tony_ack

Anyone got a fully authorised copy of VAGCOM who is local-ish to Sheffield or Manchester? I could do with getting another key coded at some point. I already have an uncut blank transponder key. Would rather pay an enthusiast, than pay dealer rates if possible!

'Fixed' it yesterday. Should be okay for another 6 months or so! It's a shame because the VW immobliser appears to be very effective. Just a little too effective sometimes.

Bump - seriously, no-one got one of these at all?!?

Not sure, probably in the centre of Sheffield as that's where she works. She has a blue MK2 valver. I also see a blackberry near my work somtimes in Hellaby - seems to be a lot of blackberries in South Yorks!

Cheers Tom - all sorted, I may have to come back more often!

Ah sorry, I may have been thinking of something else when I said 'resynching' - sorry for the confusion! I was referring to the trick where you leave the key in the ignition for 10 minutes, with the ignition on before attempting another start. This seemed to work for me in the past where I cleaned up the contacts, and it still wouldn't start.

WD40 is a good shout - I remember doing this last time when it failed in November. Good to know that the resync isn't needed - does anyone know under what circumstances you do need to resync?

Hi Tom, Would you take £50 for the tensioner and ABS pedal position sensor? Cheers Ant

My factory immobiliser is playing up (surprise surprise). I've had problems before, which I solved by wiggling a loose connection on the transponder box under the dash, and securing it better as the clip on one of the wires into it was broken. I then re-synced, and the car was fine. Yesterday I went to start it (having only used it an hour previously) and the engine started, relay clicked, and engine cut out. I didn't have time to look at it further as I was late, so I took the missus' car instead. When I got back a few hours later I decided to have a look at it and re-sync again, but before I did that, I tried to start it. It started first time. This morning, I went to start again, but the immobiliser was kicking in again. I had a little fiddle with the wiring into the transponder box, and re-synced for 10 minutes, but the immobiliser kicked in again. I had to take the missus' car to work and ended up being 30 minutes late - stupid thing. Looking through past posts on the issue, there's quite a lot of conflicting information about how the system actually works. As far as I can tell, there are several components in the system: Transponder in key Transponder reader Transponder box ECU Again I'm not too sure about the specifics, but I guess that it works in the following way: The transponder in the key is read by the ring and and sent to the transponder box under the dash which confirms the code. Once the code is confirmed a signal is sent to the ECU to allow continuous operation of the engine. I am guessing there is something in the ECU that makes the engine cut out if an OK signal is not received from the transponder. The point of all this is I'm trying to work out where the problem lies. I would guess that there is either a problem with the connection to the transponder box, or the ring isn't reading correctly. I'm more inclined to believe it's the connection as I've had problems before, but I can't understand why it has been fine for 6 months, then failed on me for no reason last night (having driven the car fine all day), only for it to work again, and then fail again this morning. Also, I'm not sure I understand the re-syncing process correctly - I was under the impression that every time there is a failed attempt to start due to the immobiliser, that you had to resync? Last time I had problems, the car wouldn't start until I resynced it. But then why did the car start okay last night after the earlier failed attempts, without a resync? The other culprit could be the transponder ring - any guides for how to access/remove this for a clean and inspection?

Black VR6 in Sheffield near Halfway on Sunday - driver beeped and waved but it took me a while to realise he was in a Corrado. I thought he was waving because he knew me at first, and I didn't recognise him... Today, many thanks to the Blue 16v driver who slowed to let me turn right on Mansfield Road! Me missus keeps seeing a Blackberry VR6 around Sheffield too. Looks like they're all coming out now it's Spring

My beige leather is in need of restoration, and it makes sense to get the seats out of the car and do the restoration carefully over however many evenings/weekends it takes. Problem is that my car is my daily driver. Therefore I'm looking for a really cheap interior to put into the car while the leather is being restored. Condition, colour, style etc are not important - I'm just looking for a set of seats and doorcards that will bolt in with no fuss, and that I can sit on while I drive about! Rips, collapsed bosters, tears, fag burns, water damage - none of this is important, but like I said - it needs to be as cheap as chips. I'm looking to spend £50 max and will collect within 100 miles of Sheffield

I think I read somewhere that late VRs already had the fan controller in place to accomodate climatronic?

IIRC the slider needs to come out of the rear of the runner, which is under the headlining. It may just about be possible to get it out while still in the car - I honestly don't know - but I do know you'll have to have the headlining out, so you may as well take the sunroof out as it's only a few bolts. It will also give you a chance to clean and grease up the other parts of the mech. What you need is the repair kit for the side that was broken: (1) 1H0898017A repair kit for guide / for steel sliding roof left front / 1 1H0898018A repair kit for guide / for steel sliding roof right front / I was lucky as I managed to pick up a second hand sunroof in my colour with the mech intact for pretty cheap, so I could refurb that off the car and fit at my leisure.

She did fine on the trip to Wales last week - used no oil and water which was good news! Celebrating her 215000 mile'th birthday

I'm after the black surround for the interior door handle trigger. Late-style, so it's the more rounded one. Let me know if you have one!

Been running one for 2 weeks now, with standard mounts at the rear and on the gearbox. The front feels nice an tight now, both when accelerating and through the corners - it's made a massive improvement to the feel of the car. I wouldn't say it was harsh at all - maybe a tiny tiny increase in vibration in the cabin? We just went to Wales and back last week though in the Corrado, and the missus didn't notice it was any less smooth, even though she drove most of the way. At £150 they're not exatly cheap, but if you need to replace it anyway, then it's a no-brainer

What did you use for the engine side? Passat condensor/pipes/compressor?

I had it all out yesterday to inspect the bulbs in the centre console (turns out my spare bulbs were faulty, so a wasted afternoon...) There are three illumination plugs on the loom - one plugs into the heater controls, one plugs into the ash tray, and the other is spare (probably for VDO gauges or the like). I think your pic is of the spare one.

Damn! Wish I'd seen this sooner! Oh well, if Dave can't collect it for some unfathomable reason, I'll pop across. I'm not too far away as you know, and I know where you are so can come down whenever (and as soon as)convenient.

Aide - I'm starting to think that the tensioner is fine now the water pump is fixed.I think the coolant was getting into the pulleys and belts causing slippage and squealing. so far the tensioner has been quiet since the water pump was done. I had considered just changing the bearing, but would have replaced the whole thing at the right price. £120 is not the right price though so I'll opt for a bearing replacement if it does need changing! VR_owner - Like most jobs on the Corrado, it could be really easy, but then you're stuck if you come across a seized bolt. When I took it all apart the second time,it took me about 30 minutes, as I knew where every bolt and screw was, and they all came out easy as they'd been out the week before. The first attempt took about 2 hours though, and to be honest I still didn't hit any major problems. The biggest two dangers with the job are the radiator bolts into the slam panel seizing/shearing, or the bumper bolts seizing. I was lucky with the bumper bolts as it looks like the bumper was replaced recently, but on both MK2 Golfs I've had, which has the same bumper set up, I've run into problems. For the radiator bolts, a dremmel will be useul to cut the bolts off if they give you trouble, and new bolts are pence from VW For the bumper bolts, I would soak them in WD40,or even better - Plusgas the night before to give them a chance of coming off. I have a 4 foot long 1/2" drive breaker bar to get the bolts loose, and a set of Irwins on standby. The biggest risk with the bumper is snapping the captive nut on the bumper bracket that the bolt screws into as you'll then need to access the nut while it is sill in the chassis leg. Once the rad bolts and bumper bolts are out, you're pretty much home and dry!

I had a revalation whilst lying in bed this morning - it dawned on me that the car was leaving the water patches on the driver's side, and not on the passeger side, which was where the radiator leak was. The plan today was to clean the car and then head off to my folks, before heading to Wales on Monday on holiday. I thought I'd better check to see where the leak was coming from, just to put my mind at ease. I noticed the patch was under the water pump, and the frame under the water pump was dripping. It all makes sense now - the leak which I assumed as a weep of oil on the driver's side of the engine, was actually a mix of coolant and grime. The squeak of the belts and pulleys was probably the coolant interfering with the operation of the aux belt. I quickly realised that the car would be lucky to make it to my folks' 50 miles away, let alone a 500 mile round trip to Wales. I had to cancel my plans. A nice relaxing day in the pub with the family and friends would give way to a day at the lockup yet again. I headed to GSF as soon as it opened for the pump, and opted for the more expensive of the two on offer. I checked and it had a metal impellor. A VW one would have been better, but options are limited on a Saturday morning. Once at the lockup, I checked the water again - it had used half a litre in about 10 miles - it was getting worse. I wasted no time stripping down the front end again - I decided to change the radiator at the same time. It's amazing how easily it all comes off when you know where all the bolts and screws are, and you don't have to deal with seized bolts. 30 minutes later, I had a naked VR With the radiator off, it was pretty easy to spot the damage. Other than this the radiator was fine, such a shame that it's scrap now Next I turned my attention to the water pump. I did the front mount last week, so the bolt for that came out easily. The rear mount was a bit more tricky. I took the airbox and pipe off for easier access, but I didn't have an extension long enough to clear the bay. Luckily I had just enough room to crack the nut loose, and with a little more perseverence, it was off. I jacked up the engine to give me access to the water pump. Out in the open, the leaks were all too obvious. The pulley came off easily enough, and the bolts for the pump weren't a problem. However then I hit my first problem of the day - the pump had somehow managed to seize itself into the block! I tried to get a hammer and chisel behind it to chisel it off, but just ended up breaking the pump casing. Next I tried cutting into the casing to get better leverage, but soon realised that wasn't going to work. Finally I decided to throw caution to the wind and just hammered away at the pulley bracket. Slowly it started to tease out, and eventually it was free Old pump The impellors were pretty good given they were plastic, and given the condition of the rest of the pump New pump now ready to go on I slipped a little bathroom sealant onto the o-ring just to be on the safe side. The pump in, bolts in, pulley on, belt on. Next I put on the new radiator - really straight forward, and it even came with the top elbow which I wasn't expecting! I also fitted a new VW fan switch. All went on okay (except I forgot to put the fans and rad cowling on the first time - d'oh!), and I was ready to start filling. Again, I put in about 2-3 litres of water first to make sure it was all leak free under normal pressure. Then I topped up with a couple of bottles of G12. Time for the big switch on! She started fine, and I let it run to temperature, while bleeding the system. Thermostat came on as normal. The fans were a bit late again, kicking in at about 100 degrees but I put this down to air in the system while I was bleeding. I had the radiator box under the car to collect any leaking coolant, and checked it when I switched off the engine. Not a drop!! Hurrah! Bleeding the system under Bentley's watchful gaze.. I put the front back together in no time, even put a bit of copper grease on the bumper bolts this time, and torqued them according to Bentley. She drove home fine. The whistling seems to have gone too now (I cleaned the belt and pulley while doing the water pump). Hopefully the cooling saga is now over!

When it's all fixed I'll slow down! May be a long wait... I looked into the whistling the other day. Some of the manifold bolts were loose, but it wasn't that. I narrowed it down to the left-front of the engine bay, and it dawned on me that it was one of the aux pullleys - it actually turned out to be the tensioner. It squeaks constantly, but you can only hear it on idle and overrun as it is otherwise droned out by the induction noise from the airbox I took the tensioner off and gave the bearing a spray with some grease - I needed to quieten it down as it was embarassing to drive. It's quieter now, though not silent. Looks like another part to replace... I also checked the water today and it was almost at the bottom of the header tank, so there is a leak from somewhere. The car is also leaving water patches after being parked up. They appear to be from right at the front, so I still think the radiator is to blame (I've now collected the new one from VW, and my wallet feels so much lighter..). I've decided to change the water pump too - I'm getting tired of refilling with coolant now, so surely once the rad and water pump are done, there's nothing left to go wrong with the cooling system? The good news is that the crack pipe and thermostat housing appear to be bone dry.

A small update... I've not collected the rad from VW yet. I've done 120 miles since the weekend - I checked the water level a couple of days ago and it was right on the money, but I need to check again. No warning light yet though, so it can't be too bad. I'm going on holiday in the car next week, and going to visit the folks this weekend, so the rad will have to wait until I get back. I've had a play with the Schrick now and I like it a lot :-) It flies from about 2.5k rpm and it sounds better too. I was expecting a massive flat spot at 4k rpm having read other people's experiences, but it wasn't too bad. Still want to get some Schrick 268s and a remap when I can afford it though. The biggest surprise has to be the solid mount I fitted. The car feels so connected now - it feels tighter in the corners and tighter on the power, and is just so much better to drive. I haven't really noticed an increase in vibrations, so all is good! I'm picking up some new wheels at the weekend too...

I read somewhere that the duty cut comes in from 6pm on Thursday (today)

George Osbourne it would seem isn't as stupid as he looks. 1p off fuel duty is offset by an increase in tax on oil companies. I'm sure Big Oil will now break out the violins and say they need to raise prices to cover the extra tax. Net cost per litre will remain the same (in relative terms). The tax the government collects for fuel/oil will remain broadly the same. But now the anger focus will be on Big Oil who have raised their prices, and not the government, who have cut fuel duty