New Owner, slight niggles!!

[Lisa_Loves_Rocky 0]

 

Hi all

 

Just bought my first Corrado - 1.8 16v. Fairly confident in the general condition of the car, apart from a few niggles which I could do with some help on! Am very wary of taking it to a garage just yet as I would like to find someone knowledgeable that I can trust. Being a female, I am obviously viewed as mechanically vegetated.

 

First off - I have slight problems with the gearbox which I understand are pretty common on old C's/VW's - v difficult to find 2nd, and 1st (on occasion). Am happy to take the cover off and have a play with the synchro etc, should this help to make for a smoother gear change?

 

Have a badly leaking sunroof, as discovered when first washed this weekend. Any easy fixes to the seals??

 

Finally, have windscreen wipers with a comedy mind of their own. Assume that the connectors in the sleeve are too close together, as they come on of their own accord (complete with sound of straining water jets) and switch off (eventually) with a couple of pushes of the arm. Is this something anyone else has come across, and can I fix it by pulling the connectors apart slightly??

 

Finally - does anyone know of a good garage in the Bristol area??!

 

Thanks all!!

Lisa

[cookem 0]

My windscreen wipers come on by themselves, very annoying.

 

I tried to obtain a new arm at the weekend from euro car parts and got the part for 30 quid(it was slightly damaged (one of the tabs broken) so got a discount). On removing all the gubbins from around the steering column I found that the original one had a long lead (from the computer switch) that went into the dash somewhere, whereas the new one had a short lead and a plug on it. Rather than cut the wire off and try and re-attach it to the new one I decided to go and get my money back and try and find out why the original is different. Have yet to post this question to the forum.

 

I could see no way to fix it, only to get a new one.

 

Why is nothing ever easy?

 

As for the sunroof. From the outside, can you see any gaps that water might creep in. The sunroof panel can be loosened and moved around to create a better fit. You will probably have to remove the lining to do this tho. The sunroof panel is attached by 4 of those star shaped bolts.

[steveo29 0]

gearbox ...get 2 ltrs of redline mt90(must be redline no other brands) avail at demon tweeks or c&r...that will make a huge improvement on the shifting

 

the difficult selection is becuase the cables need ajusting...i think someone posted on here how to do it..have a look

also when the gearstick end has beed ajusted..slacken both cables at the gearbox...wiggle the gearstick and tighten em, try it then re ajust and so on

[steveh 0]

leaking sunroof......

check the two drain pipes at the front corners are not blocked with s*it.

 

i used a jug of water and part of a wire coathanger to clear mine and rinse through.

 

you should see the water come down in-board and behind each of the front wheels

[vondribbley 0]

Finally another bristol based corrado signs up!!

 

Garage choices - these are ones that I have used

 

TSR in Bridgewater

Graham Batt (VW/Audi independant) around back of Temple Meads

Main Dealer in Weston

 

 

TSR did a good job but weren't that cheap and I had some issues with their customer care so I won't be using them again

 

Graham Batt changed my radiator for a very cheap price but he won't be doing that cheaply again!

 

Main Dealer - good service but ££££

 

I also use a bloke who comes to my workplace - local mechanic who has done all the general stuff like brake pads/discs and wheel bearings. Very good prices and service but he isn't happy taking on anything more complicated.

 

For the anticipated head rebuild and suspension work I am going to make the effort to take it to AMD (Bicester) or Stealth (?Southam) as these guys get consistently good write ups.

 

Rob