Stonejag

Thank you! (on both :lol:) I'll have another one of those speaker connectors off you when I'm next round, the crossovers turned out to be wired strangely and I'll be able to lose a bit of choc-block from inside the dash...

I'm not sure Stu and I have quite the same definition of 'easy' but put me down for a set anyway ;) Stone

The reason they don't do this in the factory is because leaded solder will 'creep' under tension. It is unusual (you have to get the conditions just right) but I have seen a component pulled straight through a PCB when it was placed under tension because of a design flaw. The ductility of the solder allows it to slowly change shape until the pressure is relieved - which in my case was when the component launched itself clear across the room! This was stationary and at room temperature so would obviously be more likely when hot and subjected to vibration. The joint will also have none of the normal flexibility where it leaves the connector so you'd need to enforce a wider bend radius than the stock cable. In many applications I do exactly the same thing but cars isn't one of them. Also never both crimp and solder! If you invest in the right crimp tool for the job you'll do a much better job of it :) Most of the mid-range ones let you swap the dies over as well, so you can use the same tool for many types of terminal. Stone

Can anyone find a part number for this? It's supposed to clip onto the water hose going into the block near the throttle body - the top rotates 90 degrees relative to the bottom and it holds on to the two water pipes that cool the throttle body. I can't find it on Vagcat at all - maybe one of you will have more luck? Obviously one side is snapped off my one, that may have been where the part number lived as it doesn't seem to have one moulded in... I'm putting together a small parts order for the weekend so if anybody could give me a hint it'd be very welcome :) Stone

The thicker it is the greater cross-sectional area, so less resistance ;) The limiting factor is more to do with whether you can terminate it properly. You can get very large crimp terminals from an electrician for pennies but be warned you absolutely do need the correct tool to do it with - if you try and bodge it with a vice or pair of pliers you'll get a horrible joint which will fail soon. You need something like this to do it properly. Stone

Picked my pair up from the courier earlier, very impressed with how light and rigid they are! Will look forward to getting them on at the weekend

Lazy! all in here

Could be interested, how easy are they to fit? Still have a certain amount of trepidation after my last 'adventure'... Do you leave the gearbox mount alone? Ta :)

Hello mate, got a pic of the VR6 badge? If you're still speaking to me that is :lol:

...which is why adding a high-level brake light is a good idea ;) Stone

Hah, clever! Nothing stopping you putting the spring back afterwards either. One concern though - if the column is supposed to be adjustable, does your MOT require it to actually be adjustable? If not I might have a crack at this at the weekend :) Stone

Thanks, still trying to find somewhere to do me some orange HT leads...!

Bled it out properly yesterday and the level did drop a fair bit so hopefully I have got the last of the air bubbles out. Also noticed the aux pump running for the first time - it helps there's a clear section in the return to the expansion tank on my top hose so you can see it glug past! Neither of the fans came on while I was bleeding it, but if it's got really hot they do come on together for short bursts (ten secs or so at a time) once the engine's stopped. It's an auto so has the same extra temp sender as found on the cars with aircon - that's probably responsible. While bleeding it the temperature gauge never rose above 90 even when it boiled over so the reading is obviously wrong - reading the temperature from the ECU with VAGCOM (blue sender) it was 20º-30º higher than indicated on the dash gauge. As I said above, shorting the two pins on my yellow sender's connector makes the fans come on on stage 3, which would imply the correct bit of the harness is plugged into the correct switch and that the fuses are OK. Is there a more in-depth way to check the fan controller other than buying a new one and swapping them over? New parts in the last three or so months: water pump, thermostat, stat housing, crack pipe (second-hand) radiator fan thermoswitch, yellow sender (second-hand). I'll get a replacement yellow sender in new from VW and see if that helps the gauge read more accurately, but the fans not spinning still bothers me. It's fine at speed, but has been getting extremely toasty when I drive slowly (last time I was stuck behind a bus the oil temp reached 122ºC!) so it really needs sorting. Stone

I noticed my Meyle one working after a long run the other day so it's obviously fine but not being turned on at the right times. According to the Bentley it's tested (along with the stage 3 radiator fan) by shorting the brown/red and brown wires in the connector to the yellow temp sender so maybe my issues were down to a dodgy sender all along? :shrug:

I thought the diagnostic just shows what's currently on the clocks? Unless they noted excessive wear on something that didn't match up it sounds like bargaining tactics to me...

I'm almost doing your inlet and engine cover justice now :) Still waiting to have a few shiny bits delivered but I'm getting there slowly! Stone

I would just pay them - they've usually paid the customs fees upfront to get it into the country, so you do owe them money. If you didn't pay they could quite legitimately pass it on to a debt collection agency... In my experience ParcelForce usually send you a letter demanding payment before they'll deliver, but FedEx and UPS usually deliver first and then send you a bill later. In fact I got a ParcelForce letter today for my bits from SpoonFed! Stone

Cheeky, I repaired both those silver crimps and they're solid as anything ;) The original OEM brass one was what had failed, I had to snip a good inch off the end before recrimping it to get back to a good bit of wire. The temporary AA repair was just folded on with pliers, I pulled it off the wire end without even having to uncrimp it... The silver crimps aren't going anywhere, they're both crimped correctly with the appropriate tool. I might revisit them at some point if I find some of the original style terminals (to give a little more strain relief) but the second crimped point was where the original wire failed!

You are quite right - on closer inspection it is a solid red wire. The reason I thought it had a black chaser is because the insulation is charred! :eek: I have obviously had a very lucky escape. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CHECK THIS WIRE BEFORE YOUR LOOM CATCHES FIRE! Stone

Glad you're finally getting somewhere! I saw you disconnected it, but have you tried cleaning out the ISV? I had a very strange hunting problem that only surfaced after a couple of minutes at idle (it would oscillate between around 600 and 1000 rpm, changing every couple of seconds - I was asked at work if I could stop revving it!) which disappeared completely with a good clean of the ISV. Simply remove the top engine plastic, undo the electrical connection at the back and loosen its clip and it should slide towards the bulkhead until it's free of its retainer, then you can undo the hose clips connecting it to the inlet and throttle body pipework. We filled it with brake cleaner and gave it a good shake with the two apertures covered, then drained it - loads of oily black muck came out and the idle improved massively. Only a ten minute job - worth a shot?

Might be a bit of an obvious question, but have you tried winding it in on the allen key? You can manipulate it a bit more gently than with the motor so it may be a bit easier if the slides are sticking.

I only did the hoses on Tuesday (and Wednesday morning...:oops:) so the coolant's pretty fresh anyway ;) Will give it another go at the weekend.

"Incredibly reliable"?! Is he talking about the same car? :lol:

No :) What's the proper method? I've had it up nice and hot (and heaters on full) and then slowly undone the expansion tank cap - lots of air bubbled out and the coolant level dropped, then topped it up. Done that a few times. I'll have to have a play at the weekend, think there might be something on how to test them in the Bentley too... I've only ever seen the fans come on together, so could be a duff thermoswitch I guess.

The noise is amazing :D No surprise every VR6 I've seen recently (at least 5!) has one attached...