corradophil

I'll have to double check and post it here, I think it is at idle. I always get mixed up because I used to have a digifant 8v Golf. What spec is your car then? Is it standard?

Jim, Just like mine is at the moment, but mine doesn't stall it just idles very slow. Other times it idles at 1200 rpm. I'be been very busy recently so I've just put up with it, but next week I may have a proper look at this ISV. Unfortunately its different to the 8v one, so I cannot do the same on this one, but I'll have a look and see what I can do.

Yes if it is faulty, or risk one from a breaker if you can find one. I have a feeling they are a lot of money new. If it makes you feel any better mine is not too great at the moment either, it regularly idles at 500rpm. I've given it a goof clean up, but got no improvement.

Have to say I've not had great results from just cleaning the ISV, my dad and I actually rebuilt the ISV on my MK2 8v digifant Golf. It was useless for ages but we rebuilt it and found two different adjustement screws on it. After a whole load of messing around which was 5 years ago, we got it working perfectly, and it still works spot on now.

Just had a look, no idle speed adjustment as I thought. I'd go for: 1. Spend 5 mins checking all vaccum hoses for leaks. 2. Check the switch on the bottom of your throttle body is operating correctly. Easiest with the throttle body off. 3. Try cleaning the ISV, you may be lucky and get it working.

Welcome to the forum! 6 deg BTDC. Everything connected. Be careful that you get the correct timing mark on the flywheel. TDC is marked by a groove in line with crank. 6 deg BTDC is small retangular lug.

Lippy, Ok, if you are off throttle then it sounds like an idle speed issue for definate. The procedure you described is for earlier 16vs, but I'm almost certain you won't be able to do this on yours because it doesn't have an idle speed adjustment screw. I'll have a look at mine at lunch time to confirm that for definate. Assuming that is the case, I would check the switch on the bottom of the throttle body which tells the ECU the engine needs to idle and usees the ISV to control the idle speed. If this is ok, it may be worth checking for vaccum leaks. Are you having problems with the idle speed varying, sometimes its fast other times it is too slow? If so I think it would be most likely to be the ISV.

I may be wrong, my memory isn't what it used to be and I've had too many VWs so I get mixed up between them! But I'm 99% sure you won't have an idle speed adjustment screw on a 9A, you do however have an idle mixture screw. There is a correct procedure for setting this, which I did on mine, I would not touch the mixture personaly. Did it stall when you were accelerating or at idle? I'm assuming you were at part throttle which would mean the idle spead setup would not have anything to do with it.

9As with Ke-motronic have two knock sensors, bolted to the front of the block between cyl 1+2 and 3+4. mike_g60, I'm not sure how effective the knock sensor would be if the map is wrong, but it is well worth confirming the knock sensor is working correctly.

When I changed mine, with the subframe on the car, I had the subframe bolts partialy undone to get the bushes in. I'm pretty sure a used a pry bar or screw driver to lever the the bracket into position to get the thread started. Make sure the tongue is in the groove :-P and lever the bracket where the whole is down so it compresses the bush and is on the subframe. Hope you understand what I mean... I know the hardest part of the job for me was getting the original bushes out.

The timing is retarded very quickly, its a long time ago since I read up on it, but from memory it retards by something like 30 degrees and then advances it again, all this happens in a very short time period, so you don't really notice it when driving. I've never heard mine pink, but my Mk2 Golf 8v used to pink under load, and that was always temporarely cured by cleaning up the multi pin connector for the knock sensor.

Knock sensors are there to sense pinking and retard the timing to stop it, so on a correctly set up engine that is what they do. Definately worth checking it or them in the case of a 9a which has two.

The knock sensor bolts should be 20Nm (15Ib ft).

Firstly, check the timing is set correctly. 9As are 6 deg BTDC. I'm assuming it is a 9A on KE-Motronic. If it is try cleaning the plugs for the knock sensors, if that doesn't work make sure their cables are not damaged and make sure the knock sensors are not damaged, and the securing bolts are tightened to the correct torque, whcih is critical.

The switch is either open circuit or closed circuit (on/off) so you can use a meter set to measure resistance to make sure it opperates correctly. Not sure if you can do it on the car, I already had taken the throttle body off when I checked mine.

Kev, just had a look at their website, the directions seem pretty clear, so we should be able to find them without too much hassle. Thanks for your help :thumbleft:

Corrado's were also reviewed with the Nissan 200 SX and BMW 3 series. I've always thought of the Audi TT as the nearest new car to the Corrado, but somehow they seem a lot less mean, and too much of a hairdressers/posers car to really replace the Corrado.

kevHaywire, Cheers mate, another vote for the UK model. 8) I've never even heard of extreme scoobies before, and I work within 10 minutes drive of Boreham. :oops:

davidwatsonok, Thanks, some useful information there, I will pass it on to my mate. The 100RON fuel issue is something which was mentioned to him. Certainly sounds like a UK car is the better choice for an easier life.

Thats what I thought, but he's not getting much help there.

It would be worth using a meter to check it is switching correctly, as far as I'm aware it controls whether the ISV operates, although thinking about it, it probably is if your idle is staying above 800 rpm. Mines a bit dodgy aat the moment and quite offten it idles at around 500 rpm (well just about idles).

Well people on here seem pretty clued up and out of the 6100 registered users I thought there may be a chance someone will know about Imprezas, so yes "on a Corrado forum".

Temperature sender, vaccum leak, damaged or incorrectly adjusted idle switch on the throttle body? Other than that I would have suggested the ISV.

A mate of mine is after an Impreza, but doesn't about them i.e. what goes wrong, what problems to look for etc... Also he's unsure whether to go for an import or UK model. Insurance quotes for imports appear to be far more expensive. He's been on scoobynet, but doesn't seem to be getting very far. Can anyone provide any useful advise?

If you mean the plastic gasket between the mirror base and door, they are still available from VW for around £5. I bought a pair a little while ago.