G60rob

The diagram in the manual for the height-adjustable steering column only shows one UJ, at the bottom, which is the column to rack connector. This is the one I meant. It shows a pinch bolt, so I agree it looks as if the column to rack UJ should be replaceable. GetImage2.jpg[/attachment:15x292js] There's a warning in the manual: CAUTION! Old and new universal joint shafts and steering gear pinions are not interchangeable. Always replace as a matched pair. I assume new UJs are all 22 teeth now, so I'd need a new pinion. Is this easy to replace? 2.8l 24v Climatronic system.pdfGetImage.jpg[/attachment:15x292js]1- Steering gear pinion Previously: 36 teeth New: 22 teeth 2- Lower universal joint shaft Previously: 36 teeth New: 22 teeth 3- Power steering gear I take it you're referring to the picture of the non-adjustable steering column, different from mine, which only seems to have one pinch bolt, on the column to rack UJ (not shown on davidwort's second ETKA diagram.) It certainly looks as though this should be the first thing for me to check.

I was going from the Bentley manual: "Notes: The height-adjustable steering column cannot be disassembled. The steering column is to be replaced complete if there is damage to the column tube, column or universal joint." I think maybe I was wrong about the bottom bearing. I'll have a fondle of the UJ sometime and see if I can feel any play. I have to turn my steering wheel more than half a turn to get the clonk.

Well, davidwort, I hope you're right that it's unlikely to be the UJ, because I believe that's not replaceable as a separate part, so a new steering column is the only cure. The lower bearing I think is replaceable. Can anything be done about wear in the height adjuster mechanism? I still don't understand why it only clonks when passing through this orientation and nowhere else. As for the CV joints, it does it when stationary.

Turning the steering wheel to the right about 180 degrees causes a gentle "clonk" sound. It doesn't do it turning left, but if I turn the wheel more than 180 degrees left and start to turn it back clockwise, it clonks then. The steering otherwise feels OK. Local garage man, who is usually reliable, says it needs an exchange rack (£130 + VAT + labour) as they do tend to develop wear after this sort of mileage (115,000 miles). He says the ball joints and track rod ends are OK and that the problem is definitely in the rack. Is this likely the right explanation? I don't feel quite happy with his diagnosis, because it sounds to me as if the clonk is in the steering column (though I suppose it could be being transmitted up the column from the rack.) I don't understand how a rack would wear to cause this particular symptom, surely it would be more likely to wear in the straight-ahead position and become clonky there? Couldn't it be the steering column universal joint?

Estimated cost of repair £200 (Shaws, Sheffield - any good?) to push back the boot inside panel a few mm, straighten the bumper support bar and tidy up. Fortis decided it was a total loss without even inspecting it, so they were politely told to go away and let me keep my £300 XS. This counts as write-off damage, it seems: Copy of IMGP5135.jpg[/attachment:1lqgv9jo] Mind you, to do it properly with a new bumper and support would have cost Fortis £516, plus spraying, plus fitting, but even so I think they must have been valuing the car at around £1000. So I'm £200 down if I decide to tidy it up, but it's worth it not to have to mess around with insurance companies for weeks or months. TFT for me in future.

TomB, you said "Get your insurance company to take the other driver to the small claims court for the repairs". Is it that easy? I contacted an accident claims specialist (ambulance chaser?) who was of the opinion that the car was certain to be written off, and that I shouldn't have contacted my insurer because if I refuse their offer it will count as an outstanding claim and cause problems with insurance in the future. He said Direct Line would run rings round me if I tried to take the other driver to the small claims court myself, and that no solicitor would take it on unless I had a personal injury. He was obviously trying to scare me into making a personal injury claim, but if what he says is true I'll now be seriously worried. Maybe I should go to A&E and try to have whiplash. Looks like CardiffCorrado has the right attitude.

Thanks for all the responses, TomB especially, that link's useful. Just need to work out a value now.

:( Stopped at a Give Way To Oncoming Traffic sign. Sound of tyres sliding on wet tarmac. Bump!! "Didn't expect you to stop so suddenly!" So I suppose it's my fault then, that I didn't carry on to run into the bus that had just appeared round a bend. And it can't have been that sudden a stop or the ABS would have triggered. Anyway, the reason for this post is because of a similar event with my last Scirocco which the insurance company insisted on writing off, and I wondered if anyone had any advice about dealing with insurance assessors who want to write off a perfectly good C. I don't know if they will, but I want to be ready for them. The damage looks trivial, just a small dent in the bumper and the left side of the bumper is loose, but then the Scirocco didn't look badly damaged either. It's a J-reg G6o with 111,000 on the clock and in pretty good shape for a daily driver. Are rear bumpers available? I suppose it all depends on whether the floor pan is creased, which was the reason for the Scirocco being written off. Oh, and Fortis want me to take it to somewhere called Just Car Clinic in Sheffield on Monday, which doesn't sound like the kind of place that will have a clue about Corrados. Am I right in thinking this might be A BAD IDEA? Any advice, neck massages etc. will be gratefully received.

No whistling that I've noticed, but I'll listen out for it.

Starts OK, idles at 1000 rpm from cold then drops to 800 when warmed up, so all as normal, mostly. But on long trips when it's thoroughly hot it sometimes idles at about 1000 rpm, and lumpy. Not a big problem, yet, but I'd like to get it sorted in case it develops into something worse. I've searched the idling threads, but most problems seem to be stalling/ rough running/ slow idle. Anybody know what this is?

Useful information, oxfordpaul. I think I've found the thing you mean. Black plastic cylinder attached to the servo, surprisingly not shown on the relevant page in the Bentley manual. Do you know how to remove it, or did you get a garage to change it? Though I suppose if I buy a new one it might become clear how it fits. I think this could be the answer to my ABS fault, if not RDH's.

Answered by starting another topic. Thanks all.

Thanks for that, catch_twotwo. Haven't found it yet, but at least I now know where to look.

Don't assume that I was assuming it was the same fault - I wasn't. But since you know that I should I replace my brake position sensor, do you also happen to know where I might find it? There's nothing shown on the manual page for the brake pedal assembly other than the brake light switch. Do you mean the position sensor is built into it? As you say, the relays behind the glovebox might be worth investigating in RDH's case, but since he's ordered one it looks like he's tracked its location down anyway.

Anybody know where the switch is that activates the boot light when the tailgate is lifted? Does it somehow work off the lock mechanism? On other cars it's been a spring-loaded peg, but all I can find is a strongly-sprung peg with no wires to it, which I think must be to hold the tailgate open a chink when the latch is released, and definitely doesn't switch the light off when pressed in.

Sorry, can't help you with your ABS fault, but I'm interested because my G60 has an intermittent fault similar to yours, which clears if I switch the ignition off. My auto electrician read the ABS fault codes and put it down to the brake light switch. This resistor - did he say whereabouts it is? I can't see any resistors on the ABS unit or in the fuse area, so maybe it's hidden deep in the dash? Or could he have meant a relay? (Though I can't find one labelled 31.) There are some relays and fuses hidden behind the glovebox which I've always wondered about. Hope someone more knowledgeable comes up with an answer for you.

Good, all I need now is to find out how to tap into the supply so I don't have to drive around with the boot open! Where is the switch for the boot light? I assumed it was the spring-loaded black plastic prong that sticks down from the tailgate, but I can't see any wires going to it.

I want to run a cool box, takes 4 Amps. Not sure if the boot light wiring would take this? Getting a socket is not a problem, Vehicle Wiring Products are good for that sort of thing, it was just that I want to simplify the wiring. The 12v feed to the heater controls sounds like a good idea, if I can find an easy way of routing the wire to the boot.

Any ideas for an easy way to install a power socket (cig. lighter type) in the boot? Anybody done this? I thought of running a wire from a spare fuse, but a) there don't seem to be any, b) the back of the fuse box is such a rat's nest of wires it's almost impossible to get at, c) where to route the wire without ripping out the interior.

With my G60 it turned out to be the Hall Effect sensor in the distributor. Not available as a separate part, so new dissy. Try wiggling it (where the low tension leads connect to the side of the dissy) and see if the engine cuts out. My first symptom was the rev counter needle flicking and spending a lot of time at zero, followed by intermittent stalling of the engine many weeks later.

The point I was trying to make was, as you say, the steering wheel will no longer be level. dr_mat stated previously that this would only be the case if the chassis was bent. The last step led to a question (Is the steering wheel level?), expecting the answer "no" if my reasoning was correct, which is the answer you arrived at. I see dr-mat avoided answering it, though...I wish I lived in that ideal world! As for "the obsession with that left track rod" (CoxyLaad). As I said in an earlier post, I'm trying to get at the reason why VW designed it to be set to exactly 379.5mm (+/- 1mm) long, and not altered for tracking adjustment. Some people think it's important, some don't, but I was looking more for facts than opinions. I know it can be adjusted for tracking, I agree with dr_mat on that, but it doesn't explain why VW say it shouldn't be.

I can do without that as well as all the other problems! Think about this and tell me where my reasoning's wrong: Road wheels in straight ahead position, steering wheel level. Clamp steering wheel (and hence rack also). Say each wheel measures 10' toe-out and I want 0 toe-out. Turn right track rod to give 10' toe-in. Where is the left wheel? Still 10' toe-out because the rack can't move. Don't touch left track rod adjustment. Take clamp off steering wheel and turn until wheels are in straight ahead position again, but now with 0 toe each side. Is the steering wheel level? And, BTW, it's much easier to take the steering wheel off than move a terminally seized left track rod end. I know, I've just tried both.

I've just been out grovelling under the wheel arches in the rain. I can't shift the left adjuster at all, so I'll forget about trying to set the correct length and just have it tracked as it is. I've centralized the steering wheel as best I can, but it's surprisingly difficult to determine exactly straight ahead. I'm still puzzled by this precise figure for the left track rod of 379.5+/- 1 mm though. If it's not crucially important, why specify it to such a narrow tolerance? I reckon mine's about 390mm, feeling the inboard end through the rubber boot and measuring with a steel tape. Whilst I was in there I noticed one of yesterday's clowns had cut off the outer boot clip and not replaced it, potentially letting water into the rack. A cable tie seems to do the job, but I feel like putting one round his neck and pulling it tight!

Sorry to contradict you when you've taken the trouble to reply, but if I read you right, dr_mat, that's surely back to front. Here's why: The reason tyre places insist on adjusting both track rods is because they clamp the steering wheel in the level, or straight ahead, position at the start and leave it there, then adjust each wheel separately to the correct toe settings. If all the adjustment is done on the right side, the steering wheel becomes offset and has to be removed and straightened. It's because of this obsession with the steering wheel position that I'm in this mess. They assumed the steering wheel was out of position because of imagined catastrophic damage to the steering linkages, and tried to correct this by means of huge adjustments to both track rod ends, when all that was needed was to pop the steering wheel off and move it round a spline or two. It would then have been level in the straight ahead position of the road wheels, and the usual small adjustment of the right track rod would have been all that was needed. They couldn't understand the concept of the steering wheel having been fitted in the wrong position, even when I told them, but you would have thought they might have wondered how such a massive misalignment as they thought they were dealing with could have happened without any sign of accident damage. A bit of thought or even just listening to the customer would have made it all so easy.

Trouble is, the local VW dealership uses one of the same tyre fitting establishments for tracking, so there's no choice locally. I'd thought it would be worth the trip to JBS in Chesterfield, particularly as they'd agreed in advance that the left side wasn't an adjuster, but they went back on that once they'd got my car in the garage. I've heard their tuning is top class, but that seems to be all they know about. Warwickshire's a long way to go for a routine adjustment. It's hardly rocket science.