Andy T

Have managed to find a source for the carrier (Brakes International in Rochdale) but it doesn't come with the slider pins and they don't sell them seperately. Must be somewhere that sells slider pins, otherwise I'll have to look round the breakers.

Found today that one of these guide pins had seized absolutely solid in the carrier, causing the inner pad to wear down to the metal while the outer pad is almost like new. Only MOT'd it last month at a reputable garage and they failed to notice the lack of pad! :x Weird thing is that the discs & pads are only a couple of years old, the guide pin rubbers were totally intact so it looks like some muppet has cleaned the guide pins bone dry and re-assembed without using the special grease, or any form of lube at all! Does anyone know where I can get a new (or used) Vr6 rear carrier & guide pins other than VW? ECP, AVS & GSF don't list them, VW will no doubt have to order them in, and ideally I need them for tomorrow(tue) so I can get back on the road. I'm in manchester btw. Cheers.

Yep, slacken the bleed nipple and press the pedal down steady, hold it there then tighten the nipple. Ideally have a piece of clear plastic pipe attached the bleed nipple, so you can see the air bubbles more clearly and it helps to direct the nasty stuff away from you your car and into a container.

Sorry i've just re-read my post, I meant press the clutch pedal! have updated it now.

I've noticed improvements in both the G60 and the VR6 when using V-Power, probably slightly more so in the VR6, especially at part throttle. Both cars specify 98 ron on the filler flap so using anything lower will reduce performance.

Yesterday I tested the voltage between battery & engine block with engine running but no electrical loads, got around 14.3v. With all the loads switched on (Fogs, heaters, seats, headlights etc.) the voltage dropped to around 13.6v - is this normal? More worrying though was the engine note with all those loads switched on, it sounded rough and quite 'chuggy' as if it was starved of air, and engine movement was noticeable. I unplugged the ISV and it instantly ran smoothly, although the revs had risen to around 800-850 rpm. Does this mean the ISV is faulty? (It has been cleaned recently)

early switches look kak, get some tweeters in there or something!

I don't know where Tesco source it from but I very much doubt its better than V-Power! V-Power has some clever additives unrelated to RON that improve throttle response & power at certain RPM's, It may well be 99 RON too, and don't forget its very very similar to what they put in F1 cars! I doubt Tesco99 has the combustion chamber cleaning performance either. Talc, all modern cars have knock sensor control (as far as I know) it will just be the timing advance limit that differs. Dr_Mat, Do you think then that the Vr6/G60 limit will be set around the 98RON mark, or higher?

probably does, at the expense of top end power!

Modern cars don't have a pre-set ignition timing, the timing is advanced until the engine pinks, the knock sensors detect it in milliseconds and back the timing off. Not sure if newer or non-performance cars have a timing advance limit, which would mean using petrol above a certain RON would be pointless? In my standard VR there is a impressive difference when using V-Power, as opposed to standard Unleaded.

Will try that, should the voltage across the battery terminals be the same or is some voltage drop allowable? Will check earth cables too.

For that money you'd be wanting an interior with barely any wear, and almost immaculate paint work (at least on difficult to paint panels)

Another thought, reading back over your post about your sooty exhaust, and my own previous problems with my g60, i'm convinced that either - The lambda wiring is damaged/wrongly connected/badly earthed, connector pins are corroded(water can get into these connectors) OR - The lambda probe is goosed, possibly due to bad wiring/short circuit due to water in connector. You could do with an auto electrician checking the lambda circuit for faults, and checking voltages/resistance on the connector with ignition on.

ICV, ISV, ISCV yep all the same item. That pic of the ISV looks slightly different to mine and the mk3 one I bought for spares recently, I don't remember it having a black plastic outlet on it. Might be worth emailing them for the year/part no. then looking up the corrado number on here. 1995 Mk3's defo had the same part, maybe thats a later one?

Yep, you'd be surprised how frayed & corroded the cable can get, even at the pedal end. Wouldn't a 2.8 throttle be a bit backward performance wise?

Slight hissing at the back of the engine is normal, is the ISV damper (oval plastic box) as long as there's no air leaks or blockages inside, the noise is ok. Yes, MK3 VR6 ISV has same part number as Corrado VR, the part number is on this forum somewhere.

Would anyone know if mk5 polo Gti shocks & springs will fit on a mk4 polo? Seen as the mk5 is a facelift version I was hoping the suspension is the same/similar! Not exactly a corrado question I know (sorry), but I need to know quickly, I've joined up on various VW/polo forums in the last week but none will let me post yet! Thanks for any help.

The ISV must still work to some degree if it improves idle at cold start, the air gap when unplugged might be unsufficient to maintain idle when cold. If you can get one very cheaply it would still be worth changing. Any MOT garage could do an emissions test for you, I'd avoid VW they'll charge a fortune. Might be worth getting the test done from cold so you can see what the emissions are like before the lambda warms up and takes effect, during engine warmup, and when hot. Have you tried running the car with the lambda unplugged? If it runs well with almost normal MPG, it must be an issue with the lambda probe, its wiring or earth through the engine block. On my G60 I ran an extra earth wire from lambda plug to a point on the chassis.

When its unplugged the shutter is permanenly open by a few mm, so I think the idle speed is purely controlled by the flow of air through that gap. Going down to 700 may of been due to other loads on the engine or because its not runnning properly, fuelling, ign timing etc. Sounds like you need a new ISV then. There have been a few on ebay lately go for £20-ish, btw mk3 VR6's use the same ISV. An emissions test would show up if the lambda is not doing its job?

Yeah try disconnecting it (electrically) first, could also try bypassing it all together if you have some spare pipe or tube.

Sounds like you need to remove and clean out the ISV (Idle speed control valve) as problems with that will not show up on VAGCOM. Clean it out with carb cleaner, if that doesn't improve things you might have to source a new one. Try unplugging it first (it lives under the plug lead plastics at the back of the cyl. head), if it idles no worse, its probably dirty or broken. I'm surprised the VW dealer didn't think to check the ISV, perhaps it just proves they don't know what to look for unless a computer points them in the right direction!

Forgot to mention, the plug leads are about 2.5-3 years old (genuine VAG) no signs of arcing when wet, any other ways of testing them? Crazy dave, if I was to borrow a timing light with inductive pickup, would I see any signs of misfires across each each cylinder by watching the light, or would it be happening too fast?

I bought some of those spark plug testers a while back and have never used them, I thought they might be too far down in the head to see on the VR6. A few people have mentioned that checking for a misfire by watching a plug fire against the manifold is very difficult. I might well change the coilpack as it's going to become a problem at some point if not already, should I go for genuine or are ECP/GSF units the same quality? cheers.

Can only think that the new thermostat is faulty or fitted the wrong way around(not sure if this is possible) or there's a blockage somewehere else in the system. Does water flow through the block and head ok, and the other hoses? You might have to try running it without a thermostat ans see what happens.

That makes alot of sense, so I can eliminate the ISV for now. During the first five minutes of warmup, it idles at around 850-900 rpm which is very smooth even with loads on. After five minutes the idle drops to the usual 650 rpm and thats when it's rough. The coilpack is the original as far as I know, I have checked it for arcing at night with a plant mister, no arcing occurred, is it still worth replacing anyway?