fendervg

Are the lift pumps not there just to provide some assist to the main under body unit? The noise is probably due to the main pump having to do a lot more work under strain once the lift pump has failed. I think they are pretty standard across the VW range of that era - my 1990 8v GTI had one aand when I replaced it at the time there lots of options, but a good brand is obviously advisable, if more expensive. Taking the body out of the in tank unit and back in is pretty easy. Another option is that a lot of uprated K-Jet cars simply fit a more powerful in tank pump and do away with the dual pump arrangement altogether.

Alarm, bonnet open/closed sensor. Mine isn't on the wing though, it's on the lock carrier beside the passenger side bonnet catch. You'll find the wire is designed to go to earth when the bonnet is opened and the circuit is closed then by the push rod and spring holding it in such a way that it doesn't make contact.

Was there not a known issue with these that they were shipping the wrong ones as they didn't realise/care that the late cars had two different spring set-ups? I think there was plenty of discussion about this on here, so a good rummage with the search function or Google should throw something up? I seem to remember those that had the problem were able to exchange their springs for the correct item, but that spring plates needed to change as well - but could be wrong...

Very nice, and rare to find in RHD - but pricey. There were a few aftermarket versions of the panel available as far as I remember. Personally I'm not gone on the silver gauge trim - the original gauges are just standard black VDO ones with green backlight in instead of orange - still available new, and common on "sporty" Golfs, Scirocos and Audis from the 80s - you might just need to swap over the bulbs. With a twin pole pressure sender from an Audi Coupe you could get the whole lot from a breaker apart from the holder itself.

Don't forget the ham and chesse! Seasonal best wishes to all on here and their families - hope you have a good one.

Thanks for confirming - I was originally going to say "most cars", but chickened out as I only have direct hands on experience with older VAGs! At least good to know that they weren't the only ones and it was just par for the course then - VW would have had a better engineering reputation than that if it was an obvious electrical flaw.

It's just a panel that sits above the ashtray - you can see/feel it when you take the ashtray out. The rear ashtray was never illuminated - although the potential is there and I think I've seen it done - it would be relatively easy to run some wiring back there and hook up a bulb to the dash illumination circuit.

No it doesn't, but people have modded it with LEDs to illuminate it - given where it is though, you would need eyeballs in your kneecaps for it to be of any use! The switch also didn't change between early and late cars, probably for the same reason.

Good find - the later ones rarely go bad from what I have seen so far, touch wood. I think it's more related to a voltage spike or faulty regulator, and this then damages the MFA and LCD.

When you say "larger" do you mean wider or more diameter? All Corados ran 15" rims out of the factory, varying from 6 to 6.5 with ET38-43. 7J ET33 seems to be the widest that will fit easily - you could change offsets and widths, but will affect suspension geometry. There should be a few people on here that can tell you what they are running. Personally I wouldn't go over 16" 7J for everyday driving and ride quality. https://www.wheel-size.com/size/volkswagen/corrado/1994/#trim-29-vr6-eudm-188

See you guys have brought in the Canadian "cheddar", but look what happened to the Maple Leaf Corrado Club - the site no longer exists and there was tons of useful info on there. A lesson maybe for both those who prefer haute cuisine and others who like easy singles with processed hamalike slices....just some food for thought!

Assuming your brother will still be using an 02A gearbox with the speed sensor fitted, I don't see any reason why the signal would not work with the 160mph clock - the pulses would just be more frequent for the higher speeds, and the needle would reflect that accordingly. A bigger issue is that he probably won't be running 15" wheels and stock tyres, so unless they are sized correctly that might mean that the speedo won't be accurate any more...

It just sends pulses (i.e. frequency) corresponding to the rotation in the gearbox internals as far as I know. The clocks are then calibrated to know that so many pulses - x mph. The same signal is used to control the rear spoiler via the spoiler control model and to provide a feed to the radio if it supports what's known as GALA, speed sensitive volume control. There is a little junction box under the dash where this signal is split out into three wires. If the one for the radio gets grounded or connected by accident it can interfere with the spoiler.

Good news - maybe get an auto electrician or alarm installer to give the once over?

Ok - makes sense. As said above, if you are taking it out entirely you just need to disconnect all the wires, and re-join and repair any cuts and splices. Most of these just sit in between the ignition on live feed to the starter and power to the fuel pump relay - that's 4 wires, and the other ones will likely be sensors and LEDs and siren, maybe a wire for remote locking.

Most old VWs are wired like that, directly through the switch - so a loom is a must in any case, and a good piece of advice. But the switch itself will fail eventually due to bad design and defective parts - it's the always on incandescent bulb that makes it heat up. the toggle arms break and the contacts are then misaligned. If you search on here for posts about the switch from user RW1, and also about the replacement Chinese switches, he did an in depth tear down of both switches and described exactly why they fail - interesting reading.

If you are removing it completely you just need to trace all the (usually) black wires from the alarm box back to where they are spliced into the OEM loom and then reconnect where that's been cut - often as simple as reconnecting two wires of the same colour. Your car is a 95 though, so it would have had a factory immobiliser fitted that works off the ECU and key. That would be different. I have a Toad immobiliser and a Meta alarm fitted, and they both just come back alive after fitting a charged battery after the car has been sitting for a while. Is the fob you are using passive or does it have a battery?

The old style controls are lit by a single bulb - take the panel off, see if you can replace the bulb or test for current when the dash lights are on elsewhere - if there's no current, check the wire back, I think its a blue/grey wire and probably (but not sure) goes back to the headlight loom or switch.

Check your engine and gearbox mounts - there may be too much travel there.

Good to know - I have a 93 VR with distributor, also suffering from poor running and also replaced the CPS. They can fail gradually and go bad with the complete failure that results in no start. One of my issues was that the hall sender attached to the dizzy was broken, so I ended up having to get a replacement as it molded on and not available as a separate part. Also had fuel pump and pressure issues and leaky PCV valve and vac tubing to contend with. One of the problems in trying to diagnose these is that these cars are now so old that it's rarely just one component that leads to the problem, as the other will be old or on their way out as well. The VR with Motronic is a bit strange in that there a few different faults (or combination thereof) that result in the same general symptoms - leading to the shotgun parts replacement approach in trying to resolve it. But there's plenty of paid mechanics and garages who will just keep on replacing bits with new parts until it's fixed, without proper troubleshooting and diagnosis.

That'll **** off the investors among us for sure.......

I'd say it should be the same part for a UK car that had aircon retrofitted, but it might be different for US/Europe models with fsctory aircon. The matrix is just to get heat into the system anyway.

They were available as a bare metal part from VW Classic Parts the last time I checked. You'll have problems getting the glass out and back in though, but it can be done.

Sounds like a good haul.

Jaysus - some price! You'd be tempted to get some extractor fan ducting and take your chances.