Andy T

Is it definately the 2nd stage fan coming on? Does the first stage come on before it? My temps were up to 110-115° and it turned out to be a naff yellow temp sensor from GSF (far left position in the thermostat housing) that was reading 15° too high. What oil temps are you getting, are they way lower than the water temp?

What do you want, a bare block or a bottom end complete?

Has the 16v badge come off another car such as mk3 golf? I think the fixings are different.

Cheers, that makes sense now. Take it that it's a manifold-off job to change it?

Not sure what its called, but to the left of the VR6 inlet manifold is a box which a pipe emits from, feeding crankcase gases back into the air intake. On my 1996 model it's made of plastic, but i've noticed VR's in mags with a polished alloy version? Was an alloy version fitted to earlier VR's or is it an aftermarket part? Either way, I want one! Cheers

Even if it got 25 million signatures, it'll still never happen!

Sounds more like weak spark to me, which may be caused by a general voltage drop (which is the fault of the alternator or regulator), or a dodgy plug/lead/coil pack/dizzy ..[/quote:ead99] Never thought of that. Battery was showing 13volts (engine running) when I had it on VAGCOM last week but I suppose could test it on a multimeter while switching the loads on and off. Regulator - is that part of the alternator? Leads are fairly recent, coilpack is split slightly on the outer casing/edge next to the 1&6 coil, but shows absolutely no arcing even when wet. Although I've read that they can fail internally without showing obvious signs.

Took my MAF sensor off yesterday (late Film MAF, part no. ends 462) to clean it. It looks alot different from the Hot wire MAF's, having two or three small parallel strips which look like printed circuit board, the film must be housed in them. It looked spotlessly clean and I didn't have any electrical contact cleaner so I left it alone, I wouldn't recommend using brake cleaner or any other harsh solvent on Film MAF's because it may damage the non-metallic parts. Has anybody seen an improvement after cleaning a Film MAF that looked clean in the first place? I still have a rough idle dispite cleaning the whole intake system/ISV/damper and throttle body. I've also noticed its worse with electrical load on the engine, i.e lights, heated seats, rad fan etc. Could this mean that the ISV is not reacting properly?

Anyone else had problems with this ISV damper, or found it to be the cause of a rough idle? I noticed last night that it seems to be drawing in air slightly, but after reading this i'll check again. Anybody know the rough cost? Cheers

Both cylinders can be accessed from the engine bay. I'd start by bleeding the slave cylinder on the g/box, its just underneath the cable linkage on top of the 'box. If you havent got a bleeding kit, remove cap on the brake fluid reservoir, get your mate to press the clutch pedal while you open the bleed valve, let the fluid through, close the bleed valve, release the clutch pedal, and repeat until any air bubbles(if any) have stopped. Just don't let the level drop below MIN. on the resevoir. Now try the clutch, if the bite point is back to normal, it's likely that the slave cylinder is goosed. If the pedal is no better, its probably the master cylinder, you will have to bleed that aswell. If that works, replace the master cyl, and possibly the slave too if your feeling flush.

Part no. for yellow sender on my receipt is 701 919 369 D. I think it was ordered off etka under a different number(the old number?), but they are the same thing. Price was £22.37 including VAT, a bit pricey compared to the blue sensor!

Removed the GSF 4-pin yellow temp sensor today and replaced it with a brand new VAG one (now black with blue ring and green dot) Everything is now working as it should (fan run-on etc.) and the temperature gauge is now reading right, as the 1st speed fan is coming on at 95° (on GSF sensor it was reading a worrying 110° before it kicked in on 1st speed!) So I can confirm that the GSF 4-pin yellow sensor (identified by being black with a yellow plastic ring) is not right for the VR6, and it makes the temp gauge read 15-20° too high! I suspected this as the water temp was reading alot higher than the oil temp at all temperatures.

Crasher, never heard of that one before, does the electric water pump have to be worn, faulty or totally dead to cause matrix failure? What causes it to happen and what should we be looking out for?

Like kev says, I had this problem, turned out to be the clutch master cylinder. The bite point would get low after a long journey, then the next morning when the car had cooled down, it would be right on the floor and wouldnt select any gear. Cheapest way to tell is to bleed the clutch system at master cylinder (bulkhead) & slave cylinder(gearbox), to see if it improves matters. It might be spot on after doing that, but it won't last long so get one or both replaced.

My VR is filled with a yellowish coolant (colour of piss actually :? :lol: ) I recently replaced a few coolant senders/sensors and topped up with about 3 litres of G12+ mix, question is, is it going to be compatible, and what is the yellow stuff?? Should I be doing a ful flush & refill?

Interesting reading but most of it is irrelevant now with the introduction of G12+ Is G12+ a lifelong coolant or should it be changed every couple of years?

Don't do it, they're UGLY! interior is minging too. I regret selling my G60 even though I had a new un (VR) I can't imagine being able to let a C go without having one to replace it. You will regret it I promise!

btw, changing the blue temp sensor has definately cured my cold running problems, it was gutless for the first five minutes on the old sensor and was having to slip the clutch going into second, its spot on now from cold.

VR6 cooling system is 8.6 litres. I used to run at 30% coolant mix but I also noticed the manual says 40% minimum ?

Going from std. 78mm to 68mm is a 15% charger rpm increase, 78mm To 65mm is 20% rpm increase, not a massive difference but 20% must just surpass what the seals can cope with reliably.

Is the water pump working ok? with the exp. cap off, can you see coolant trickling into the exp. tank from the small bore hose? the small hose can get blocked up with crap.

Mine is reading water temps of 100 at 70mph on the m'way, and 110 in traffic. I'm thinking that the sensor is inaccurate and giving high readings, i'm sure before changing the yellow sensor I was getting 90 deg. at 70 mph, maybe this is part of your problem. Can't see engine paint affecting temperatures that much if at all. What was the stat like in the housing you swopped over, does it open fully?

You'd be best getting buying new rad thermoswitch & yellow temp sensor rather than putting in old ones that could be faulty or getting past it, then you can eliminate those bits if it still doesn't work. Not much fun changing sensors if you have to do it all over again! Forgot to mention, if anyone wondered, the sensors in the VR6 stat housing can be changed without losing much coolant if your quick, but if you let the coolant drain out from the housing, you'll need about 3 litres of coolant/water mix to top it back up again.

I think the yellow sensor controls fan run-on also, as this isn't working with the GSF sensor, but the aux. water pump is working with ignition on. Found that fan is working on second speed at 110°, thats assuming the gauge is reading right on the yellow GSF sensor! Changing the rad sender this weekend.

The thermoswitch in the rad has probably give up, I've found my fan only comes on at the second stage (around 105°) so i'll be changing mine this weekend, they are easy to replace.