Stonejag

Thanks both - though Si is wrong about head skim raising compression ;) (the head is flat and the combustion chamber is in the piston, so to increase compression you'd have to skim the block). When buying OEM replacement valve guides do they have the shoulder too? I'll be using Schimmel 263s. Seems strange that they wouldn't always use shouldered guides and just instruct you to push them out from the valve side, but hey... My replacement head has never been skimmed before - so when it's done this time it will be factory dimensions again as the corroded areas were built up with weld so only the welded areas need skimming. My skim will be dirt-cheap so I'll see if I can find a cheap place to do the guide reaming and seat machining and leave them if the guides are within tolerance. Cheers, Stone

You never met the previous owner! :bonk:

You wouldn't believe it unless you saw it... only remaining picture/evidence is from the eBay auction I got it from: You'll have to squint a bit but there it is! Stone

Yeah, it's the same symptom as I had when my coilpack first started going - it would misfire 'properly' if it was raining, and act like yours when it was sunny. Simple test for VR6 misfiring: 1) Does it sound like a bag of bolts put through a washing machine? - 2 cylinders misfiring 2) Does it sound like a Subaru? - 1 cylinder misfiring 3) Does it sound expensive? - not misfiring ;) Great fun earlier, I'm getting a bit more excited about my 263s now!

When I bought mine it was over the Corrado logo :lol:

Be careful with thinners and plastic - if you melt / frost the lenses you will be pretty angry. Test on a small corner first! Personally I think orange top and red bottom looks awesome: ...but be aware tinted rear lights are now an MOT failure as of 2012 so be careful! Stone

So, we've had a play around today, including a back-to-back comparison of mine vs Steve's. Clearing all the faults on VAG-COM and going for a spirited drive made no codes appear. Swapping for my spare coilpack didn't help, and neither did new leads. The cam-sensor, MAF and throttle pot all cause the engine to misbehave as you would expect when unplugged. We think we eliminated timing as it occurs at all rev ranges. So, sadly it looks like valvetrain damage (bent spring? sticky valve?) or possibly something with the chains - the top tensioner is known to be a little dicky so that could be part of it. Fingers crossed for a healthy VR when he gets it inspected on Tuesday! :thumbleft: Nick

Hi all, What's the deal with replacing valve guides in a VR6 head? The Bentley says they should be installed from the camshaft side which makes sense, but it also says they should be removed from the camshaft side! Surely pushing them out in this direction will cause the shoulder on the guides to smash through the channel they're supposed to sit in and damage the head? It also says "Cylinder heads on which the valve seat surface can no longer be refaced, valve guides have been previously installed, or cylinder heads that have been refaced down to the minimum dimension cannot be refaced further." Do you really have to buy a new head if valve guides have been installed more than once?! Getting my head skimmed this week so I'd like to get them done soon! There's enough slop in the exhaust guides that I'd like them done for peace of mind, but not if it's going to ruin everything... Cheers Stone

I'll have a set too please, mine are missing / rusted to death! Got a source for the rubbers?

Good work! I've had very mixed results tapping things so I'm glad it worked out ok :)

I'm in Harpenden with Vag-com, and not doing anything tomorrow. Drop me a PM and you can come round...(or I can come round!) Not used it for a while, might take a little while to get it all working again but it's free :) [edit: my coilpack is known-good, can always swap it on to try...got a few other spares I can bring, cam sensors etc?]

Either type would work fine for an exhaust stud - they're only inserted relatively loosely, not under mega-tension like head bolts are. If you're not 100% happy doing it then you'd be much better off asking a local machine shop nicely and offering them a tin of biscuits to do it over the lunch break. Not worth (further) damaging a head in the learning process... Stone

Can we have a show and shine consolation prize? Only way I'm likely to get a look in :lol:

Not mine but came up in a search for some other bits: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vr6-Engine-Inlets-Exhaust-Injectors-Heads-Job-Lot-/121113790358?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item1c32f1c796 Stone

But surely you can only read the blue sender through the diagnostics port? Yellow runs the dash gauge and stage 3, thermo switch in radiator runs speeds 1/2 (bridge the pins at the harness connector to test). Neither yellow nor the rad switch are monitored by the ECU. Mine has all three speeds available when bridging the harness connectors but only speed 3 when they're connected normally, it's very frustrating! Changed all the senders with no joy, I suspect I have the wrong fan controller as there's a different part number specified for autos, wasn't expecting it to flat out not work though. VW want £160 for the right one! :( Stone

You can run it on plain water if you're just testing, no need to keep pouring away tons of G12... My aux pump's not been running for ages now and I don't see overheating like you describe. The plug shown is for the fan switch, however turning the fans on obviously won't help if no coolant's circulating through the radiator. Are both top and bottom radiator hoses getting hot? (if not: thermostat). When running there should be a steady trickle of coolant being pumped through the small-bore return hose into the expansion tank - you can run it with the cap off to see. If not, you might have some vanes broken off your main water pump - this is supposedly quite common with the plastic-impeller ones they got from the factory. You can eliminate an airlock quite easily by running the engine with the expansion tank cap off and the interior heater turned up to full heat until coolant is about to bubble out of the top of the tank. If you don't turn the heater up first then the air bubble can hide in the heater matrix. The fan controllers have a couple of relays in them which can go bad - cheap to replace from scrapyards (look in Mk4 Polos or Mk3 Golfs and other similar-era cars, I found one in a Sharan once) but be aware there are four types depending on model so make sure you get the right one! Expensive from VW though, I was quoted £150ish 25 1H0919506 electric fan control unit / to be used for: / also use: / F >> 50-P-020 000 1H0 919 506 A N 017 125 2 / ABV,KR,9A,PG (25) 3A0919506 electric fan control unit / to be used for: / also use: / F 50-R-000 001>> 357 919 506 A N 017 125 2 / ABV air condit.: 2E (25) 357919506E electronic control unit / electric fan / for models with radiator fan run-on / F 50-R-000 001>> / 9A,2E (25) 3A0919506B electric fan control unit / for models with towing facility / and/or / for vehicles with automatic / for vehicle use in warm climates / F 50-R-000 001>> / 9A,2E I'd personally be gunning for your thermostat being stuck shut (not allowing hot coolant into the radiator to cool down) or your main water pump being duff. Hopefully that gives you some ideas though, I had a very frustrating few months with slow leaks everywhere, broken senders and a stuck-open 'stat so I know what it's like! Stone

Fair enough, I only did it because the rest of my inlet is made of orange silicone and aluminium :grin: Just need to get a plate welded onto my aluminium MAF housing for the IAT now...

I have one of their inlet elbows fitted, it's great! Mine's not noticeably creased but then it's the OBD1 version (extra outlet on the outside for the ISV). The PCV adapter is a waste of time though, he could have just bought the PCV-delete hose from Roose for a tenner... I cranked my suspension up 10mm at the front today, hoping to stop my dented wing cutting strips off the outside of the tyre when I corner. Seems to ride a lot better and looks less nose-heavy so probably worthwhile! Need to start finishing my projects, my head rebuild is going well so that will be on soon. Then I can start thinking about cruise control again :) Stone

Glad you got it sorted! I'm on my fourth driver's side handle now :bonk: It seems to work best with the locking screw slightly undone, as you say - you're right about it prematurely pressing the lever, even with a replacement stainless striker they don't improve much. Between that and the other two common faults (snapped striker and getting the lock cable caught in the mech so it sticks in the 'pulled' position) they're pretty much useless. Not sure why they changed from the Mk1/Mk2 Golf style - fixed body with a moving lever inside it which you pull to unlatch the door - they obviously realised it was a bad design as the Mk3 ones are totally different! I'm ditching them and going for Audi A6 handles once I finish fixing my engine..! Stone [edit: actually, from this it looks like Mk2 Golf handles might be a straight swap. Anybody tried it? Would be a lot more robust with only the lever moving and not the whole handle...]

Yes please! Stone

I've snapped all the bolts off one side before. The noise it makes when they let go is the stuff of nightmares! :eek: You can't even limp it anywhere as the diff sends all the drive to the disconnected wheel... Attempting to tighten a dodgy bolt will either strip the head or snap it, as you've found. Garage had no trouble ordering more, VW tend not to discontinue nuts and bolts with quite the same fervour as other Corrado bits. Lockwire's a good idea, wish I'd thought of that before refitting them...will be replacing them all every time they're removed though, just for peace of mind. Think they're about a quid each. My theory is that the loose ones rattle around for a while (making the noise) before falling out (making them go quiet). When mine were first found there were only 3 of 6 left on some side - the remainder had heads so mangled they couldn't be tightened. The last three went while the bolts were on order :shrug: I'd had three instances of horrific rattling noises before so that must have been it - I was quite pleased as I was saving up for a gearbox rebuild which turned out not to be needed! Stone

Aren't they the ones that are offset to one side? You'll need to change the plastic surround if so... Best pic I could find: Stone

You've probably got the door handle in wrong, they're ultra-picky. Had the same issue several times and it was always the door handle not the pin! Double-check you have the white plastic piece fitted to the frontmost of the door handle holes (if not, take the door card off, you'll hopefully find it fallen to the bottom). Without that C-shaped piece the front of the handle won't seat correctly. Then make sure you have the central locking cable routed around the striker in the right way - IIRC it has to run under the actuator pin? It's possible to have the striker sitting slightly too low (in contact with the lever?) which causes it not to latch around the pin. Have you got both the rubber gaskets fitted to the handle correctly? Also try rolling the handle around its own axis slightly (in line with the fixing screw on the inside edge of the door), if you're lucky you should hear it ping free and then it'll work. Whatever you do don't shut the door with the fixing screw inserted but protruding, you can get it trapped without being able to open the door from either side! You shouldn't have to do the fixing screw up incredibly tight, just enough to hold the handle in the right position. If you do it up too tight it can jam. Yes, it's incredibly frustrating! Failing that, you may have some luck slamming the door and keeping pressure from your hand on it as it closes? Mine's still not right but I've given up on it... Stone

I made a special tool out of one of those screwdrivers you get in Christmas crackers :lol: If you get it cherry-red with a blowtorch they're quite easy to bend with a pair of mole-grips without snapping it. Watch you don't melt the handle! Stone

He's right, I forgot autos always drive the front wheels (so when stationary the diff is driving the disconnected driveshaft and you still get the noise). I've seen pics of broken tensioner rails where the bolt ends up pressing directly on the chain, that would sound pretty horrible! Hopefully it's still close enough to correct timing that you still have straight valves... Stone