MADFISH

It does sound like stem seals but there is a special tool that means not having to take the head off, I think it's expensive to buy but if you ask around there's usually one floating around the local dubbers community who are usually happy to lend it to fellow sufferers. Here one I found for 20v, but you can get them for 16v's :) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AUDI-VW-20V-30V-I ... 5ad2a4c160

It wouldn't hurt to change it anyway, if it's been on the car for sometime, emmissions are always troublesome, does she use over average fuel ??? Sometimes the cat can get knackered if she's running rich but if you're lucky it's not been damaged beyond repair after you rectify the problem, it may need a new cat though but sensor is the cheaper try first :) Check the other sensors, water temp can be troublesome and pretty cheap to replace but I think you're going in the right direction !!!

My missus's old rallye used to run hot, we used to worry if the oil started to get over 116 and into the 120's, then it would be heaters on full and trying to get as much cold air into the rad as poss, sorry it's not a definative answer but it's something to go on, I think it was boil up time in the mid 120's although It was a while back so not 100%, hope this might help a little. :)

That was really helpful, thanks for that, I'm kinda getting the idea now, did a lot more trawling and read a thread arguing over 263's and 268's, I guess I'll have to put her on the rolling road and find out how she's performing. I've got AMD badges on her aswell so I might give them a call and see if they keep any of their history, might be tough as I think they moved out of VW's a while ago and into more expensive performance cars but it can't hurt to try, thanks again for the link :)

Hi everyone, I'm new here so hope I'm putting this in the right place. I've just bought a C storm and it's got the Shrick intake under the bonnet, I've done a little homework but it's probably quicker and better to ask some of you well educated guys and gals here. I'm guessing I'll have the 268 degree cam shafts aswell but I'm curious if there is anything else that might have been done, such as remap, extra parts etc to make all this work, also I'm curious to the power gains from the Shrick set up over standard Vr's. All the paperwork for the car is missing at the moment so any info regarding this set up would be gratefully recieved... :)

I've had a few 16v's in my time ( still got a mk2 golf 16v ), some are like lightning, others sluggish and believe me the clean looking well maintained examples seemed the worst lol, the rough oily neglected ragged to death ones seemed to come alive, seems as though these engines love punishment. You're saying yours is using oil, ??? it's probably the valve seals, they all go that way, personally whip off the head, treat it to a new headset, if you've got some spare money, have the head worked and bolt it all back together, should be good as gold with 100000's more miles left in it, you could look at the inlet and manifold and upgrading the throttle body if you want to keep it original, the trouble is the money spent could buy a 20v Turbo engine which would bring it up to date and you're never gonna achieve the same power without spending a small fortune on the 16v. The Vr's are something else, my personal opinion would be to buy a VR, a lot cheaper and the money could be spent getting some serious power but if you want to stay original then you shouldn't have to touch the bottom end unless she's got some fatal issues occuring and give it a head set and some more country lane heavy peddling and it will love you forever :)