twan 0 Posted October 1, 2003 Hello all! This is my first post, but not my first visit by any means to the forum. I looked at, and drove, my first Rado today and LOVED IT! It is a '93 VR6 with 80000 miles. It is a privately owned vehicle and is in great shape (from what I can tell). I've read a lot of advice on this site regarding looking at vr6's. All electronics work, sunroof works, wing works, engine revs soooo smoothly. The car seems to have been maintainted really well. It had a 60000 mile tune-up. The coolant recall has been performed. Brakes have been replaced. Timing belt has been replaced. One thing though, the hood wouldn't pop (cord attachment to handle broke). She's getting this fixed tomorrow. I will look at the engine on thursday to check oil and stuff. She said that her husband (the second owner of this car) changed the oil right on schedule with synthetic and took good care of this car when he drove it. Here is what I noticed that I would like some advice on.... -- putting the stick into reverse would cause a "cu-chunk" noise as though the synchros were not meshing perfectly. But, if you kept the clutch in, pulled it out or revers then put it back in, it would go in perfectly. -- the gas pedal didn't seem to get too much rev out of the engine - as in, I would press the gas down, and it didn't seem to rev as quickly as I wanted (or dreamt of!). This might just be the gas pedal cord being loose or stretched (happened in my old celica) and can't know until I get to pop the hood. Other then that, the car seemed great! I have already thought about upgrading the clutch to avoid any "80000 mile problems" or should I not do this? I would love some advice, and any ideas of what I should look for when I meet with the owner again on Thursday. Thanks guys! Ethan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rpmayne 0 Posted October 1, 2003 I bought a '93 VR6 with 77,000mls a few months ago, and have been very pleased with it on the whole. Just a few niggles such as coolant leaks and oil usage. Get a mate to follow you driving the car from stand still to see whether there are any signs of smoke. 80,000mls doesn't sound like alot by mine puffs when changing gear and momentarily when going full throttle. This is most likely to be the valve stem seals and guides. Ask how much they top the oil up, mines using 1 litre / 1000mls at worst, which is still within VW recomendation. I wouldn't worry about the reverse, the forward gears are more important, especially 2-3 is apparently the first to go. Acceleration, the big old VR doesn't really get going til 4k. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 2 Posted October 1, 2003 twan, Welcome to the forum :) First thing you should be aware of there is that the VR6 doesn't actually have a timing belt - it has a timing chain instead, because its a V6. This should never really need replacing, so its possible they might have changed some other belts in the engine somewhere? The VR6 engine, as far as I know, is not a partciularly fast revving engine - it makes excellent progress through gears, but its not particularly revvy in the same way that Honda engines and so on are.. I suspect if the car is running as well as you say it is, then it probably isn't anything major to worry about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
twan 0 Posted October 1, 2003 jims16v: You are right. The belt that was replaced was a serpentine belt (whichever that might be). Rpmayne: The coolant issue standard with Corrados has already been repaired as well. If there are any leaks I would be surprised. As for oil, it sounds like the owners have been really good about that. I'm still curious about replacing the clutch. is this a standard upgrade to avoid issues or should I not worry about it? How are VR6's engine wise (i.e. reliable, strong)? Thanks for the comments guys! I may not be the owner yet, but I very hopefully, soon will be! oh yeah, the asking price was $8900 US dollars. Is this good/bad? The blue book value (stateside) was $6400 US. One last thing...the VR6 engine is also in the GTIs yes? I was also looking at one of those. Is the acceleration/horsepower/drivability comparable? What about reliability? I'm really curious how the GTI vr6 compares to the corrado. A GTI around the 1995-1998 range. THANKS GUYS! and I'm excited to be on board! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
corradovr6sc 0 Posted October 1, 2003 One of the vr6 weak points is the head gasket. Has this been changed or has the cylinder head been reconditioned? Think the gti and vr6 have the same 2.8 units. Crunching into reverse is a vw trait. They'll get it right one day. Throttle cable can be adjusted. Just a matter of moving the clip along to make sure there is no cable slack. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VR6 0 Posted October 1, 2003 Just fit a new accelerator cable - not too pricey and makes the world of difference! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted October 1, 2003 Just fit a new accelerator cable - not too pricey and makes the world of difference! To check the cable, plug the car into a VW diagnostics (or VAG-COM if a friend has it) system. On the engine settings there are a few other checks called 'blocks'. One of the blocks measures throttle position. The throttle at rest should read 14 Degrees and full throttle should read 90 degrees or higher. If you get these then there is no need to change the cable. The VR6 throttle spring is very strong compared to other cars, hence the firmness of the pedal. As for acceleration, the gearing is quite tall on the VR6 which can make progress feel somewhat lethargic at low revs but the in gear acceleration times seem to contradict this apparent feeling of sluggishness, so I really wouldn't concern yourself with it too much unless the car feels unusually slow all the time. Kev Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scott 0 Posted October 1, 2003 Anymore info on those measuring blocks Kev? - been looking at my vagcom and could use some 'standardised' data like that :lol: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted October 1, 2003 I'll do a screen shot next time I plug it up to the car, tomorrow probably! Kev Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
