Newbie-Vr6 bit Ruff, advice please!

[junbao 0]

Hi all,

Just bought K reg VR6 what a beautiful car!!!!!

managed to get money off as the engine seems a bit rough though(is that standard on 110k+ cars?)

Here are the facts - 110k, originally thought it might have been a misfire but compression and emission tests checked out ok, there is tapping from top of engine and car doesn't feel as quick as my old 200sx. Problem is, the last guy put an induction kit so its difficult to tell exactly how well engine sounds with revs (should it be a raucous growling(sounds fun but is gonna get annoying!)?). It does pull ok but not quite as i expected.

 

If the tappets need doing or whether the valves are a bit off, should i use the money i saved to get the top end done (c&r) do ported and polished heads for 500, would that help do you think?

 

Sorry for the long post -any words of wisdom greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Jon

[junbao 0]

Ok, easier question

 

Have £1000 to play with, would like to make engine solid for concievable future, how far can i go with £1000, would be interested in uprating cams and polishing head, repklacing valve bits etc.

 

Any ideas?

Thanks

J :?:

[Supercharged 2]

If nothing has been done already I would use the £1k towards Clutch/Chains/Head rebuild as you will save on the labour getting these all done at the same time

[Henny 0]

Welcome to the forum... 8)

 

I'm not a VR6 expert (anything but having never had one or worked on one!) but I'd say your first port of call should be to get the car hooked up to a VAG-Com system (fault diagnostics) to work out why it's not running quite right... Having read every thread on this forum, I know that there are quite a few little sensors on the VR engine which can fail and cause a slight roughness in the running, and a couple which will knock a good 20 to 30 BHP off while still running OK... :?

 

I'm sure that KevHaywire will be along shortly, as in the recent past, he's had just about everything re-done on his VR and knows them pretty well now... 8)

[junbao 0]

Thanks for quick reply, VAG com system sounds a good idea, do most specialists have one as have always tried to avoid local stealership with my first golf?. Also the clutch/head/chains - how much are we thinking unde ror over the grand i mentioned? :wink:

J

[Henny 0]

Have a look HERE

 

There's a few people here who have Vag-com systems who are happy to meet up with other forum members and scan their cars ecus for them to find any fault codes... 8)

[dr_mat 0]

Bear in mind the VR6 engine is quite clattery anyway, and is also pretty flat, performance wise, below 4k rpm.

It should pull hard from 4000 though, pretty much clean through to 6200 or so. (Don't bother with the redline, you'll just take life off your engine and go no faster.)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Get the induction kit off and put a factory airbox back in with a K&N panel filter. It'll run smoother and quieter and will also restore lost torque at the bottom end.

 

VR6s can be a bit tappy, even with new tappets, so I wouldn't worry about that too much.

 

As already mentioed, VAG-COM is a wise purchase at £125 from http://www.ross-tech.com It'll pay for itself many times over as you can scan the engine and ABS ECUs for errors at home instead of paying VW £80 an hour to do it.

 

VRs that are low on performance can usually be attributed to the MAF sensor or the Cam position sensor. The latter is about £30 and the former is £321+VAT from VW or £150+VAT exchange from a Bosch dealer.

 

And lastly, as with the 16V engine there are good VRs and bad ones, so get it scanned and then rollered to see how healthy it is. No point wasting money on shiney new cams if the head is worn out.

 

K

[junbao 0]

Cheers K,

Will prob get the VAG-COM, if worst comes to worst and head is worn out, what work do i need to get done plus rough cost to sort it. Is it worth doin other mods while i'm at it or is that just gettin silly (VAG versus aftermarket parts).

 

J

[Mike Edwards 0]

The cheap way to check whether the MAS is dodgy is to disconnect it at tickover - there should be a change in engine rpm. If there isn't, try driving it.

 

If it feels the same as before, the MAS is shot.

 

If it feels horrible to drive, the problem is somewhere else.

[dr_mat 0]

(Just to clarify the MAF situation - later cars with the later OBD2-style MAF don't appear to do this. My MAF has never thrown an error code, and the engine pulls absolutely fine, so am assuming it's fine - yet unplugging the MAF has little or no effect at tickover. Plug it back IN, and the engine stutters slightly tho. Other people have reported the same thing on late engines. Early engines are as you say, however. Just wanted to make the difference clear.)

[vr6storm 0]

(Just to clarify the MAF situation - later cars with the later OBD2-style MAF don't appear to do this. My MAF has never thrown an error code, and the engine pulls absolutely fine, so am assuming it's fine - yet unplugging the MAF has little or no effect at tickover. Plug it back IN, and the engine stutters slightly tho. Other people have reported the same thing on late engines. Early engines are as you say, however. Just wanted to make the difference clear.)

 

mine appears to be the same as yours dr_mat :wink:

[junbao 0]

Right , have mangaed to do some homework! :!: :oops: :!: :salute:

New rado VR has done 110k and don't think it has had chains or else done.

will get VAG COM ed first but looks like a good idea to get a head re build with those miles.

C and R do a ported/polished for 495(is that good?) but at the same time what else needs to be renewed to give me some piece of mind 8) (as long as bores not B**gered :( ).

The golden question - how much money to give myself this elusive piece of mind (pref with labor as am not quite tooled up and ready to rebuild head on my own - unless it is doable by a monkey like myself)? :wink:

I realise this is so often asked but am just a bit confused with what is needed/good idea/essential if you know what i mean? :cry:

 

Cheers

J

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I wouldnt' bother flowing the head, read up on the Vortex site to get their opinions. It might be worthwhile with Schrick cams and manifold, but on a standard engine it'll just bugger up the low end responsiveness. I'd just get a standard rebuild done at Stealth to be honest. They do it almost on a daily basis at the moment (due to so many VRs currently exceeding 100K) and their workmanship is top notch.

 

Along with the head you want to be looking at doing the chains and tensioners etc. I think the Stealth ball park for all that and a clutch is around £1300.

 

K

[junbao 0]

Cheers dude!

One more thing, not to sound too dumb but will that be sufficient to get the piece of mind to allow me to work on the rest of the car? Am not too bothered at the mo about a Schrick etc. just want a solid good condition VR engine i can rely on (no more rebuilds etc!) and enjoy!!

 

How long do they need to do said work? is it a day or week job kinda thing?

J :?:

[dr_mat 0]

2-3 days minimum, that's if they can give it 100% attention. There's about 15-20 hours labour in doing the head/gasket/chains/clutch!!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Well, assuming you bores are OK, then yeah, all that will remove the "100K" cloud that looms over many a VR driver's head and you can then move onto more interesting work, like suspension, rims, brakes etc.

 

Stealth don't see *that* many blocks with totalled bores to be honest. It tends to be neglected cars that have run continuously with overheating and head gasket issues etc that seem to have shagged blocks.

[junbao 0]

Badger me!! Stealth sounds a good idea, anyone had same work done by GAE in Portsmouth (guy called Cornelius I think?) its a bit closer or is Stealth the best for all round service.

 

Guys, do you just keep needin to go under the bonnet on a VR??my old Mk2 golf gave me jip but not quite the to the tune you guys are pointing out! Am i really in for an interesting few years??? :?

 

After this, what else ought to be replaced as par for the course on 100k+ cars?!? Hold on I can see my wallet making a run for it out the door!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :roll:

 

J

Still wouldn't change it for the world though (The karmann logo just does it, and the lines,ooooooohhhhhh!) :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[junbao 0]

Hey kevhaywire - if i take it down and when they start the work they find the bores are shagged , will i still have a chance to change the nature of the work? Presume recon engine if bores knackered.

Call me a doom monger but i just like to prepare for the worst.

Have service history up to about 15k ago, think last owner was a bit of a boy racer, but still had it done at a local garage (from receipts!) plus latest emissions and compression seemed OK.

 

God i've gotta stop worrying, i get enough of that from the kids at school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

J

[dr_mat 0]

I'd suggest that a good result in a compression test indicates good probability of the engine surviving ok..

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Well I put mine in for a week to have all that done and was expecting at least one bore to be down, but I was relieved to get a call back saying all the bores still had the factory honing on them (at 93K), meaning they were still in good shape. You can never really tell for sure until you lift the head. A new block will set you back another couple of K on top unfortunately!

 

If yours isn't drinking oil like a hen party drinks bottles of hooch, then you'll be fine.

 

As for lifting the bonnet..... I lift mine about once a fortnight or so now, just to check the oil.

 

It is very comforting knowing all the chains etc are new :lol:

 

K