fendervg

190s are on the rise - and very solid cars too. I always have a hankering for a W124 7 seat estate, 280/320 or 300D. For fun. an Audi 80/90 or Coupe Quattro with the I5 engine. And for real retro charm a Volvo 340 or Saab 900 would be nice.

I just did the replacement on my car this afternoon - original pump was a Pierburg, replaced with a VDO one and matching sender for the fuel gauge. Fairly straightforward - when you get the metal cover off the tank hole, disconnect the loom and run the engine until it dies to empty the lines and then the lock ring can be undone with a large flat and a mallet by tapping it gently counter clockwise. Most of the hose clamps won't be reusable, so make sure you have some replacements handy. The spade connectors for power to the pump itself will swap straight over, they are different sizes for earth and +12V, so you can't mix them up. The sender ones you will need to cut and splice - I made up some short leads with spades on the end and crimped them to the two existing wires - the Pierburg unit has the wires connected inside the sender, so no way of getting them out easily - I don't think it matters which way round they go. Hardest part was mounting the new pump into the lock ring in the tank floor, and then fitting the seal on the white cap - a little bit of petrol helps, and the easiest way was to peel the seal off the cap, fit it to the metal opening and the gently lower the lid into place - if it's not on right the lock ring won't go on properly. Reconnect, run engine and check for leaks with the metal cover still off, if good, stick it back on and job done. It might just be in my head, but the car definitely feels stronger now on a short test drive with the new pump fitted, and seems to run happier overall - I guess the 25 year old original pump was probably pushing on a bit and might not have been keeping a steady flow. Time will tell.

Very nice job there. Looks factory or better!

Yes, thanks for finding the thread dragon green - that's the one that started me off. I don't know how long the parts have been sitting in storage though since I got them - part of it is finding a bodyshop that I trust enough not to mess up the tailgate.

Pierburg and VDO were both fitted at different times, in 3 and 4 bar versions. I've pressure tested both a 2.8 AAA and a 2.9 ABV and they run at different nominal pressures, so definitely a 4 bar pump for the 2.9 engines. The engine info sheet from VW for the 2.9 also specifies a 4 bar, as does ETKA. What throws a lot of people off is the info in the Bentley manual - this is for an American spec car, so essentially the same 2.8 engine as the Golf VR6, hence 3 bar. I'm not really sure why, but I imagine the fuel maps and injector timings would be different to accommodate this and maybe VW were hoping to extract a bit more power from the 2.9 (although later 2.8 OBD2 cars make nearly the same as a stock ABV) - not saying it can't be done, but might need a few other bits to be changed to run right.

Ah ok - best of luck hunting. If you need help with the part numbers I can dig mine out to check. Is that a US spec tailgate or did you cut the mounting hole out yourself? There used to be a template floating around done up by a guy in Germany. Have attached a copy here, but it's very low-res unfortunately. One option might be just to find someone breaking a car in the US/CA as they all had them fitted, but they are getting even rarer there than here.

All the Numatics are a marvel of engineering and ultra reliable - they might not be the fanciest and most stylish, but if you ever check out what they use in hotels, schools, hospitals and kindergartens it will nearly always be a Henry or one of his ilk. The only thing is they are a pain to carry up stairs, but they are simple and fun and get the job done (with a smile). I had a Dyson for a while and it had more attachments, buttons and levers that a weapon from Starship Troopers or a Manga, but it broke after a few months and never worked as well as a Henry. Siemens and Miele also seem to be good.

Ok - still worth going through the steps in the guide. Which speed are they coming on at? I presume speed 3 since you say full in your post? The two fans are linked by a belt and the motor only drives one, so both will always spin together unless the belt breaks. Have you replaced the temp senders in the thermostat housing at the front of the engine block?

What is happening exactly? Check out the definitive VR6 cooling thread stickied in the engine section of the forum for plenty of helpful info - I can't think of a reason why you would need to rebuild the entire loom unless it was butchered or damaged in the past.

Did you try ARZ Tuning in Germany? That's where I got mine, not fitted yet, but not for sale sadly, pending a visit to the body shop. There are two parts to the housing, and then you'll need a loom connector. How are you planning to fit it - these will only fit US spec tailgates (and some European ones) and the UK ones we have need a fair bit of modification to make them fit properly. Some on here had some nice alternatives such as pinhole LEDs in the spoiler or at the top of the rear hatch window.

Easy enough to replace with some poly ones - they used to be available on here, or a quick web search will turn some up. They do need a bit of grease in the rails as well though to move freely.

Henry Hoover for the win!

The VDOs are bloody expensive though. Hopefully you get the correct one - the problem is that a lot of sites just list the one pump as a generic replacement without mentioning the pressure. I'm not really sure what the impact would be of running a 3 bar pump on a 2.9, as long as you had a matching FPR - but it might throw out the ECU map as it would have been tuned to 4 bar pressure.

Oh, and it's also possible to dismantle the "swirl pot", the outer pump unit housing that locks into the bottom of the tank, with the removal of a few Torx screws, and then you can replace just the pump body which sits inside it if you can get hold of one on its own.

What's important for the ABV 2.9 VR6 is that it is a 4 bar pump - and there aren't that many options. I've got a VDO one recently - part# VDO-E22-041-060Z, and this would be the standard fit on a late VR. Earlier cars had a no longer available Pierburg unit, with a different fuel sender, so when fitting a VDO pump to an early VR you also need to buy the matching fuel gauge sender and float - VDO 221-833-002-011Z. There's a little bit of rewiring required for the sender terminals. The other pumps are for 2.8 VR engines from the Mk3 Golf etc and are rated at 3 bar.

Standard 8mm fuel injection hose available from any motor factors/parts supplier will work fine. Some of these hoses are still available from VW, but as you say they could be pricey.

Correct. The sensor plug joins the loom under the rear bench - bit of a pain.

Yes, I'd agree there - not an original Corrado mechanism. All these sunroof mechs work in more or less the same way, and some parts are interchangeable, with some differences. The lifters for the trim are the missing pieces. The glass roof ones come with a vented trim panel that slides back by hand and doesn't lift.

This one looks good: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/3M-Super-Strength-Molding-Tape/?N=5002385+3293241071&rt=rud Haven't used it myself yet, but have used 3M double sided foam tape for number plates etc., but I don't think the foam one would be strong enough for the side moldings. I've also seen it done with black Wurth adhesive bonding sealant before, but that seems more of a cowboy approach!

3M trim tape. Make sure both surfaces are spotless and try and warm the strips up a bit before fitting. If the trims are new, they will come with adhesive tape on them already.

Yes, that's the part - one on each side. I'd say it's possible either the mech was repaired and they were not put back in, or you have a moonroof type mechanism with the original roof panel on it instead of the glass.

I've had hassle before with the really cheap ones (your mileage might vary, lots of others have had no problems with them) - in the end I went for either ATE, Bosch or VAG originals and haven't had any problems since. I think if you stick with a decent brand like the above, or Bremi/Valeo/VDO you shouldn't really go wrong. There is a big difference in price though, from about £30 to over four times that - so you could rationalise it and say that even if the cheaper one fails, you can buy several more for the same price provided you don't mind the work involved in replacing them.

Sound - thanks for the advice. FPR won't need replacing - have done that twice already, and it's a real pain getting it out without damaging the rail or the FPR body. The earths are a good tip - I'd forgotten about them.

No one? I must be doing it right then hopefully!

You need easily accessible storage and lots of time to take everything apart cleanly. Check out your local delivery companies and see what's available in terms of shipping/postage options - if you build up a relationship with them they will likely cut you a good deal. It's possible to ship almost anything - just a matter of cost and how much the buyer wants to pay for the convenience - after all you're not paying for it, simply arranging it. Your bigger problem is secure packaging to avoid any damage in transit and insurance - otherwise these things can turn nasty when things don't arrive as expected. If you are located fairly centrally a lot of people are happy to collect, as they will often want to see what else you have and this can work out well for you as they might buy more.