Ben-B

it looks cool though

mmmmmmmmmmm must resist

So today I started my Rado and the ABS light didn't go out. Further down my road I slammed on the brakes and they didn't lock, so it's not a mechanical fault with the ABS... I remembered reading that the EDL can bring on the ABS light, and noticed the car wheelspinning ridiculously easily when pulling out of junctions, yes the roads are wet cos it's been raining, but even so, I wasn't even taking the car above 1500 rpm in first and the wheels span round and round like Johnny Bollocks. Later on, coming up to some traffic lights the car stalled (with the clutch in). When I restarted the engine, the light went out. Got to where I was going and turned the engine off. Came back after 15 minutes, started the engine, light stayed on again. Could it be that (one or more of) the speed sensors have gone? Does the rain have anything to do with it... it's been raining here at least once every day for weeks now, but have not had the ABS light stay on until now. How can I diagnose the problem, or is VAGCOM the only way?

well i can do mine in reverse

Yeah Alan that'd be great, and as Him Ben said, would be good for others with the same potential issues to see the cost breakdown of things. I think if I did go the engine rebuild route, then I'd get a 2nd engine stripped and rebuilt, so at least my car can go somewhere, even if the engine in it isn't perfect. Kev, thanks for that... if that is the case, I may look at stripping a 2nd engine, boring it for the 82.5mm pistons, rebuilding it... selling the spare head on... along with the gearbox/flywheel/clutch from both engines (as I'm replacing all that anyway) and hopefully should make back enough of the money that it won't be TOOOO expensive. And like you said, can never know how they've treated the engine etc. Bill is a sound guy and he's put loads of money into the car so I know he's taken care of it... but any of the owners before could have not been so nice. I'm more than happy to spend money on filters and fully synth oil, changing them every 3 months... cos I know that it'll be running as best as it can for as long as it can then... be like a new engine

But isn't that more than a simple conversion? I'm not ready for something that big just yet

You can certainly try it chap. Opie Oils often have deals on the Silkolene, so £38 and a filter won't break the bank to see if thicker oil helps. A Piston Rings job basically means an engine rebuild, which could run you £2300, assuming your head is OK, if not, add another £700ish on top. These are stealth prices as of a few years ago. Not sure what the current rates are. This is why many people go down the 24V route because it's so much cheaper than rebuilding the 12V. Other options are good second hand engines as you say, such as a nice OBD2 2.8 from a late Highline Golf. You can still run that with your existing management and other toys, but the AAA engine code doesn't seem to suffer from bore wear like the ABV 2.9 does. Honestly, the extra 100cc from the 2.9 really doesn't make any odds over a good 2.8, so don't limit your options to just the 2.9. :puppydogeyes: Would a AAA rebored an extra 100cc be just as likely to suffer bore wear... (as essentially that's what the 2.9 is isn't it?) Could the 2.9 block handle being bored to 3.0, ( perhaps with forged pistons in the event that I go the snail route)

Nice valve :D In fact, the next time my axle has to come down for new bushes (which won't be long), I will be binning the troublesome VAG bias adjuster and replacing it with one of those bad boys! Obviously it goes without saying that some inexperienced drivers can come a cropper with too much rear brake bias, but if you know your car and your skills, then why not? There are many occasions where I brake into a corner and want more rear braking strength. The next issue is uprating the rear brakes. Let's face it, these are just a band aid fix and more for looks. What you want is the MK5 R32 setup, with proper cartridge bearing hubs (no play), vented discs and bigger calipers :D A lot of people will argue what's the point on a FWD car, but like you've found, there is a need for proper rear brakes beyond what VW predicted the Corrado would be subjected to. So is the R32 rear brake conversion something you're looking to do in the future? If so, I might go straight to that as it'd save a couple hundred £s Will something like that - http://www.autotech.com/prod_brakes_rrbrakeconv.htm - fit pretty much straight on, or will the hubs and everything need to be changed too?

But how are you going to adjust the rear brake bias without a manual adjuster? You are right though. Race cars have manually adjustable Front to Rear brake bias to help get round that problem, aswell as rock hard suspension :D Need to be careful though, since the front brakes are the strongest and therefore need to do the most work, otherwise braking efficiency could reduce if the weaker rear brakes are asked to do more work than they're designed to do. And by that I mean caliper size, aswell as disc diameter / thickness, pad size etc. The OE rear calipers and pads are tiny and wouldn't last long if there was a 50/50 bias split. http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/Motorspor ... /1719/3480 omnomnomnom :D It's the rock hard suspension that I don't want on these UK roads... if they were as smooth as a track I'd be happy, but if I even look at a pothole my back tenses and starts to beg "no, no, no no no not again, please" I would only adjust the bias if there were bigger calipers and discs/pads to compensate... otherwise it's like trying to put 600bhp through skinny tyres, just ain't gonna happen and you're gonna go through them in minutes

They have them all over Cuba (well, not all over, but all the traffic lights they have are like that) Not just for pedestrians, but traffic too... green countdown is their green light, and how long before the system changes... red countdown = red light and how long before it goes green. They don't have amber lights either... don't suppose they need them if there's the countdown

Hmmmm, if it gets any worse I'll whack some 10W-50 in there then and see if that sorts it. If it doesn't, how much is a piston rings job? Bearing in mind I'm buying the Gemini box, got the diff to go in that and will be getting the paddle clutch & lightened billet flywheel... Would it be better to buy another 2.9 VR, (or at least the block) and strip that down, get it all cleaned up, paint the block and gearbox so it's all nice and clean and shiny etc and stick that in with the refurbed head?

But won't putting bigger brakes on the rear and adjusting the bias slightly rearwards reducing front braking force and increase rear, so same braking force, but more evenly distributed? Either way, my rear calipers and discs look gash, they're too small, they're rusty and horrible... and I want to get my front ones painted too, so get these and the Brembos painted, as well as my Compomotive centre caps, all the same colour I'm going to bump it every day until you buy some :lol: Once I can afford some, I might look into the viability of a 5-10 person group buy on these, see if a bit of money can't be saved on them

Never thought about the spoiler freezing up in winter. How do you turn it off though, do you just have to pull the fuse or unplug the wire or something? As well as the manual switch, VW should have fitted it with an on/off override too

it's impossible not to

:splat:

I do taekwondo, WTF (south Korean/Olympic) style. Up to red belt now, hopefully 1st dan black belt by this time next year. Also do Premier Martial Arts at the club too, that's kickboxing-based and v. popular in the USA. Also do a lot of Crossfit training at the club too

Hmmmm, I'll speak to Awesome, as I am taking it there for a service soonish. Even if they just comp test, hopefully they can diagnose the problem, then I can ask around the trusted & respected VAG specialists and find the cheapest place :lol:

Yeah Bill did have a refurbed head put on... and within 3 weeks of having the car I'll have done more miles than he did in 3 years. There doesn't appear to be any leaks, only ever a few drops when the car's been sat overnight, the sump appears to be oily though, so possibly the sump gasket, but it isn't losing that much from there. I suspect it is the valve stem seals though... are they a big (ie expensive) job, and where is able to do a compression test?

It could be worse... I could do a pre-flight every time I start her up...

well you can go fook :lol:

After seeing a few more on here, I now realised there are some more I do... - turn ignition and always wait for coolant light to stop flashing - once it has, turn the key on the second flash of the oil pressure light - wait for the ABS light to go out, then get the oil temp up on the MFD - sunroof open (slide) if it's not raining and the roof is not wet (why do so many people only tilt open it, is it because their sunroofs don't slide?) - most of the time let the oil get to 80-90 before taking it above 3000 rpm, which is easy to do with the Schrick manifold as I have so much lower-down torque I change gear at diesel-rpm - ALWAYS switch to the mpg on the MFD when I'm on a motorway/dual carriageway - When coming to a stop/slowing down, I look in my rear view mirror to see the spoiler coming down - At the petrol station... this is the most OCD one... which I do without fail... Pop the bonnet, then get out the car and fill up. EVERY TIME I fill up I ALWAYS fill to the first click, then round it up to the next £5 if I'm paying cash, or up to the nearest £5 then add £0.02 if I'm paying on card (so when scanning my bank statements I know when I've filled up with fuel, as it's always £45.02 or £30.02 or something like that, as opposed to a round number). Then when I've paid I open the bonnet and check the dipstick and washer fluid, and top up as necessary. Get back in the car and start the engine, then reset the MFD2 straight away. Let the car run whilst writing the mileage down on the receipt, then reset the mileage counter. Then open the sunroof and drive off... usually to the sound of horns from the car(s) behind me for taking so long. - Always fold both wing mirrors in when parking - Always look back to admire her, and occassionally just go to the window and look out at her parked in front of the house

Thanks. Love that avatar btw :lol:

I had a treat of a window fitter from a well-respected company (who shall remain nameless for legal reasons)... although to help you out, he has a colleague named "Gavin from ManualGlass" Anyway my rear windscreen got smashed when they tried to nick the 52kg sub I had in the boot (too heavy so they gave up). I ring them up and it's covered by insurance, just pay the £70 excess. So Gavin's mate rings me up and asks if it's the SXi+ model, with the factory-tinted rear screen. I said no but I did have the old one tinted, so he said he'd just put down that it was. Then when he's there, fitting it, I ask him to have a look at a chip on the front windscreen, in the wiper-sweep. He duly obliges and says that he can fill it with that resin but it'll be visible still, and distracting as it's right in the line of sight. He told me that occasionally, when filling in chips, they can crack... in which case they have to replace the screen at their cost. So he hammer-fists the windscreen and low and behold it cracks. So off he goes, picks up a front windscreen for me and replaces that too. Cost me £70 but I got a tinted rear screen (retinting a clear one would have cost me £60 at my local tinting place anyway) and a brand new crystal clear front one.

Since collecting my VR 10 days ago... I've done around 700 miles and it's taken 6 litres of oil. Now Bill said that when I collected it, the oil level was fine (I have no reason to doubt him, although I didn't personally check, which I ought to have done). I drove it 300 miles home, and appeared fine, although there was A LOT of blue smoke when taking it above 5000 rpm. The next day, went to Halfords to grab some supplies and the oil pressure light came on and the engine cut out, at traffic lights just before I got there. Started up fine and light went out, so drove the 200 metres there and checked the dipstick... was bone dry, so bought 5 litres of oil and it took 3 of those litres to take it to the mid-point on the dipstick. Took my mate for a drive half hour drive, after which I gave it another litre to take it to the top of the dipstick. Since then, I've checked the dipstick every other day, 5-10 minutes after turning the engine off, to allow all the oil to return to the sump, and it's always been between the lines, but I've topped it up when it's below halfway to nearly the top. (I know I shouldn't have, but...) but last week I floored it when the engine was cold (I was trying to get through an annoying set of traffic lights before they changed, as they stay red for 3 minutes) and there was tonnes of blue smoke when it got above 3500 rpm, tonnes as in you could barely see the car behind. In the last few days, once the oil temp is above 80, there's very little visible blue smoke until over 5500 rpm. The exhaust is sooty, and quietly pops on overrun, so I suspect it's running pretty rich (haven't checked the spark plugs as that involves removing the Schrick manifold) but I'd guess they're black like the exhaust too. Are these problems related? My mate thinks the burning oil might be to do with overfuelling, and if it's not he said it'll be valve stem seals. Can anyone confirm this, or suggest an alternative diagnosis?

Will that Redline MT90 be fine as a like-for-like OEM replacement? In the instructions that came with my Wavetrac diff, it warns of using different oils, particularly motorsport or oils with impact/shock particles or something like that, and says its only designed to work with OEM oils