Ant's VR6

[tony_ack 0]

One thing that's been bugging me for a while is the passenger window. It seemed misaligned - it wouldn't always open when I pressed the button, sometimes taking a few goes, and pushing the glass to get it to move. 

Then, when it goes up it doesn't locate in the top seal correctly, so there's usually a gap at the top, which can sometimes be fixed by lowering and raising it a bit.

Then there are the rattles when it's open (not so bad when it's closed)

I'd got some replacement window rollers a year ago, but had been putting the job off for a while as I know that going into the door cards can get messy (though I think it may have been more a case of bad memories of doing inner door stuff on my old Fabia which was truly a nightmare.So I finally built up the courage to do it at the weekend, and it went really well.

First, the rollers. One was okay, the other was a little loose (pictured). I replaced both easily enough.

 

Second, there is a bracket on the vertical guide that holds it to the door. It's held on with rivets, but on mine the bracket itself had snapped. This was probably the cause of the rattle. There's quite a bit of tension in it, so I needed to do a bit of manouvering to clamp it for welding. I wedged the handle of a screwdriver between the bottom of the guide and the door, which aligned the broken pieces of bracket closer together, and then clamped with a pair of mole grips.

Space is a bit tight for welding, and I'm a beginner, so it's not the cleanest weld, but it is holding together well. (sorry about the photo, the bracket and weld are out of focus)

I thought this would cure it, but the window was still sticking. Then I noticed there was some adjustment between the motor mech and the window

If you watch the window as it moves up and down, the edge of the window doesn't travel parallel to the b-pillar part of the door frame, it kind of moves further away from the frame the lower it goes. So with that, and with the curvature of the windows, adjusting these bolts doesnt just affect lateral movement, but also how much it 'tilts' away from the top of the door frame, and also how much it tilts away from the b-pillar (in other words, it kind of allows adustment in all three dimensions). The adjustment was fully over to one side - I thought that now I'd fixed the bracket and rollers, I'd try centering it.

Result: It now works perfectly.

Also, there is a screw at the top of the vetical guide that was a little loose - I tightened this

[tony_ack 0]

Bugger, the brake squeak is back on the O/S/F, only under gentle braking, but definitely there. It's rotational, so something is definitley catching where it shouldn't.

So that rules out a warped disc. 

Next I'm thinking of replacing the caliper pins and boots (they are 288mm from a Golf), but I'm starting to doubt it's a brake issue (despite occurring under braking)

Also looking at the possibility of hub and wheel bearing, which is unfotunately beyond the capabilities of my toolbox!

[tony_ack 0]

So, where have I seen this image before? (clue: it's on page 1!)

I noticed a rather large patch of coolant under the car after a fairly long run. It took ages to work out where it was coming from, in the end I found the block to oil cooler pipe had a tiny split on it.

I've done these before on a MK2 Golf GTI, where you can get to the pipes without moving the rad. Turns out it's a no-go for the VR. I tried getting access with the inlet manifold off first (snapping two bolts in the process), but in then end I just took the front off.

On the plus side, it gave me a chance to properly flush all the crud out of the rad and cooling system - it took nearly a dozen rinses of the rad before the water was clear!

All reassembled now, with new coolant and it's leak free again!

Edited August 20, 2020 by tony_ack

[tony_ack 0]

Last week I had another attempt at curing the OSF brake squeak. It had got worse and was now squeaking every rotation, without the brakes applied.I wanted one last go at cleaning the hub up, making sure the ABS rotor was straight and making sure the brakes were free

So I:

• Took off the caliper, carrier and disc. The pad looked slightly unevenly worn, with a bit of a hard edge on one side, and it was also quite smooth. I wire brushed the pad a bit in case there was some metal or glaze causing the squeak. I knew this wouldn't fix it necessarily, it was more to 'shake things up' a bit. I also wire brushed the disc a little, with the drill attachment.
• I wire brushed the hub knuckle, and used a file on edges where the hub entered the knuckle in case there was any catching there
• Next I put a pad back into the caliper and pumped the brake pedal to tease the piston out a little. It wasn't stuck, but was very reluctant and needed quite a few pumps. I think this may have been part of the problem. I pulled back the dust cover, cleaned the gunk off the surface of the piston, then applied some red brake pison lube, before resealing. Result: The piston pushed back a lot more freely
• The slide pins were still free after last time, so I didn't do anything more with those.
• I checked the ABS rotor was completely clear of the sensor
• I filed and sanded the front of the hub - both the face where the disc sits, and also where the wheel mounts. It wasn't bad, but there a tiny bit of corrosion that could have caused the disc and wheel to be slightly wonky
• I cleaned up the carriers. The only sign of any wear anywhere that I found was on these, where there was shiny metal exposed where the pad sits (there was a corresponding bit of exposed metal on the pad). I cleaned all the contact points with a file, then greased up the edges of the pad
• I also added brake grease to the back of the pad, where it contacts the caliper. There was an anti-slip pad, but this had worn a little. It wouldn't stop the main issue, but might stop the noise travelling so much from the pad to the caliper and hub.
• Finally I gave everything a big blow (ooh er) with the air blower.

Touch wood, and after about 40 miles, there's no sign of the squeak. Fingers crossed it's sorted!

Now the brakes are squeak free, this is probably the first time in ages where the car feels right to drive. It's only taken a year to shake off all the cobwebs!

[tony_ack 0]

Hurrah, MOT sorted for another year!

It failed first time on the handbrake and rear fog light.

The rear fog light was working when I tried it after the test, so not sure what happened there.

For the handbrake, the OSR caliper piston was partially seized, so I removed the outer seal and piston, cleaned it all up, reassembled and bled the caliper - it's nice and free now. 

The mech wasn't too bad, but I gave it a lube anyway. 

The handbrake cables are not moving freely, and there are none in stock locally, so I've got some on order from ECP (Pagid). I lubed the old cables the best I could - it must have been enough as the car has passed now!

I'm hoping to invest some time and cash in the bodywork in the next 12 months

 

[Cressa 44]

Congratulations. Cheap MOT really. I keep seeing green Corrado's with Speedlines and love the look. I need to get mine refurbed and on the car