standard" and/or "sports" spring replace? I have seen the thread where it is all described about the different spring caps and mounts etc, but there weren't spring dimensions mentioned. Thanks.

Supercharged, thanks for your answers. What is the "vag manual"? Is this what the workshops get? My car was first registered in March 1994, but I don't know when it was made. Is there a way of finding that out? EDIT: Does that make mine an 'old' or 'new' VR6 in terms of hub nut torque? Also, xbones said that it was the 90Nm setting on his that was too loose, but it looks like that's the 'maximum' setting for a VR6. This is really very confusing.

I know it's poor form to reply to your own thread, but http://www.corrado-club.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?p=26545&sid=8d35cc5796376a0554876d64fb9b9143 also confirms the 66 lb/ft (90Nm) for the VR6. I wonder if there's a lot of VR6s with over-tightened hub nuts. The Bentley manual isn't that great in this respect as the first diagram has the 265Nm figure, but doesn't make it clear that is for non-VR6 models. Only further on do you see a VR6 diagram with 90Nm on it and even that isn't labelled too clearly as being VR6 specific.

I'm going to be replacing CV joints and front wheel bearings soon and there's a number of points I'm unsure about. 1 I've done a search and can see no reference to the hub nut torque for the VR6 engine. All I can see is 265Nm, but Bentley says "90Nm plus 1/8 turn" for the VR6 and 265Nm for other engines. 90Nm seems very low to me, as Bentley even says that wheel nuts are to be 110Nm. It's a 12 point nut though for the VR6 so it seems it might be quite hard to undo a 265Nm 12 point nut without rounding it off. Are non-VR6 Corrado hub nuts 6 point nuts? What do you think about 90Nm for a hub nut, like what Bentley says? Does the locking compound mentioned for the splines maybe allow for a lower torque? 2 What is the locking compound for the splines that go into the hub? Is it just locktite or is it some specialist material? 3 Is there anywhere that a full driveshaft can be bought? Euro car parts list driveshafts for £185 (plus VAT and a £30 exchange fee), but they never have them in stock so presumably they don't do them any more. 4 I know most people take their front wheel bearings to a garage to get them pressed in, but I am likely to be needing to do a number of these (on my Corrado and other VWs) and so a tool like the Schley 63500 or the Sir Tools B90-VW look good as they allow bearings to be removed and installed in situ. Does anyone know where these tools can be bought in the UK? Anyone got any experience of using these tools? 5 I'm also thinking of doing my springs. I understand that there are about 3 different springs for VR6s, but, given the same top cup sizes, does it really matter which of the 3 sets you put on? My springs are quite badly corroded and so I can't see the paint marks anymore. I'm not really sure where they are either. Surely as long as all springs are the same, and the cup and mount sizes are correct, then which of the 3 springs you get doesn't matter? 6 One of my strut bearings is sticking such that it clicks round when steering rather than going smoothly. I got a specialist VW garage to replace these (along with shocks) a couple of years ago and the strut bearing has failed already after a very low mileage. Does over-tightening or under-tightening do this? EDIT: 7 I noticed on another web page (sorry, forgot the link) that there should be a heat shield between the driver's side inner CV joint and the exhaust. I don't appear to have one. Should there be one? If this is missing, could it cause the CV joint to fail prematurely due to heat. I am getting a now massive clicking on acceleration and now when letting off the throttle but it's quiet when the engine is cold. It only seems to come on once the car is up to temperature, but it is now doing it pretty much all the time once it's heated up and it definitely sounds like it's coming from the inner. There's no clicking on full lock. Thanks.

Andy, I think there's a LOT of people wanting these looms! People are just confused as to why it all went quiet. People were (are) excited about these looms which looked to be so much better quality than probably anything else around. I don't know where I was on the list but I remember emailing you links for potential suppliers and you thanked me and everything but I was disappointed like the rest when it became clear that something had happened. Do you have the will or the means to start it up again? I'm sure there's plenty of demand left and people might just sympathise with any problems you've had with your flooding. I think ReekieVR very reluctantly escalated his problem because he felt it was helpless. He's not done it out of badness. To echo someone else's comments, a DIY kit would be good if you don't feel up to making them, and people appreciate that you were doing it not to become a millionaire but to help out the community with your specialist knowledge.