tonytiger

Mike Edwards, VR6 - cheers guys. :thumbleft: Good point about the bottom nuts and bolts. I guess it probably makes sense just to buy everything from VAG for this, rather than mix & match with gsf. I'll price everything up and see whether I can afford to replace everything or not.

Anybody?

Haven't got any spring compressors - I'm assuming I can just get these off the shelf from Halfords or GSF. I've got a mk2 Golf manual (been running one since July while the rado been off the road) and I've had a look. Compared the instructions with those for an Ibiza - they look very similar but the instructions are different - one basically just says to remove the strut, the other talks about removing other things first, caliper, etc. Does sound basically straight forward though. Started a new thread in drivetrain forum, as I've got quite a few questions (I'm easily confused).

I've got a broken front spring on my vr (standard suspension) - and I'm hoping that I'll be able to fix this myself, but I need some advice. I've looked in the knowledge base, and the item in there covers 16v front suspension but I assume it's basically the same method for all models. I've still got a few questions though. Do I *have* to remove the brake caliper to do this? If so why? And other than jacking the car up as normal, does I need to support anything anywhere else while removing the strut? From other threads I've read I think I should also replace the stop, the top mount and the bearing. Is that items 2, 3 and 7 in the diagram? What parts other than the spring should I replace at the same time? I may or may not change the shocks (as I don't want to spend more than I have to - having very recently shelled out £2k on other parts/labour). How do I know which spring to get - ETKA shows 3 different items for a 93 vr? I'm assuming by now that the paint marks will have gone from the existing springs. Finally, what parts should I get only from VAG, and which can I get from GSF (or ECP)?

Perhaps it's straight forward for somebody who's competent with a spanner - but that doesn't really include me. That's not to say I won't have a go - but I might just make things worse. Still, there's only one way to find out...

Thanks for the tips about the bonnet guys. I've had a look at the wiki but haven't had chance to look at the car again yet. I also need to work out whether or not I'm capable of fixing the suspension myself. Think there'll be a question or two in the drivetrain forum soon...

Spent most of Saturday's daylight hours working on the vr, expecting to finally have it back on the road. Put all (well most) of the dash and instruments back following the heater matrix replacement, then drained and replaced the coolant. While taking the rad bottom hose off I found there a few wires dangerously close to the rad fan, so I've had to cable tie them back out of the way. That's only happened since the car went in to the garage to have the engine replaced - so I was quite annoyed they'd left the wires like that, but only a minor issue. But, I'd had the car jacked up to get to the rad hose clip from underneath, and shortly after letting it down again there was an almighty bang from the drivers side - it looks the spring has broken. I think it's the very top part of the spring - and it's now fallen half way down into view. Just when I thought I might finally get out for a drive something else stops me. Then it gets even worse. Having finished sorting the coolant out I'd closed the bonnet but then realised I'd not put the wiper mechanism back (which I'd had to remove to get to one of the dash fixings). Pulled the bonnet handle but couldn't open the bonnet. Tried again - still couldn't. Tried again - obviously a bit too hard - either the cable's snapped or it's come away from it's fixing to the handle. Too be honest I was so sick of the car by this time I couldn't even be bother to look to find out. The really annoying thing about this, is that the cable and handle were replaced by the garage just a couple of weeks ago as they claimed they'd not been able to open the bonnet and had to cut the cable. :mad: :mad: :mad: I was absolutely fuming by this point - my blood pressure was probably so high I'm surprised I didn't explode! However, later on something reminded me how lucky I am that it's only a car that's causing me any problems - something I can walk away from completely if I wanted to (though with a good deal less money than before). So, I've got things in perspective again (though I'm still annoyed with the garage - we'll be having words) and I should just view that latest problems as a learning experience. :)

I tried that - but just couldn't get it to work. Brute force was the only method that worked for me.

Yes - brute force! Removed mine last week - took me ages. Have you removed all the screws? Think there are 2 in the top, and 2 in the bottom (under plastic trim). Assuming you have removed all fixings then it really is just a case of applying enough force to pull it through the dash opening.

Perhaps I was just too worried about breaking something, but I couldn't manage to get the heater box out with the dash in place. So I've had to remove the dash - which wasn't actually too bad - not as bad as people make it sound (though I've not gotten as far as putting it all back again). If I was starting again I'd start with the intention of taking the dash out - gives much more access to everything and allows you to tidy up any wiring if necessary too.

ZippyVR6, Supercharged - Thanks for the info guys :thumbleft: Hopefully I'll get to this at the weekend - though the heater matrix replacement has now turned into a dash out job.

Never having done a coolant change before (on any car) I've got a couple of fairly basic questions: Can I drain the coolant from cold, or does the car need to be run first? Also, I'm in the process of changing the heater matrix, so when I refill the system (from the rad top hose) does this fill the matrix too, or is there anything else I need to do? I'm assuming that when you drain the coolant the matrix doesn't normally empty. TIA.

Thanks for posting the pics - it's good to see exactly where the fixing points are for this. I guess I've got no excuse for not getting on with this now (except the weather). So a 3 to 4 hour job - hopefully I'll manage it in under 8 then! The only thing I'm unsure of now is whether or not I have to drain the coolant completely. The matrix is currently bypassed, so when I can connect it again is there any way of just topping the coolant up? Advise would be much appreciated.

SteveVPK, would be good if you could post your pics - I'm about to start on this job myself and the more pics I have for reference the better.

Before I bought my vr I did consider a prelude (would have had to be the 2.2), but when I went to look at one I didn't even bother test driving it - it just didn't feel right for me when I sat in it - car seemed far too big on the inside, compared to the interior space. Anyway, you've owned a prelude and clearly liked it, so you know better than most of us on here what that's like. I expect the ownership experience will be completely different, and suspect the prelude will be the more reliable car - but probably a lot duller. I'd say try a Corrado - any model, though probably the vr would be best. At worst, you'll not like it and want to sell again in a couple of months - chances are you won't lose much (if anything) if that happens, but more than likely you'll ended up hooked like the rest of us on here. If you can test drive a 'rado you'll probably get a good idea straight away whether it's right for you or not.

I'd say it could be worth doing if you plan on keeping the car long term - but is not worth doing just to attempt to increase the resale value. Also, could you cope if the costs escalate from the intial quote - could easily end up with another grand on top if you need other new parts. You need to think seriously about how long want to keep the car. It was simple for me - I can't think of any other car that offers the same combination of style, performance, practicality and rarity that I could afford (and I couldn't think of many that I couldn't afford). The only thing I planned on getting done in addition to my engine swap was the clutch and exhaust. Didn't expect to fork out for a new radiator, slave cylinder, battery, bonnet cable, etc + associated labour costs. Wouldn't necessarily need to break it - might be able flog it for repair to somebody who could do all the work themselves.

Not everybody's made of money! That's the complete opposite of cheapest option. Though obviously it's the safest option. toon vw, you have my sympathy. I've just gone through all this over the past few months - finally hope to get my vr back this weekend. I went down the second hand engine route - and it is a gamble. My engine came from a write-off (rear end damage) so I'm optimistic that it's okay (it's now in the car and I'm told it's now running very well). Main problem I found when looking was that most vr engines for sale were 2.8 and collection only and too far away. I was hoping to have it fitted for three to four hundred quid and when I eventually found some places willing to do it (to my amazement, most so called vw specialists weren't interested because it was too much work!) I got quotes ranging from £200 to £500. The garage I finally chose quoted £360, and was chosen due to recommendation. However, £360 has now turned into £1200+ :shock: (haven't got the final bill yet) due to fitting new radiator, clutch, battery, leads, slave cylinder, rear exhaust, etc (and I supplied some of those parts myself!) and time spent solving misfire problem, etc. In all, the total cost for me (including the engine) will be around £2k :!: Twice as much as I'd originally expected. With hindsight, I'd have been better off selling it for what I could get and buying (for example) vr6corrado's car for £2k. If I'd gone down the new engine route - I'd still have had all the additional work done so that would have ended up costing another £2k or more on top! In the long run, that would probably be the best option - but it was just too expensive for me to consider. Oh yeah, nearly forgot, when I do get the car back I've still got the heater matrix to replace as it blew 3 days before the engine problems started (back in June) and the wiper linkage to replace (currently held together by wire). Good luck with yours!

I thought that was just average for Corrado ownership! :lol:

Dicky, depending how much the garage charge you for diagnostics and how long you intend keeping the car, it could be worth investing in vagcom. Even if you don't already have a laptop you could probaby pick one up fairly cheaply secondhand. It's quite possible that some wiring was damaged when the downpipe was replaced (though you'd probably struggle to prove that -though it may help if you've got diagnostic results for just before and after the downpipe work). Not that it helps, but you're not alone in having problems like this with no obvious solution - I've sufferred the same sort of thing (see here). If you resolve all the problems listed in the diagnostics, but it's still no better then I would suggest you do try a replacement MAF then (preferably a known good one from somewhere). Does the car smoke at all? The only other thought I had for mine, was that because the head needed rebuilding and it was burning oil sometimes then perhaps that affected the lambda reading. So I basically gave up trying to fix mine until I had the head sorted (though it's now way beyond that. :( )

Air Fuel Ratio meter - see this thread

I think 2 of the wires are for the lambda heater, another one is a positive feed, the other is the signal back. I think the lambda main earth is just from the lambda body itself. Have you confirmed that the lambda is working since replacement. My VR suffered from stalling (never cured) and intermittent heavy fuel consumption - pretty much the same as yours. The heavy fuel consumption still suggests that the lambda isn't working, or at least the ecu isn't seeing appropriate values. Is the wiring for it sorted now? If you're still getting poor economy you could try unplugging the lambda and see if it improves. Best way to see what the lambda is doing is to fit an AFR meter - you can see what's happening while you're driving then. And as dr_mat and double-6s have said, reset the ecu again.

You should be able to open /close the ISV fully (or almost fully) with a screwdriver. If you can't move it at all then that definitely won't be helping the idle. Of course being a Corrado, as you say, there's always something else to move onto so even if you replace the isv there's no guarantee this will solve the problem but it does seem extremely likely.

Don't actually know what's wrong with it yet - I've dumped it at the garage and he had a listen and agreed that it did sound like the bottom end. Can't see the point in stripping the engine if I'm just going to swap it (as I really can't see it being something minor). Problem happened when I'd been out in the car - dual carriageway, 70+mph - everything seemed normal until I slowed down on the slip road when I could hear this loud knocking sound (not really sure that's a good description - I should probably have recorded it). Initially thought I might have run really low on oil, but on checking it was probably just over a litre below max. So then I just took the car straight home (steadily). It was a really hot day and I did notice that the oil temperatue was showing 130 when I was only doing 50mph - which seemed excessively high. That was about a fortnight ago - I took the car to the garage yesterday. I've declared the car sorn now as I don't know how long it will be before I get this sorted. For OBD2 engines, is there actually any mechanical difference? I thought it was maybe just the throttle body that would be different and I could just swap that off the current engine?

My VR (which now has 162k on it) is now off the road with what sounds like a major engine problem - probably the bottom end :cry: I've been reading through a lot of the VR6 engine rebuild/replace type threads and concluded that at the moment the best solution for me (cost-wise) is probably to source a secondhand engine (still 12v). However, 2.9 engines (as expected) don't seem to be too easy to find compared to the 2.8 ones - so, if necessary (and only temporarily), could a 2.8 be fitted without any changes or would the ecu or any of the sensors not work too well with one? Appreciate any advice / experience on this.

A bargain for any mint VR with leather I'd have thought - but with such low miles too - that's just unbelievably cheap!!!! Congratulations! I see it's even got lupo wipers. I take it it was no one from the forum? BTW, what colour is that?