bmwcompact

Very, very impressive-you will certainly be an asset to this forum if you get a corrado. I've had 2 beetles, a polo (895cc), a Derby, 1.3 Jetta, 1.6 Jetta, Golf 2 GTI, injected scirocco, Golf 4 TDI, and now a corrado 16v so you could say I'm a VW fan. Along the way theres been a few unmentionable other cars, and 3 BMWs: 2002ti, E30 318iS and the E36 318ti sport. In my opinion the BMs are so much better. I think I'll have a E46 320d sport as my daily in a couple of years. I like cheap reliable motoring-playing with older cars is another thing.

The attached photo shows the driveshaft of the distributor fitted to KR and 9A engines. The drive is offset so that it can only be fitted one way. It should not be possible to fit it 180 out with the original camshaft. I would hope the same goes for an aftermarket camshaft. [ATTACH=CONFIG]73066[/ATTACH]

I bet those 2 guys on channel 5 could buy a corrado for £500, scrape some carbon of the distributor contacts, clean the seats, polish the paintwork and get it valued for £5000 and only take a week to do it with a team of 6.

I've just read the whole thread with interest. I too am impatient. I looked for a 16v for 2 months and nothing came up: the 16v were on the south coast/Norfolk/London (I'm in Cumbria). So the car I bought wasn't the best, it was the first possible purchase that came up. That was a little over a year ago. I now have a car thats mechanically good, looks fine for a 19 yr old car, and runs well. I've had the fun/frustration/satisfaction of all the work (I bought it as a toy/hobby car). I doubt I could recoup my outlay. At present there seems to be a stream of 16v cars for sale, many of which appear to be in better nick than mine for £800-2000. But maybe they all need lots doing to them? I admire those immaculate cars that appear here like most other corrado owners. Maybe I should have waited and waited until that immaculate car came along at a bargain price. If I had such a car maybe I'd be afraid to use it. Maybe I'd just spend my time admiring or polishing it. What am I rambling on about? I'm trying to say that for many of us a large part of ownership is knowing, and being able to share, that the car you have, only goes and looks as well as it does cos of all the effort you've put in. So don't look back, keep up the good work, and you'll end up with something you will be proud of, even if it costs more in time, money and frustration than you had intended. I almost forgot to say its nice to know you bought a car that had just had that major engine work done for £970: thats one job you wont have to do.

A bit faster than my 318ti then. Pity I won't be able to buy one for about the next 10yrs. Looks great.

Car looks super! Its great to see someone getting stuck in with some real work. You will probably need to do a fair bit if you get a corrado. You will also find a lot of parts hard to come by too, used is sometimes all thats available. I had an 86 fuel injected scirocco, 8v of course, and never liked its handling: it always felt too flexible up front. I preferred my 89 mk2 Golf GTI 8v. I've not driven a V6 corrado, I've only been a passenger in one, and have a 2l 16v. As Jim says you may find a 16v C too similar to your scirocco performance-wise, both having 16v engines and the corrado is heavier. Being based on the Mk2 Golf its obviously stiffer than the scirocco. Its also quite a small car probably no bigger than the scirocco with little room in the back. If you really fancy a corrado (its a very good looking car), then I think you should go for the V6. You will get great performance and I gather the fuel consumption isn't much worse than the 16v. The V6 engine appears to be very reliable and if you can handle the work you have done on the KR engine, any work required on the V6 shouldn't cause you a problem. There are many good examples around, the prices are currently low, and many owners have spent a lot on maintenance. I am sure there are V6 owners here to tell you how good the car can be. For a comfy reliable daily hows about a BMW compact 318ti sport, not the fastest but so reliable and for little money-mines not for sale.

Had a quick look at my car (9A) and thought its possible the dipstick might get in the way with the 8v one? I often find the compatibility tests are wrong, as are general listings. They go both ways-they say it wont fit and it does and more often, they say it fits and its the wrong part!!

Hi Adam. As you know I am a 16v guy so I cant speak from personal knowledge! My info shows an ABV to have 535 121 687 (O ring 31 x 3.2mm) as the seal for the top elbow on the radiator -assuming thats what you have!

Part no 191 121 101AC fitted to KR and 9a engines ie 1.8 and 2l engines inc Golf 2 GTI. A very quick look on the internet: dont see any new in UK but available in US. Should be able to find a used one. If I was looking for one I would measure up the one on the car and visit the local scrap yard and see if any other vw/audi/seat etc had a similar hose. If you find one with same diameter, it may be possible to buy it new and cut to length if you don't want a used one. Its a pretty straight hose so I would have thought easy to achieve a suitable substitute. However I'd be surprised if there are not lots of used ones which will be offered to you on the forum. Edit 191 121 101P is fitted to the 2l 8v corrado and looks similar (ie fairly straight/right length, maybe same diam??????) Its in the link below. Maybe someone else knows if it fits. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RADIATOR-HOSES-TOP-BOTTOM-NEW-FOR-VW-GOLF-JETTA-MK2-1-6-CORRADO-2-0-NO-AIR-CON-/390560483134?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&fits=Car+Make%3AVW&hash=item5aef38073e

Looking good. Hope you enjoy driving it! I cant agree more strongly with your sentiment on saving a car. Its a source of sadness every time I visit my local scrap yard and see VWs, Audis, BMWs etc scrapped before their time. We live in a society where so many cant do anything practical for themselves, but can afford newer/better, and so a car becomes worth very little soon in its life. A failed MOT and a repair quote with lots of labour involved and its off to the scrapyard! I understand why enthusiasts do break corrados: its often said without this the rest of us would struggle to keep our cars on the road given so many parts are unavailable. I also think its a pity our view of a car is so swayed by the condition of its paintwork: providing the bodywork is not corroded, we should be more impressed by the car's mechanical condition.

The exhaust manifold on my 9a came off a Golf MK2 GTI 16v with KR engine. It doesnt have the pipe for CO analysis (if that matters?) but otherwise fits perfectly.

I have in my hand my old black front oil pressure sensor. I removed it last year because it was leaking. It reads 0.15-0.45 bar (nominally 0.3bar). I have on my car ( 9a ), a rear white high pressure sensor (nominally 1.8 bar) and a front blue front low pressure sensor (nominally 0.3 bar).

My answer couldnt be clearer what more do you want?? After market oil sensor may come in different colours but its their value that counts. I too have a 9a. Ignition on, oil light on cos no pressure. Engine starts, light goes out cos 0.3 bar reached. Move off and engine revs rise, pressure gets to 1.8, so light stays off. If it doesnt get to 1.8, then light comes on buzzer comes on and you stop the car else you ruin your engine. Both sensor will see whatever pressure is in the system. It just so happens in your case its the one that reads low pressure thats sprung a leak:its seeing whatever pressure is there not 0.3bar. Buy whatever is for a VW and reads nominally 0.3 bar-you are spoilt for choice either ebay or link below (buy the 0.25 blue and the 1.8 white) http://www.vwspares.co.uk/corrado_switches.php

There are limits to what help can be given! All the technical info given over the last 3 weeks has been given in good faith. However it appears that either something is wrong with what you are doing or with your car. Without being there with you its hard to decide which is the case. Given that you have had running issues with your car almost non-stop for the last year, most recently resulting in the head gasket replacement, its possible your present issue may not be just a timing issue????? Its so difficult to diagnose at a distance and usually ends up with lots of unnecessary work being done/parts being bought. You replaced dizzy, coil, plugs, leads, and were talking about injectors/fuel pump before moving onto the head. My 9a will tickover OK if the belt is one tooth astray-its only on the road you realise power is down so something is wrong. My 9a will tickover over almost the whole movement range of the distributor. So if yours wont after you've been trying for 3 weeks theres something not right????? I am surprised that others have continued trying to help. I dropped out at the point where I felt you needed an experienced pair of hands by your side and said so. The point of a continuous thread is so that the whole story can be seen. In general, if no responses are coming you simply keep 'bumping' the thread until they do. You used to post photos. Despite requests from davidwort, there is not a single photo for this saga to confirm what you have seen/have done. Photos sometimes help-its surprising what an experienced eye can sometimes see. Perhaps you have also not realised that a moderator/super moderator's job is to give sound advice on the best way to use the forum. I hope someone comes forward to help and you eventually get there.

They are both oil pressure switches. The low pressure one is 0.3 bar and the high pressure is 1.8 bar. The white one should be the high pressure. If you remove one of them it will have the pressure marked on it. They are renown for leaking. You would be well advised to replace them both whilst you are at it-they dont cost a fortune!

As above: no photos?????

When I changed my wishbones last year, I was relieved that one of my front bolts eventually moved and did not shear. I spent about 4 hrs the next day turning the bolt a little fwd and a little back, hoping that it would come out. It did! My only advice (apart from lots of patience/penetrating oil) would be to dull the sense of frustration/discomfort with a few glasses of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz.

Early cars came with or without ABS. You will see lots of adverts for new non ABS masters for the early cars (22.2mm bore): thats what vwspares are selling. All VR6/ later 16v have ABS with brake master cylinder 358 611 019D with 23.8mm bore. Its obsolete so you need to find a used one. I dont believe you can even find a new set of seals. It was also fitted to some Golfs of the same period (92/93/94 ish). Try something like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLKSWAGEN-CORRADO-2-0-16V-BRAKE-MASTER-CYLINDER-/190807311685?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2c6d008545 No connection to the advert, right part but no guarantee it functions???

When I see new owners posting here with plans for new wheels or perhaps an exhaust system or new ICE, I often wonder if they know what problems they may face in owning an old car. This link shows some of the issues, large and small that the new corrado owner might have the rectify. I found it an interesting read: it reminded me of all the unexpected problems I've had to fix in my first year of corrado ownership!

I'll take the new spring for brake regulator -pm sent. Sorry I've discovered the regulator and spring are different on the 16v so this is no use to me: still available!

N102 078 03 is what I've found! Its M12x 1.5 thread x 78mm.

The Passat set I used (I think it was fitted 90-93) had the dials in the same place as the Corrado and used the same plastic chassis: it had additional/different parts added for each model. As I described above it was a case of modifying the passat controls to corrado spec. The Golf 3 controls do have the dials in different positions. It can't have the same chassis as the corrado/Passat as this chassis is not symmetrical: you couldn't swap the mechanisms for dials 1 and 3 on the corrado/passat chassis. Without trawling to see whether others have used the golf control unit I dont know whether its possible to adapt this. Some people simply have issues with the bowden cables/ heater flaps which may need lubricating. If its the controls it could be the cable attachment points have broken off, or the V shaped spring has become detached/the cog has broken as was the case with my controls. I would like to reiterate how easy it is to break the tabs on the centre console/heater control and the attachment points for the cables. Since its usually the flow directional control that's broken, an easy fallback fix is to abandon the control dial and manually/permanently adjust the flaps for flow to the screen etc. This doesn't require the removal of the centre console /controls If you have issues with fan speed, its usually not the control but the heater fan resister thats the problem. In case you didnt find the Wiki post on this, Ive edited my original post above to add the link and also inserted it here. http://wiki.the-corrado.net/late_heater_control_repair.html

Has anyone any experience they would like to contribute?

I have spent some time on the net today researching this topic. The following quote from an American site is just one of several I have found. It says what I've been suggesting: 'The fuel accumulator is only installed to smooth out any minor fluctuations in your fuel pressure (similar to a shock absorber) as you drive your car and to maintain a residual pressure in the fuel lines after shut down to help during a restart. It is basically a canister with a rubber bladder in the middle, a spring in the top half and fuel stored under pressure in the lower half. There are many Bosch style fuel accumulators on the market that are interchangeable between vehicles. As long as the connections are similar and the internal capacity of an accumulator is relatively close – it will work. For example I often install one designated for a 6 cylinder Volvo on 911 Porsche – at half the price. Search on the internet under Bosch Fuel Accumulator rather then one for a specific model car and you’ll see lots of photos that will help in identifying a substitute. By the way the one needed for a Porsche, Mercedes, BMW - V8 engine is a big mother and they are all pricey....' If you are a believer, this suggests the course of action to save some money. If you are not its as you were. I also have read today on the GTI Forum of several VW owners who have removed their accumulators at MOT because of corrosion-it was a fail or removal -and they have never replaced it and report no running issues!

Thanks for your reply David. Googling takes me to many forums in the UK and abroad. Since Bosch injection systems have been fitted to other marques eg Ford, volvo, porsche, then I have read about non corrado setups. I have gained a general impression that the accumulator is not so important and need not be the one originally specified by the manufacturer. I am not a member of any other forum so have not asked the question elsewhere. There are many sites showing a cross-section of an accumulator and explaining its function (it contains a rubber diaphragm and a helical spring). I believe that other than physical dimensions and hence their volume (most appear to be the same size) the only other difference in accmulators is the spring stiffness and hence the residual pressure that they maintain in the system. Its the pump that produces the pressure in the system not the accumulator, and its the metering head that controls/maintains the correct pressure to the injectors when the engine is running. Hence I believe the main function of the accumulator is in allowing easy starting apparently especially when the engine is warm. I cant believe its important whether the residual system pressure is 1.5 or 2.5 bar. So thats the theory and my conjecturing. I was hoping some petrol heads who have swapped engines and components between golfs, sciroccos, passats, corrados would tell of their experiences whether successful or not. I ask this question simply because cost of ownership can be high and the possibility of using other more available/cheaper parts (whether new or used) ought to be of interest to forum members. I might add the same thoughts occur with the ISV. There are vauxhalls, peugeots, citreons, saabs etc with very similar Bosch or VDO valves. I dont believe they are so different (volume of air delivered) yet I have found no information to show which will function on a corrado. (I might add there are posts for other vehicles explaining how to retune an engine to remove the need for an ISV). In both cases I don't consider the function being performed to be so precise, the component so complex that the cost is justified. (Think what complex electrical devices can be bought for £150, the cost of an accumulator).