Stonejag

You still have a blind spot in the mirrors though...long ago I used the M27 on my commute and there would often be people in the outside lane at exactly the same speed as you but hovering in your blind spot. Could be fine where you are but I figure there are always nutters driving around so you might as well give yourself a head start! Could be the same problem as the headlights - I measured 10.1V when they were supposed to be active. Engine off, in fairness, but still pretty low! My battery's fine so it must be the wiring... Also I hate blue mirrors so like-for-like replacements with more modern elements would do me fine! Stone

I'd be up for your tweeters in the top dash grilles if you still have them, and possibly the sub box. Or is the car long gone by now? Stone

White Cs always look a bit chavvy ;) Hasn't this one been on eBay for quite a while? I'm sure I recognise it... Stone

Still loving the VR6. Even with an auto box they're fast. Heated leather would be good for Romanian winters! Stone

I always look over my shoulder through the back quarter-window, am I the only one? How's the demisting compared to stock? Only one of mine has continuity on the heating element now and neither of them work properly! Stone

Yep, that's a gruvenparts one - mine was like this (apologies for crap pic): The pipe flange and drain valve are just (badly) tapped straight into the pipe so there's swarf coming off the inside - compared to the gruvenparts one which has the female thread welded to the pipe. If you drained the system a couple of times you'd probably strip the thread out, at which point the whole pipe would be worthless. That's if you could get the drain out in the first place, mine is jammed in place :mad: I'd steer well clear! In fact, they showed me an (unwrapped) gruvenparts one while handing me my one and said 'that's what they're like'. I hesitate to say they did it deliberately, but that's a classic bait and switch... Stone

I'm after one as well once Steve's sorted :) Re pipes: surely you just need a bit of 80mm tube to fit on the end of the MAF? Stone

Are they the ones from Voodoo? (link doesn't work for me - just because I have no E38 account?) I bought one of theirs and it wasn't a gruvenparts one - the flanges are tapped, not welded. It was all bundled up in bubblewrap so I didn't find out until I got home! :mad2: Stone

Thats not quite how LEDs work but you're a novice so I'll let you off ;) It'd help a bit if you added a small resistor - a couple of hundred ohms (ish) should do it - as the 12V line is more like 15V when you've got the alternator running so you need something to drop the excess voltage a bit. Even better, add an individual resistor for each group. To do that, take the forward voltage of your LEDs (usually listed as Vf on the spec sheets) and multiply by the number of LEDs so you have a total forward voltage. Subtract the total Vf from 14.8V (i.e. the worst-case alternator voltage) and that'll be the voltage across whatever resistor you use. Then work out the resistor value to use: V=I x R so R = V / I. Divide the voltage across the resistor by the forward current for your LEDs (usually called If) and you'll get a resistor value. You can do this in Google if you aren't sure how to get the units right, like my example. Adding that value of resistor will make your LEDs a more consistent brightness and they'll last longer because you won't be caning them quite so hard :) Repeat the calculation for each type of LED as they'll obviously all have different forward voltages and operating currents. More current = brighter so you can fiddle with the numbers slightly. I do electronics for my day job so give me a prod if you need any more help. 0603 LEDs are massive by my standards so I'd be happy to solder stuff if anyone needs a hand! :geek: Stone

Shall we start a book on the mileage you're going to get in the first week? My money's on 18 or less :norty: Stone

You may find if you lock the central locking with the boot open, the arm coming out of the locking pump in the hatch will pull free of the lock mechanism. Then having the lock in the horizontal position will be always unlocked instead of locking and unlocking with the car as it's supposed to. If you undo the six (?) plastic quarter-turn clips from the panel inside the hatch and pull it free you should be able to see the back of the lock mechanism - if the arm has come adrift it will be obvious where it's supposed to go. Worth a try! Stone

Have you got the two front speakers and grilles from where the dash meets the A-pillar on both sides? Stone

I don't feel quite so bad now - MFA 2 normally shows a shade under 23, though my thermostat's stuck open... A gentle run yesterday (mostly at 50 in the M1 roadworks, plus some twisty single-carriageway A-roads) gave 29.7 so it's not quite as bad as when I first got it! I haven't got over the novelty of the engine note yet though, so it might sneak upwards a bit when I calm my right foot down :D

As per the title...I'm after a VR6 dipstick, a pair of mk4 rear calipers (good seals please, I'm too fick to change them...red powder-coat if poss!) and the plug for a 4-pin MAF (car harness side). Thanks in advance :) Stone

I flushed my (auto) gearbox on Friday - there was barely any fluid in it at all and it was soot-black so it obviously needed doing! As well as my gearchanges being a lot smoother, especially when cold, it seems to warm up a lot better now - instead of the gauge sitting against the endstop all the time it comes up to believable temperatures even though my thermostat still needs doing. The stock tranny cooler is infamous for contaminating the ATF with coolant - could my lack of ATF have been causing an airlock in the coolant circuit? Whatever happened, I'm much happier with it now! Stone

Had a nice one yesterday - I had the C up on ramps while I flushed the transmission out and got stopped by a white van driver after he'd parked up. Quote: 'You haven't had it very long, have you? The first time I saw it I was like wow I want that car!' :D Had a nice chat, he knew all about the different engines...apparently he's always wanted one, so I told him that was my justification for buying it! Made some of the wriggling around on the gravel seem a bit more worthwhile :) Stone

Got my first mutual spot today! :cheers: Exchanged waves with a brunette driving a blackberry C on the A5120 just outside Ampthill, around half-past three. Anyone on here? I was scouting my route before a job interview next week so it must be a good omen! :) Stone

You can force the light off by holding the brake pedal in as you start up - light comes on, then a second or so later you should hear a sproing noise from the ABS pump and a 'bump' in the pedal as the light goes off. On mine it turned the light off even though there was still a dodgy sensor attached - it's not until it gets inconsistent readings fro the sensor as you're driving around that it'll come back on again so it'll stay off for a couple of minutes. When my sensor was replaced the light stayed on, it wasn't until I did this that it went off for good. Worth a try! :) If not it's Vagcom time to find out what it's whinging about. Stone

I've got one if you need a second source :) Tenner should do it. Stone

There was a chap at Beaulieu who'd swapped his roof for a carbon one - that would be the easiest way. Still not very easy! The sunroof really grows on you in the summer - especially if you have leather! Baking otherwise... :icecream:

In that case I'd start by clearing out any and all drivers to do with the COM ports, then a clean reboot to let it sort itself out. Reboot again before plugging the cable in. It should either install automagically or ask you for the CD - then the driver should default to COM3, since 1 and 2 are usually reserved for physical ports. Then you test the interface in the Vag-com software like normal. Fingers crossed!

Are you using XP? Is it one of the blue, transparent cheapy units? Did you install the drivers from the mini-CD that came with it? It sounds like you might have the same driver installed more than once, which would probably confuse it...if it's XP, you could try uninstalling all the COM port drivers and really starting from scratch (right-click the ports in Device Manager and hit Uninstall, then reboot with the adaptor plugged in and let it sort it all out with the Add New Hardware wizard - feed it the mini-CD when it asks). I assume you don't have any other devices that use virtual COM ports - modems etc? Failing that you could revert to an older version of VAG-COM - I use 409.1 with no problems at all, and it still lets you do everything you need it for. Works fine for me without a network signal - even the first time after install. Stone

Is it a Ross-Tech interface or a cheapy clone one? Mine's a clone (£8!) and it just has a usb-to-serial adaptor inside, with the serial half attached to the car's serial port. When you plug it into the PC, the USB drivers should set it up as a COM port - as swiftkid said it'll most likely be COM3. Once in the Vag-com interface, hit the 'Options' button, then choose COM3 from the options in the top-left corner. Hit 'Test' and it'll pop you up a dialog box saying if it passed or failed. The Save button will light up, hit that to save your configuration and it should 'just work'. If not, try COM4. Can't remember if it has to already be connected to the car when you do the testing bit, try that if it still won't work. Stone

Having had a bit more of a poke around, it seems I'm not the only VR6 owner with dodgy cooling...the T4 owner's forum has a huge thread on replacing the stock ATF cooler with a proper air-oil style one mounted near the radiator. I hadn't realised it was such a terrible design - the ATF is cooled using engine coolant which is always hotter than the operating temperature of the oil! :scratch: I had a quick drive around yesterday while logging the temperature with the Vag-com - here's the result: Ten minutes of gentle ( Typically enough my 'lifetime' ATF is pretty black at 80k, so it's obviously full of crud as well as getting too hot. So once I've sorted the engine cooling issue my next step will be deleting the tranny cooler in favour of a proper radiator along with a full ATF flush, and then I can use a hose kit for a manual to replace my crusty rubber pipes. At least I can try and stop it getting any worse! Stone

When my window did that, it was because the door handle central locking cable wasn't routed properly. It gets looped around the bottom of the window and that stops it moving fully. At the very bottom of its travel, does the front go down more than the back? (it's really obvious if this is happening because the whole glass pane twists in the door). You may need a new door handle - the window chafed my cable so severely it exposed all three switch wires, which then rubbed together under vibration and made the doors randomly lock as you were driving along. Sadly you can't get deep enough in the handle to replace just the cable. Replaced the handle - no more problems. Stone