kangaroo

Ah, now that's funny... When my dad went to get a spare key cut for his Mk3 Golf the guy at the shop had to stick it in a machine and copy over some 'information' to the new one. But I'm afraid I don't really know anything more about it :? Maybe this is the same thing you mention?

Yup, agree with dazzy. Get the alarm cat1 certified and it'll cover your cat2 status no probs. It shouldn't cost you any more to get the alarm checked over than the immobiliser either.

I think its exactly the same for all other C's, although I could be mistaken. Maybe someone else will be able to confirm. The only thing I can think that would be different was the location/size of gearbox plugs, but I don't think that's the case. I'd take a peeky under your car to see if it looks the same as the picture of mine. Its a good point though, and the guide should be changed to mention which cars it applies to.

My old Golf Driver gave me permanent back-ache. The seats felt like they were carved from granite and if I drove for any longer than an hour I would be in need of stetcher support at the other end. I don't think there was any padding left at all. My leather Corrado seats are lovely though. The key is that they're bucket-like and provide support under my leg/knee area. Which is essential because I'm quite tall.

They do this a lot down here, probably because the council are such cheap b***rds. Last time they did the actual road I lived down, which is normally lined with parked cars. I actually parked several blocks away in another side-road for about 3 weeks till it cleared! Thankfully I didn't have my C back then. But it was still bloody annoying. Several residents complained to the council, but I don't know whether anything came of it.

If its a rectangular key fob with two small square buttons then I believe it was, once upon a time. You can take your car along to an alarm specialist and get it checked over, if it conforms then they'll be able to write you up a new certificate. I've not done this, so I can't say whether it'll actually pass as cat2, but its definitely something you can try. Usually costs £25 or so.

Agh! I hate those clamps too. I would definitely banish them to the automotive room 101 given the chance.

Okay, just to update the story of my brake bleeding nightmare: After some big-style bleeding of all valves in the system I got the car to a state where it was drivable. I've since spent the last two days periodically bleeding, each time extracting a little bit more air. So far the brakes are back to normal, and with a bit more bleeding I think I can get them feeling even better. I think the problem was that I bled the system dry right at the beginning. This introduced air pockets round the various lines and components, and getting rid of these has been the cause of all my woes. In the future, if I were to do a "refresh" of the current fluid I'd extract as much of the current stuff from the reservior and then simply bleed through all the old fluid, pouring the new fluid in as I go along. Its not perfect, and would require you to bleed through a substantial amount to make sure you've got new fluid in the system, but it would reduce the chances of getting air pockets. Or so I reckon... On the plus side my clutch feels a tad better :)

Agh! This is driving me insane!! :brickwall: I've bled all the lines again, and the master cylinder, till no air came out for a good 10-12 presses of the pedal (with ignition on too). Then out of desperation I decided to bleed the two valves on-top of the ABS unit. To my surprise quite a bit of air came out. So I continued until it stopped. But I've still got the same problem... The pedal feels rock solid until I start the engine (when obviously the servo kicks in), then it just squishes right down to the floor! :cry: (BTW: Can I reuse the new brake fluid, even if its gone through the system once? Its just I've already used 2 litres and its starting to get expensive...)

Okay! Copper grease it'll be :) Cheers.

eugh... well I made a start today, and came across several problems... firstly both my rear wheels were seized onto the hubs :( but i managed to free them. Then I found one of the bleed valves was blocked :roll: I managed to poke it around with a bit of wire and clear it out though. Anyway, so far I've bled through a litre or more of fluid, and no air is coming out of any of the brake lines, but my pedal still goes straight to the floor!! Perhaps there's air still stuck in the system somewhere? Or am I doing something wrong? :?: Also, what is this piece of machinery (attached image). It looks like it has something to do with the brakes, or at least the tubes coming out of it look like brake lines...?

Phew! Crisis over! Cheers for the advice, I sorted it now. While the car was jacked up I yanked the handbrake on as far as it could go (and i mean pretty damn far, cos the handbrake is crap). Then I lowered the car back on to the ground. As the rear tyre met the tarmac there was a twisting motion that turned the wheel and broke the seized corrosion. Then it was just a case of wiggling the wheel free. I'm going to clean off the rustyness, but is there anything I can do to prevent this happening again?

Help me! Both my rear wheels are seized to the hubs in some way. I've tried twisting, hammering, pulling, etc, and they just won't come free. I'm in a bit of a pickle because I'm halfway through replacing the brake fluid...I guess I should have really checked this before I drained most of it, but its not something you anticipate!! Any suggestions?

I've never heard of Avital, and I did quite a bit of research into cat1 alarms only a month or so ago. Certainly all of the approved fitters I contacted didn't sell it... My Toad ai606 cost £300 fitted in its standard form, thats with full closure, immob, etc. Then I added on some extras at an additional cost. Toad alarms also come with a lifetime warranty, which is worth its weight in gold I reckon.

Was having a quick peeky round the car in preperation for doing the fluid change... I found the clutch slave and its bleed valve no probs, but I'm a bit confused over the master cylinder :? Where exactly is the clutch master cylinder, and does it have a bleed valve? The one directly below the reservoir is the brake master, yes? Do I need to bleed both? Also, does the ABS have a pump or something that needs bleeding? Cheers!

dinkus, thanks mate! :) Just one thing I noticed: the image of the gearbox bolts is the one with the question marks on. I definitely know they are the correct places now, so you can use the one inside the doc file doesn't have question marks. Andy T, yeah, sometimes the notchyness feels like its coming from the syncro's... i can feel an uneasy grindy-wobblyness coming through the stick, as if I've lifted the clutch too soon and am about the crunch the gears. If I rest my hand gently on the stick when its in gear I can also feel an occasional 'wobbly-vibration'... it comes and goes... Then at other times it feels as if its just the stick that's misaligned and the resistence is coming from the mechanism directly beneath it. :? Its tricky to pinpoint, and if I floor it second gear requires quite a bit of force to engage :( I wouldn't mind a guide to adjusting the cables too. The mechanism at the gearbox end looks a nightmare...

Cheers Henny. I think I got everything apart from the brake spanner, but I'm sure I can find that down the local Halfords. I'll see if I can get round to doing it this weekend. Dinkus, I sent you a pm about the gearbox oil guide several days ago, but I guess it must have got lost in the system or something. No worries though, you got the right thread, there's a word doc. file at the end of it with the guide inside. The how-to site is looking good so far :)

Hmm.. I was just reading through my dad's Mk3 Golf Haynes manual (closest thing I've got to a 'rado manual) and it said you cannot bleed the clutch system without pressurising it with a bleeder kit. Is this correct? Or can I just push/pull the clutch pedal to pump the fluid out? Cheers for the advice Henny :) So basically I need to get all of the old fluid out, (until I'm pumping through just air?) and then refill it with some new fluid? Can I just pour the new fluid into the resevoir ontop of the old stuff as I go along, and replace it that way? Or does that not work as well? I'll take some pics as I go along dinkus 8) Did you get my guide to replacing the gearbox oil btw?

I'm going to replace the fluid in my brake system this weekend. Looking at the service schedule it was last done 3 years ago (17k miles) so I figure its probably due a replacement. I would also like to do the clutch system while I'm at it. I have a few questions before I give it a go though: 1. Whats the definitive method/sequence for replacing the fluid. I read some things about pumping the pedal 20 times, leaving the ignition on for ABS, doing shorter brake-lines first, but I lost track.. Whats the best order? And how about the clutch system? 2. How much Dot 4 fluid will I need if I want to make sure I've replaced everything in the system? Cheers for any advice!

Yeah man, its good to find people on the same musical wavelength 8) Warp records is great, and they do wicked live events. I'm also a fan of Ninja-tunes.

Up in Flames is excellent, its got a 60's psychadelic rock feel. Quite a lot different to his first album, but much better in my opinion. You gotta get it :) Ultravisitor isn't bad, less funky and a bit more experimental, like Music is rotted one note. In fact its one of those albums I'm not quite sure works in the car, you know the type? More suited to strokey-beardy-head-nodding appreciation in your living room :wink:

AndyVR6, I've got that Plaid album in at the moment too 8) and also: Manitoba - Up in Flames M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts Squarepusher - Ultravisitor Godspeed you black emperor! - Yanqui UXO DM & Jemini - Ghetto pop life Sasha - Airdrawndagger 3 x others I can't quite remember right now... I swap discs on regular basis.

I replaced the gearbox oil over the weekend and I'd say it has improved shifting by about 50%. Its definitely smoother, and there's less grinding, but its still has a few of the larger notches, especially in second. I'm wondering now if the cables need a bit of adjustment... Changing the oil is well worth doing though, its cheap and only takes about half an hour, and the results are noticible. I took some pictures as I went along and made an uber-idiots guide, which I reckon even a novice could follow. I remember reading somwhere someone was making a Corrado "How To" site, does anyone know who this was? And could I add this to it?

Richie_FSOB, funniest thing I've seen all week :lol: :D

P-reg Storm! I knew I should have waited a little longer.... Heh, nah, I'm more than pleased with my C :) Someone here should buy it though, then we can start a collection of the elusive P-reg's.