gregski

yeah how did you get it fixed, I hate posts like this

Forgive me for asking what may have been posted in the past I did try a search first. My vehicle is stock so you helping me troubleshoot this may be of benefit to others in the future. There was no engine swap, nothing has been deleted, etc. The problem occurred a week or two after replacing a Sony aftermarket radio with an Alpine aftermarket radio (maybe this is related maybe completely a coincidence but I'm just putting it out there). So first to get a few things out of the way, the gauges in the center console all work fine, the oil pressure, the clock and what ever the third one is there, those work, this post is not about those anyway. The speedo does not work, the needle does not move. The tach does not work, the needle does not move. The odometer does not work either it does not light up with digits at all. I think there is another display next to the odometer which looks similar to it where it shows you miles per gallon, etc, that does not work either. The water temp works fine, as does the fuel gauge. Also so idiot lights do light up red or green under the speedo and tach. What have I done so far. I think I went through every single fuse and eyeballed them and did not see obvious cracks in them. (I know sometimes you can't see the cracks, but I didn't swap every fuse with a good one to test that yet) I replaced the Relay for the engine control module with a brand new one, but that did not fix the problem. The vehicle speedometer sending unit (that sits on the manual transmission) was replaced about 3 years ago so it is fairly new relative to this 19 year old car. I have pulled out the gauge cluster and ensured the plug in the back was not loose and plugged in firmly. I am at a loss, please help. Any suggestions on how to test the electrics properly?

Yes there is a diff between euro cars and ours in the US, we wish we had your cars, LOL. And yes I do havr the Bentley manual which is a major PIA it should have been broken down into two separate books for sure one for the VR6 and one for the four banger turbo. Then further broken down for euro cars and our cars, shovin all this info into one book with two pages per page is redunculous and the font and pictures are way too small, end of that rant Fuse #3 is supposed to be Instrument Panel Lights, but I recon that means the illumination light not the digital displays that say how far you have driven or what your odometer reading is.

thank you Super, so left to right, got it, I have checked all of the fuses one by one that's why I wasn't too concerned with which ones were which since I was checking them all, so in my case #15 was bad which translates to Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) Heating Element, and #10 which says it is Open but in my case there was a blown fuse there, go figure #16 was good and the manual says its for the Voltmeter, Engine oil Pressure Gauge those work fine those are the ones in the center console # 21 is the Cigarette Lighter also in good nick also in the center console thanks again, but the mistery continues

So I am asking this question as my car in unadulterated and completely stock, nothing has been "deleted" nothing has been moved to the trunk there are no swaps or transplants of any kind, etc, so this may actually help somebody out since it is a stock question that anyone can relate to I have no power to the digital readout gauges, and the speedo and the RPMer do not work, the water temp works and the fuel gauge still works what gives people? I have gone through all the fuses and replaced number (the eighth one over from some side) so 15 or number 8 I can't friggen tell which side is which any more, and number 10 or 13 again know knowing which side it was from but it was 13 over from that side. That didn't fix squat forgive the attitude I am just in the hate state of my love hate relationship with this beat, went as far as priced her out on KBB to see how much I can get for her if I sell it, one of those days if you know what I mean, I friggen treat her so well nothing but the best gas, best oil, hand car washes and this is how she repays me, LOL I'm delirious

well what the hell happened I hate orphaned threads, I got a similar problem no power to the gauges

why can't I update this thread? ---------- Post added at 06:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:54 AM ---------- well Quick Reply works but not the Reply to Thread button, it just keeps loading and loading the page.... ---------- Post added at 06:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:56 AM ---------- obviously you need to drain the oil first, so I used my funky oil filter wrench aka the Claw shown in one of the pics - good luck using a conventional oil filter tool, or turning that plastic nut on the bottom, lol this tool works great here I also removed the fly wheel inspection plate and once the oil pan was off you can see what it hides, if you look closely you can see the hardened gasket start to come off in pieces overall things looked super clean in the crank assembly area ---------- Post added at 07:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:58 AM ---------- Only TWENTY SIX 10mm bolts stand between you and the pan sitting on the ground, there is no cross members to remove, no torsion bars to drop, nothing of the sort. Well technically there is TWO more bolts in the fly wheel inspection plate cover thingie you have to remove to access a few oil pan bolts, but you get the jist of it. If you get one thing from this post it should be this: After I dropped the oil pan I noticed there was approximately half a quart of oil in there still !!! That is after I drained it over night. Note the high position of the drain plug it appears 1/2 an inch off the bottom of the pan. The clear plastic bin in the second picture shows all the oil that was still left in the pan. Think about it. Every time we replace the oil we are already starting out in the hole with this half a quart to contaminate the new stuff right off the bat. Now I realize there are some people out there that change the oil and do NOT replace the oil filter, to me that is as effective as sucking a titty through a sweater, but I digress. I washed the oil pan with a garden hose and some good ol' dish washing soap to make it squicky clean especially on the outside. Yes I rinsed it out real good and dried it like a bone before putting it back on. I wanted it to be exceptionally clean so I can tell if there are any leaks down the road. The old gasket comes off in two inch chunks (for your convenience :evil: ) if you're lucky, in other words it is stuck at each hole opening you will need a trusty old gasket remover or razor blade to pry it off GENTLY and then smooth out all the residue.

I change my oil every 5,000 miles. Why? Because I use the trip meter to keep track. For example I change the oil when it reads, 70,000 miles, then 75,000 miles, then 80,000 miles, you get the idea. My 1993 Corrado SLC VR6 hit 155,000 miles so it was time for another oil change. Since I am at least the third owner I have no idea if the oil pan gasket is original or not, either way I decided to drop the oil pan and see what lurks beneath. This is not a difficult job, it is so easy it makes you wonder if the Germen's had anything to do with the oil pan placement or if they contracted that out to say the Pollacks, or the Cave Men lol. but first some mundane air filter pictures:

Wanted to do a tune up on my 1993 VR6 Corrado tonight so I opened the box of the Duralast spark plug wires from Autozone $51.99 (didn't want to wait on them to come from German Auto Parts where they cost $90.95 where I get most of my parts since they are in New York and I am in California, go figure) sat on the floor of my garage and was going to plug them in to the new distributor cap when I realized something wasn't right with friggen half of them (not to mention the coil wire was missing)... I'll let you figure it out, LOL As shown by Auto Zone

I guess great minds think alike, that thought came into my head last night, as I was ... [wait for it] ... brushing my teeth, lol. Oh, trust me mate, I do not, my wife's 90 year old plus grandfather, metal of honor recipient post World War II puts that stuff on his knees to keep arthritis away, (drives his sons, and personal doctor bunkers, but the doc says hey he's 90 and the worst that can happen is a skin infection, LOL) by the way he survives the war, comes home, literally gets off the bus, still in his uniform, and jumps off a bridge to save a woman who plunges to her death in a suicide attempt - True Story, there is a newspaper article on it in the Buffalo NY publication. ---------- Post added at 02:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:32 PM ---------- Well poking around I came across this leak on one of the power steering hosers Ay. The problem with old cars and acquiring a vehicle second hand is that you don't know if that leak sprung 8 weeks ago or 8 years ago and was fixed but not cleaned up type a thing. So since German Auto Parts doesn't sell these replacement hosers I am going to clean it up real good, and keep an eye on it for a couple weeks. I am taking this route because my power steering fluid level is perfect, it does not run low, and there are no drips under the car, so maybe it's ok. Anybody seen this kinda crazy leak in this spot before?

It hit 70 degrees today, probably the warmest day of the year so far, so after mowing the lawn it was time to mess with the Corrado. My buddy brought over some wheel ramps for me to try, so I drove up on them and decided to stare at the undercarriage. Damn it is messy and dirty, all black, covered with road grime. So I decided to pull out some dish soap, Windex, brake cleaner, and paper towels. My goal was to introduce myself to the power steering rack, where ever it may have been hiding. ---------- Post added at 11:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:44 PM ---------- I think I found it, it's that black dirt and oil burrito on top of the subframe. ---------- Post added at 11:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:45 PM ---------- I was able to clean the subframe with the Windex, dish soap, and paper towels, however because of the little square ridges all over the darn rack I had to resort to the toxic brake cleaner. So here is a progress shot, it's coming along nicely, but I'm far from finished. It was aluminum - who knew? LOL

Guys forgive me for asking such a stupid question but was the Corrado subframe coated with something to prevent it from rusting, or is that black sludge all over it just what has accumulated from road grime over the last 18 years?

why am I writing all this up, is this a big job... no, is this a difficult job... no, but it is a job it took me 2 days to do it, now that doesn't mean two solid 8 hours days, I started after work on Friday, took Saturday off, and finished it on Sunday morning, but I was frustrated enough on Friday night not being able to get the lower control arm back in the same way as it came out, so I feel I will share my pain with you so this is the most important update of the thread, see where the rear bushing sits, see how there is a half circle ridge around that hole, if you can't see it on your car, you may wanna clean that area a bit, in the next picture I shoved the bushing in there to give you a reference on where it goes, it will want to go to the left of that spot, because that space is more of an opening, but that's not where it belongs ok, you don't have to move the anti sway bar out of the way to get the lower control arm out, but you sure have to loosen the anti sway bar and push it down and out of the way to get the lower control arm back in you see the way the bushing has to go in, is at a different angle than the control arm will allow you to pivot with the anti sway bar in the way, so to get it in, start with the control arm above the steering linkage, pus it into the rear mounting point, then push it under and steering linkage and pop it into the front mounting point, it will allow you to do this, because of the give in the rubber bushing you just installed, then push the spindle forward and out a bit and pop in the three bolt bracket into the lower control arm, and Bob's your uncle ---------- Post added at 02:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:33 AM ---------- I swear this forum has a mind of it's own, two days ago when I posted my updates, they all ended up in one long post, today I did the same thing and they are all separate posts like god intended, (yes I now I used the thumbnails today) but that shouldn't make a difference lets see where this post ends up, on it's own or as part of the last one, who knows ---------- Post added at 02:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:35 AM ---------- Well what are the results like? Man the ride is fantastic. The car goes straight as an arrow. It no longer pulls to one side when I accelerate. There is no thud when I accelerate or come to a stop. There is no knock when I pull in and out of the driveway as I dip into the rain gutter. I am thrilled, especially for $25 bucks, wow, what a difference, and here I thought I would need $500 bucks worth of suspension parts... Not!

I said this before and I'll say it again, the Germans give you enough space to do the job, then take away half an inch. I kid you not, look at this sh!t, you can't get the passenger side front lower control arm mounting point bolt out without loosening the engine and jacking it up about 2 inches, SOBs, I jacked it up under the transmission bell housing here's some pics to prove it and the two engine mounting points I had to loosen up. (I think there's a third one by the tranny but I left that one be), the front one I had to undo all the way, yes you will need a couple long extensions for your ratchet to get to these bad boys in the engine bay I swear I'm surprised we don't have to hoist the engine out of these VWs to put petrol in 'em - LOL (just so you know this forum uploads your thumbnails in reverse order - joy)

i know no one will see these lower control arms, but I can't help it, I clean my parts, when you clean the old gunk off of them you see things, you see, part numbers, you see rust, you see imperfections, heck you may even see hairline cracks, etc, so I clean my parts before putting them back on, I take a wire wheel the the old bolts and clean up the threads too before putting them back on the car so here are some before and after shots of the passenger side lower control arm, both side top and it's belly yeah it was sprinkling a little bit that day so those are some rain drops on them in the pics, I did wipe them down before installation

i simply used a vice to press the new bushings in after coating them with some WD-40, the key thing is to use a spacer, which I did, it may not be in the picture cause I first started to press it in a little bit without it, but then I used some spacers to get it all the way in snug, see last picture, yes my vice is a hockey mickey mouse setup that I bought at a garage sale, but it gets things done, and that's the whole point right, get it done the new bushings don't look right to me, they seem like a different type, here's the part number 357.407.182 can anyone confirm that indeed they are the right ones, they ended up fitting, but look how off they look side by side with the old ones, in the second photo

here's a jig I made to press out the front lower control arm bushing, I swear I spent more time devising the jigs then doing the work itself, but any of you that wrenched before know that if you aint making your own wrenches or jigs, you aint wrenchin' am I right? I basically got lucky and used a 2 bolt puller that I already had, the first pic is my passenger side, it was shot, the one on the driver side was fine, but replace one, replace them both, right the puddle underneath in the last picture, is from WD-40 I should have taken a picture of the can, that's how important it is to use some to help slide these out, hey worked for me

Thank you sir, I searched the floor of my garage, going heck did my old one fall out, I don't recall the old set having them, so I went to German Auto Parts online and checked and their website states "Rear mounting point. One per control arm. Requires spacer sleeve below." then goes on to say "Fits in center of rear position bushing. One per control arm." but heck they were only a buck, so I can toss them. Interesting though, the Bentley manual has them on page 40.2a but not on page 40.17. Welcome to my world! I think the first page is generic, and the second specific to the VR6 so maybe the G60's use them, I don't know. ---------- Post added at 04:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:52 PM ---------- Well even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometime, that's what I thought when I stumbled upon a washer in my junk nuts and bolts drawer that was just the diameter of the rear mounting point bushings. That gave me an idea would my crank pulley puller work. I rigged up some extra bolts in it to give it some height and whalla it worked. Used a similar technique adding a second puller I had and was able to press the new donut bushing in just fine. The hammer is just there for decoration, I swear. ---------- Post added at 04:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:08 PM ---------- Here is the old one that I removed, and the new one going in. The first picture shows the old bushing in my jig puller thingie. Second picture is the old control arm after a nice bath of dish soap, hey dish soap is not right for car paint, but id does remove grease right, and that's what had to be done here, and it worked, and I rinsed it of with water really well so it will be fine, it's not like I am going to bathe it in dish soap on a weekly basis, it was a one time thing. The bottom of the metal ring is not 100% flush with the control arm ring, but neither was the old one. The top does align perfectly flush with the rim of the lower control arm.

Is there a job on this piece of German metal, rubber, leather, and plastic, that does not require hoisting the engine up and out of the way, I am so sick of it. LOL

here's a picture of how all the bolts go into the lower control arm, I forgot to include the bolt for the anti sway bar, so just pretend it's there, bottom right, slightly higher than the 3 bolts in the ball joint triangular bracket, roughly 5:00 o'clock position my camera sucks, so you can't see through the bushing in the second picture like I could in real life, but the rubber was just hanging on by a thread, I easily tore it out for the third photo opp tomorrow I'm going to upload pictures to show you how I pressed the old bushing out and pressed the new one in, without using a press, clever stuff

So the bushing arrived, and it was time to get started, gonna do this one side at a time so if I goober something and don't remember how it goes back on I can refer to to the opposite side, I'm not a professional mechanic nor do I play one on TV, lol By the way I don't know about your Bentley manual but mine don't show me how to remove the control arms, it only tells me how to press the bushings in and out, so 1. (after 15 minutes of looking for your lug nut wrench/tool from the time you took it out of the trunk to vacuum it) Undo 5 lug nuts, with car still on the ground 2. Jack up the car, sometimes there is no substitute for a nice chunk of a 2x4, I'm not sure what the Corrado is unibody or body on pan, but it doesn't have frame rails to jack up under like your grandady's Buick, and if there is a spot, well that's where I want the jack stand to end up not the jack 3. Support it with a trusty ol'd jack stand, never just rely on a jack ---------- Post added at 05:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 AM ---------- first i decided to separate the ball joint from the lower control arm 4. Remove three 13mm bolts from the ball joint triangular bracket sometimes there is no better place for loose bolts then where they came from, my memory is so bad I can hide my own Easter Eggs so anything I can do to help me remember how the shizwa goes back together is a bonus just so you know I'm not that big of a doofus, but I do have 2 or three project cars going on sometimes at once so, well you get what I'm sayin' ---------- Post added at 05:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:21 AM ---------- the sway bar linkage is the one in the background with the orange stuff on it, no the steering linkage in the foreground 5. Remove the single 13mm nut and bolt from the sway bar end / linkage where it connects to the lower control arm, had to use two wrenches, or a wrench and a ratchet for those paying attention, lol to keep the other end from spinning i took the bolt out just to show you what it looks like, you don't have to yank it out, also I just moved the linkage out of the way, I did not have to remove it completely off of the sway bar ---------- Post added at 06:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:34 AM ---------- 6. remove Big @ss 18mm vertical bolt from rear mounting point of the lower control arm, this is where the rubber donut lives, , I couldn't tell from the manual how this part attached, now I know sorry the bolt is a bit out of focus but it's the best pic I had of this one, not sure why this bolt has some surface rust and the front mounting point one does not, oh well ---------- Post added at 06:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 AM ---------- 7. remove the horizontal big 18mm bolt from the front mounting point of the control arm, this point I get, it makes sense that the bolt goes this way, that allows the arm to move up and down, duh, but the rear one, that's got to be German engineering this bolt was nice and greasy ---------- Post added at 06:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:05 AM ---------- Then it was time to wiggle out the lower control arm, she came off like a prom dress

The symptom, car thuds upon deceleration, and pulls to one side upon acceleration. I jacked the Carrado upon four jack stands and laid under it for half an hour saying to myself, wow there is really nothing to see down here. Thank you German engineering. I tried to wiggle the front wheels with my hands on the 12 and 6 o'clock position and no wiggle. I tried the same thing with my hands at the 9 and 3 o'clock positions and no wiggle. I turned the wheels all the way to the left and then again all the way to the right, nothing jumped out at me. I even spun them forward and aft just for fun. Then I decided to take out some Windex and some paper towels and just start wiping away 17 years of dirt and road grime from the suspension parts. I am sharing this nonsense with you for a reason. Being a complete amateur car mechanic I like to share things that work for me to help others, as unorthodox as they may seem. As the towels turned black things began coming into the clear. I noticed some notches on the steering tie rods, these must be for us to put the wrench on to shorten or lengthen them, I thought. And just think they did not exist couple minutes ago all covered with dust and grime. Next I cleaned the sway bar [ahem] stabilizer bar and as I was following it I sprayed some Windex on the rear end of the control arm, low and behold I could now make out some cracks in the caked on dirt on the bushings. Eureka, I kept cleaning as the dollars signs began adding up in my mind. I am about to order the front and rear mounting point bushings online from GermanAutoParts.com from New York. Actually it will only set me back $25.48 not bad at all (... if I don't play the mind as well upgrade this and that while I'm at it game! ie ball joints et al, swaybar bushings and links which are rather pricey) These are not the most camera friendly bits, but here's a couple pictures of my shot rear mounting point bushings.

All good improvements, thanks mate. I went looking for the thread today and thought where the heck did it go, am I loosing my mind did I dream that I posted it and never did, LOL. Anyway I contemplated sticking it under the Engine Bay sections initially but thought of all the smart remarks I would generate with guys pointing out that the fuel filter does not live under the hood, know what I mean, but I totally agree with the move.

Well after 150,000 miles I thought it was time to replace the good ol' VR6 inline fuel filter. This bad boy is located by the rear tire on the passenger side. It is slightly bigger than a beer can. To get it off I had to remove the metal bracket because naturally the factory mounted the circular clamp away from me so I couldn't get a phillps screw driver in there. Also the biggest pain were those two factory single use hose clamps, man I hate those things, I had to use my pick set to pry them off. Then I replaced them with the screw on ones like god intended. I got my fuel filter from German Auto Parts, cause they are the furthest supplier I could find, me being in California and them in New York, no seriously, they have good prices and the customer service rocks too!!! The job took less then 30 minutes counting prep and clean up. I jacked the car up on one side just to make it easier, but you really don't have to even do that, maybe just drive the rear wheel on a piece of 2x6 or something like that. Yeah some gas will spill out, it's pretty much unavoidable so get a container to catch it, remember there's gas in the old filter too not just the line. But remember there's an electric pump on top of the gas tank, so it's not like that fuel line will drain all the fuel out of the gas tank, nope, all that's gonna come out is what's in the line after the electric fuel pump, in other words not much maybe a cup of gasoline. Be patient when you go to start her up for the first time, remember there is no gasoline in the filter or the line yet, so prime her first two or three times by turning the key on and off, then it will take two or three tries to get her to fire up. Here are some pics:

Came across this doozy: My Grandpa has a saying about German Engineering. He says that they just keep adding features and linkages until it stops working. Then they remove the last thing they added and sell it.