MOT FAILURE

[Jonester 0]

I'm new to the forum and new to the corrado for that matter, so hello all. :D

 

Now the bad news, just picked the corrado up from Bristol on friday after buying it from ebay (i know, i know) and today it failed its mot on the emissions (cat) and a worn bottom ball joint. My question is, the mechanic said it wil be around £80 to replace the ball joint. Is that about right?

 

The main thing though is that amongst the dozens of receipts that came with the car is one that says the following:

 

1 VW GOLF MK3 CAT BY-PASS PIPE

1 VW CORRADO VR6 S/S LINK PIPE

1VW CORRADOVR6 POST 92 (BAR)

S/S CENTRE SECTION

1 VW CORRADO VR6 POST 92 (BAR)

S/S R/SECTION OVAL T/PIPE

 

Can anyone tell me if any of this could cause the car to fail it's emissions test? I'm thinking specifically about the CAT by pass. Also, what does it all mean? I'm not mechanically minded as you may be able to tell (really? lol) so i'd be grateful for any help anyone can give me. Thanks. And what a great car they are.

[Henny 0]

I'd have said that your lambda sensor or possibly coolant temp sensor is probably dead and it's that which is causing your car to fail it's emissions...

[Supercharged 2]

The BJ's are about £10 each...

 

Your car is 92 so won't have to have a cat but it does have to pass the emissions test without one, more likely it just needs a tune up or there is a problem with the O2 sensor as there must be VR owners out there with bypass pipes...

[dr_mat 0]

What date in '92? It should pass ok without the cat, true enough, but if it's registered before August '92 it doesn't even have to do the stricter CAT test, just the earlier test. (Which pretty much anything should pass!)

Best bet is to get the car on VAG-COM and see if there's any mixture-related error codes.

[billinjah 0]

for one ball joint? thats well over the top they are 17 quid from vag and fitting on my car was 55 for two including laser alignment its about a 5 min job when its up on a lift.

[dr_mat 0]

The mechanic is maybe under the impression that you have to replace the whole wishbone, cos some lesser VWs have the ball joints riveted into the wishbone.

The Corrado has removeable BJs, shouldn't take too long to swap 'em. It's at least 30 minutes though, and that's assuming that you don't have any trouble with seized bolts or anything else like that.

[Jonester 0]

£10 for the ball joints??? Fecking hell, he's having my eyes out then.

 

He's going to hook it up to the diagnostics and see what comes up on thursday, £55 for that. Just hoping this isn't the start of a very expensive journey that is owning a corrado. lol

[dr_mat 0]

Well, around £17 + VAT from VW actually. GSF might have them for a tenner a pop, but they're not genuine.