fendervg

Tell me about it - working outside in the cold and wet is no fun. Make sure you can get the filler plug out before you undo the drain plug.

There's no dipstick unfortunately, like what you might have on some auto boxes. As a guideline, the level should be at or just below the bottom lip of the filler hole - I'd say best to top it up just in case. If the noise goes away with the clutch down it's more than likely the release bearing.

A good glass specialist will be able to remove both the seal and the rear screen intact if they know what they are doing and are very careful. The trick is finding one. I know of a guy here in Ireland who did a full respray, and the windscreen guys that were brought in by the body shop were able to remove and then refit everything down to the rear quarters for a factory finish, reusing all the seals and trims - but it took some time. The worst part is if a part or some trim has been bonded incorrectly after a repair - that's where things start to go wrong.

Don't think it was an after-market on e- it's pretty well mangled now, but looks like a VAG part # on the casing. I remember reading on here that all the originals had a metal sensor housing, and judging by how well it was welded in there, I'd say it was 20+ years old. The replacement ATE one I have (who were the OEM supplier for these) has a plastic housing - I guess cheaper to make, and plastics technology has moved along a lot since the late eighties.

Finally it came out (in many pieces) - with some gentle persuasion from a lump hammer and a ball-joint removal tool! Cleaned out the hole and had to very lightly sand the outside of the new sensor housing, and then tapped it in - no ABS light from cold (which is what was happening), so that's a good start. Now to refit all the bits and move on to the other side. I was lucky with most of the bolts and nuts - the lower calliper carrier bolt was very tough to remove, and one of the splash guard ones (8mm) needed a quick nip with a an Irwis bolt remover to help it along, but the ABS sensor one was easy enough - so to anyone else doing this I'd say make sure you have some bolt removers and plenty of penetrating oil to hand. Also found that brake calliper banjo hose bolt was only hand tight and leaking very slightly - not sure if it was disturbed during all the work, but will need to give that side a quick bleed as well.

This is fun - not. I can see why the newer sensors have a plastic body instead of the metal one. Typical Corrado job - if we had a Haynes, it would say two spanners and a couple of hours - may take up to 3 days! Instead of spanners it should just have #*&!! symbols, oh, and ££$$$€€€ as well. ;) I've taken off the brakes, carriers, disc and splash guard - and have the sensor in several piece, with the metal body still firmly lodged in there - next for some heat and plenty of brute force. Really don't want to take the hub off if I can avoid it as I'm not up for that at home.

Not to mention the fact that the size of parking spaces hasn't changed much either! But that generation of 3 series would be the last I would consider, maybe the slightly later 90s 5 series as well - and for some strange reason I always had kind of a soft spot for the early 3 series Compact as well.

If you look in the link I posted for the V5 Bosch motor in the thread above, select "Replacing OEMs" and it will show you the VW part numbers - I think any of the Golf V5s will fit as all those engines are all a derivative of the VR with one cylinder chopped off.

Ok - that front sensor is well stuck on there. Got the bolt holding it off no problem, plenty of penetrating oil, but it will really only rotate in place and wiggle a little it - not movement out. Going to leave it to soak overnight and try again in the morning. Even if I take the disk off, I believe the ABS ring is attached to the hub, so I won't be able to hammer it out from the front.

Fuse 13 (horn) also covers the aux water pump and radiator run on.

If you do a search on here, it looks like Heritage were still selling them (the last 3 sets) in 2012. As far as I know Classic Parts did a limited run of them in the late noughties due to demand. No, that was without the sensors - some cars had the loom pre-wired, but you could buy the connector separately and make up your own loom, it's really easy, just one wire needs to go through the bulkhead for the sender - and they can be any VDO pressure sender, either using a T-piece or a two pole sender for the low pressure warning - a lot of old Audi Coupes/80/90 that had gauges fitted also had the two pole senders. As for value now, who knows seeing as they are unobtainium now - I've seen them go for over £300-400 used, but I would say £200-250 is fair. They are very nice to have. The real shame is that every VR6 SLC in the US had them as standard, but they are LHD!

Hmm - checked my old invoice from ARZ but the only part number on that was their own internal one - actual price was €179. The part number seems to be: 536 919 527 - RHD 535 919 527 - LHD Glwsearch

Yeah, I'm one of the lucky few - got the from ARZ-Tuning in Germany back in 2009 for about 200 euro - at the time they had both LHD and RHD versions in stock - it's a real pain that they are sided. These gauges should have come standard with all Corrados - it was supposed to be their high end sports coupe after all - a lot of other manufacturers used to make their cars "sporty" by sticking in a set of gauges, but VW were always notoriously stingy when it came to extras.

Not Kev - I think the VSR was roughly 1500 euro new back in the day, but it would have been DM, old money, and you need to adjust for inflation. I've seen a figure of approx. 500 made, maybe less, but not sure how reliable that is. From another site: "Limited by the transverse mounting of the engine, there isn't much room for generous inlet manifolding. In order to achieve a good compromise between maximum power output, and adequate torque in day to day use, the inlet manifold runs across the top of the head. This has circumvented the shortage of space and allowed the use of an oscillating-flow tuned inlet manifold. Each cylinder has its own inlet tract that is tuned to such a length as to en- sure positive inlet pressure. As engine output is proportional to the airflow, this scheme means that the VR6 doesn't have to be ashamed in the face of competitors. The 2.8 litre produces 174 PS [ DIN hp] and a maximum torque of 240 Nm at 4200 RPM, and the 2.9 litre engine in the Corrado achieves 245 Nm at the same engine speed. But this achievement wasn't enough to satisfy the Wolfsburg developers. To achieve even more torque, lower down in the rev range, the 6 cylinders were to breathe even more freely. The idea of the variable inlet manifold [ german "variables Saugrohr" ] was born and developed in parallel with the now standard version, with assistance from the Pierburg GmbH in Neuss, a company which has a high reputation with things relating to mixture control. The VSR [ abbreviated from the german ] system did not go into, falling victim to the red pens of accountants shortly before the VR6 started production. That this piece of motor technology was not condemned to the depths of the Wolfsburg catacombs, is thanks to the interests of Volkswagen Motorsport, based in Hannover. This VW company took the VSR and now offers it as an after-market conversion kit for 2888 Marks. The kit may be fitted to all VR6s with 2.8 and 2.9 litre engines. Even though the VSR achieves similar aims to those of the switch- ing inlet manifold of the 2.8 litre V6s from Audi, the operating principle is different. In the Audi engine, a long, narrow inlet tract achieves high torque at low revs; 245 Nm at 3000 RPM. The maximum power is achieved using a short, wide inlet tract, pro- ducing 174 PS at 5500 RPM. For the engine to be fed through the appropriate channels, depending on engine speed, inlet manifolds are switched using six individual, vacuum operated flaps at 4000 RPM. In both stages, the technology is based purely on tuned oscillating-flow in- let manifolds, with the necessary switching. The VSR in contrast, two diverse technologies are applied. It is designed so that at low engine speeds, resonance is used to im- prove cylinder charging efficiency -- at higher RPM, oscillation- tuned, individual, broad tracts are used. Switching from one to the other is achived by a single flap, also vaccuum operated at 4000 RPM. The tuned inlet tract operates by the low pressure caused between the throttle valve and the inlet valve, by the suction of the descending piston, Through inertia of the air in the tract, the airflow tends to keep moving towards the inlet, even after it's closed, causing a slight over-pressure when the inlet valve next opens. This ensures high charge efficiency even during early stages of the induction stroke. Of course, further during the same stroke, inlet pressure falls followed by a high pressure but not before the inlet valve closes. In order to achieve optimal control of the oscillation and re- flection of the column of air in the inlet tract, it needs to be closely coordinated with valve timing, but this is not possible due to variation in engine speed. Even at mid-range-rpm, the valve opening and the are out of synch. The second pressure wave arrives much too early before the inlet valve closes and a back- flow reduces fill efficiency. Now to achieve high torque under these conditions, resonance-fill is utilised. This is done by closing the connection flap between a small resonance chamber which is immediately before short inlet tracts above the inlet valves. This transforms the 6 cylinder ending into effectively two 3 cylinder engines with uniform firing times, and which do not have overlapping inlet strokes. Resonance pulses of up to 0.4 bar [approx 6 psi] above atmospheric are achieved, leading to remarkable fill efficiency and torque increases. Even though fitting the VSR requires not great skills, it should be undertaken by a professional with the right tools. For exam- ple, fitting the new EPROM and the new control harness requires dexterity and special tools. The new chip doesn't alter the previously-programmed behaviour of the engine management, it only adds an additional control output for the electrically- controlled, vacuum operated flap. The kit includes instructions as to complete installion, including connections to the vaccum circuit and electrical connections. Further engine modifications are not required, so one is permit- ted to anticipate the VSR transformation. A marked improvement in torque at mid-range is advertised with 255 Nm available at 3600 RPM on the 2.8 litre engine. This corresponds to an 11% increase at that engine speed. In the 2.9 litre incarnation, 260 Nm is available, providing more performance in the most-used rev range. There is no promise of more power in the higher RPM range. To illustrate the performance improvement in a VSR Golf, one doesn't need any test equipment! Almost right from the start, at below 3000 RPM, a new urge is sensed. Up to 4000 RPM the engine provides markedly better acceleration, yet above, the previously expected manners appear because the torque curve corresponds to that of the standard engine. Even more! After the impetuous ac- celeration, the switchover feels almost reserved. The steeply in- creasing torque curve up to 3600 RPM also shows a rapid fall back to the norm between 3600 and 4000 RPM. The torque improvement is an excellent fit to the Golf VR6. In fourth gear, the torque boost corresponds to 90 to 120 kmh, in fifth to 110 to 150 kmh. This turns the Golf into a sprinter, that none of the near-200 PS professionally tuned chariots comes near. Testign showed that acceleration from 90 to 120 kmh in fourth gear only took 5.4 seconds. The standard VR6 Golf took 6.1 seconds and a near-200 PS Oettinger VR6 Golf taking 6.4 seconds, and a Wendland special taking 6.2 seconds. No wonder be- cause their maximum torque happens at much higher RPM. Unremarkably, the VSR trick didn't improve peak acceleration or top speed, both of these being exclusively in the higher rev range. The VR6 opens up a new field for Volkswagen Motorsport tuning. This is appropriate when one expects high torque for comfortable and sporty driving. It's even more attractive because testing showed reduced fuel consumption by half a litre [ per 100 km ]. On the other hand, the VSR offers professional tuners an innova- tive platform for development - as some of them have already in- dicated"

There's 3 sensors, yellow, blue and black/brown. I think stage 3 is one of these sensors. It's definitely 3 stage as I've heard it come on in after-run and also when the rad sensor was faulty, and it's so loud you couldn't miss it.

Thanks Tony - I'll take a look later and check to see if I can find any more on it - it's kind of covered by the bracket that holds it, so will need to drop it. EDIT: on second thoughts, I have the early controller with just the single large fuse, so will need to keep looking. Are the late type ones interchangeable with the early ones by any chance?

This guy maybe? http://www.ottocarparts.com/shop/parts/113327-bosch-starter-0-986-017-000.html

I think the best bet is to get your reflectors re-coated and use a loom. Even with perfect reflectors, the voltage at the headlight will still be lower than it should be and cause a drop in the light output - this is simply a design flaw and facto of life for early VAG cars because of the way the loom is run and the current is routed through the headlight switch. For example, H4 bulb output at different voltages: 13,5V 55Watt 12V 51Watt 11V 44Watt 10V 38Watt 9V 31Watt If you go and measure yours at the headlight connector, you'll be luck to see 11V there, more 9-10V Of course some of the newer uprated standard bulbs such as Osram Nightbreakers or Bosch +150 will help too.

Well, had a scare last night as the coolant temp just seemed to be rising inexorably and no signs of the fans coming on while sitting in traffic on the commute home - another typical Corrado **** in your pants moment! Checked it out this morning and also noticed horn and aux water pump were not working - pulled fuse 13 (10A) and this was blowm, both working again afterwards. Also checked fuse 19, this was fine. Some testing and a trial run and all seemed ok and fans came on at stage 1 as expected around 90 degrees. Didn't get to check stage 2 or 3, in fact I haven't heard the after run fan for a while, so maybe this is also on fuse 13? When I get more time I'll run though the full tests, bridging the connections to run the fan etc. Are there any other fuses on the fan controller unit apart from the mother of all fuses which is basically a big metal bar? I seem to recall seeing some pictures with 2 smaller blade fuses as well?

Ha ha - 535-$$$$-£££££-€€€€€ is how it shows up on their ETKA screen - that is, if it's not deleted in 1998 or NLA.

Ha ha - photo is not attached or held on the forum, it's on a website somewhere else and you can use tags in your post to point to the location of the picture and it will load automagically. However, some sites taka a dim view of linking to their images...

It's hosted on an external site and referenced using /IMG tags by the looks of it.

You can buy aftermarket one-piece scuttle trims - they look nice but are quite pricey, or there is a Golf Mk2 hard plastic rain tray that can be easily made to fit, and if you get the LHD version as well as the RHD it's possible to make up a complete tray.

Once you open a cracker barrel you can never get the lid back on!

Ha ha - "electrician pervert", I like that - brings all sorts to mind - the Doc from Back to the Future being one...