fendervg

Here's some more pics, showing the different parts of the VDO pump - left to right, full pump body with swirl pot, sender unit, swirl pot and pump disassembled, pump body and then the complete unit.

The swirl pot is the white plastic part that sits around the actual pump (the body in effect) and locks into the bottom of the tank. The actual pump is just a metal cigar shaped cylinder with an inlet/outlet which is mounted inside the swirl pot. There's a couple of Torx screws on top, if you undo them you can remove the "lid" and take out the pump body. The fuel level sender clips into the side of the swirl pot, and comes off as a separate part. The pump body looks something like this:

If your sender is working fine and is the correct late one for the VDO pump body, I would just swap it over - they tend to be pretty clean sitting in petrol all day long. Just be careful when removing it from the old swirl pot, as sometimes the plastic can be brittle and breaks easily. or for peace of mind and at that price I'd get a new one (I had to anyway as mine was a Pierburg) and keep it as a spare or give it to someone else who is upgrading their pump.

That's a good price for the VDO - but worth checking with them directly to see if they can match it. That site also shows some mad cheap ones that are also rated 4 bar and look superficially identical, but not sure about Vemo/John's etc. as brands ;)

Yeah, that's the correct one, identical to the one I fitted yesterday. The cost price over here in Ireland was €185.00, ao I don't think you will get it much cheaper, but worth checking around. Have a look on German eBay with that part number. If you can get the pump body insert on it's own, it's very easy to swap over but I wasn't able to find one. The sender unit on your old one should be a white plastic rectangle with the float arm attached that clips into the body of the swirl pot, you'll need to swap this over.

Ouch - an expensive way to get a 3rd brake light once you factor in the paint and swapping everything over. But tempting.

I was gonna say did you check with Classic Parts - but it looks like they only have the early off side: https://www.volkswagen-classic-parts.de/en/kotflugel-corrado.html Bummer. Pretty sure these were around up until last year. Someone somewhere was making a carbon version as well.

Any motor factors or TPS, GSF etx. should be able to get hold of some quality ones. Look for Febi, Bilstein or Lemforder - the last generally being the best. Here's a link from a supplier here in Ireland, someone on here should be able to point you in the direction of a good equivalent in the UK: http://www.ottocarparts.com/shop/100538-engine-mounting-bracket

Ouch - if it's going through insurance you may still be able to get a new one from VW - around £600 a side the last time I checked.

I thought the micros switch on the handle was only on the driver's side to send the lock/unlock signal. Could be on both sides though to avoid having different parts for RHD and LHD cars. The other loom bits will be for electric window, mirrors and switches as well as speakers. The central locking is actually vacuum operated, using a pump in the boot on the near side and there should be vacuum pipes going to all the different locks including the one on the passenger door. Does your boot operate correctly? In that case it might just be a loose connection in the door.

Definitely worth replacing both engine and gearbox mounts. Personally I would go with VAG or equivalent rubber mounts before looking at poly ones if ti's a daily driver. Think about it, if they are original in there, they are going to be 25+ years old and well past their prime. It's also worth bleeding the clutch system with new fluid to see if that helps.

Good stuff - let us know how you get on - that link should be useful for anyone else on here looking to get some, and I see they do all different sizes too.

In that case don't bother cleaning up the old ones - just pop them off, replace, and clean and lube the rail and you should be good to go.

Delete and block.

A strong smell of spam off this one...any admins around?

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.