jmk

if you're near south london buy mine. see 'mysic blue storm' for sale on the forum. I've dropped my price loads and it's the deal of the century.

Thanks. Had a good luck and there were no leaves or blockages. Only thing that I could see was a hole that was quite large through which a wire/ cable runs from the engine bay in to the top on the fan unit. I filled the excess gap with silicone sealant and I'll see what happens next time it rains.

Over the last two days my C has developed a case of damp carpets. The passenger foot well and both rears are damp but the drivers side and boot are dry. The sunroof seems to seal fine and I've briefly looked at the obvious things in the bulkhead so see if anything rubber bungs have popped out (where cables pass in to the car) but can't spot anything untoward. The only work that I’ve had done recently is a new windscreen 7 weeks ago (which has been perfect - I think - since then) and a new phone car kit was fitted last week; he used the current external aerial so no new holes were drilled. Any ideas on where I should look next?

lennylogknob, Yep, Passat unit definitely works. They have two types, one with 4 and another with 3 cables - something to do with their air con I think. The 3 cable one went in to my C with no problems. VW wanted the best part of a grand to do this with new parts (which would have inc a new plasic consol to replace teh damaged one after some bast@rd nicked the radio).

If you need a replacement, get it from a breakers. Corrado ones that work are hard to find but a Passat one fits. Should cost you £20.

Always run mine at 36 front and 32 / 33 rear. Never had any uneven wear issues; just make sure you check the tracking and front wheel alignment every 6 months or so.

I used to have Zimmerman drilled discs and Pagid pads but they warped after mainly town driving and 15,000 miles a little town driving after 13 months use - although I do have to slow down for 120 speed bumps each day when commuting. They were replaced with Lockheed drilled discs and their recommended pads (no idea which) 4 weeks ago; cost approx £120 all in (which seemed very cheap, think I may have been charged wrong). Managed 1600 miles driving round Scotland and they were great. Only problem now is that they sound terrible when cold and breaking from a slow speed - squeak and grind - and they didn’t do this for the first 2 weeks of use. It's going back to the garage next week to get looked at. I'd back up Kev and say stick with the VAG standard discs if you're on a tight budget.

I had a small oil leak on my VR6 and a new sump gasket cured it. Before it'd lose approx 1/2 ltr every 100 miles and now it hardly uses a drop. What price are they asking and what extra's does it have?

I used spit and polish for my Storm's wheels in Feb this year. They had to go back twice as the initial quality wasn't great but they got there in the end. They were badly kerbed, scratched, chipped and the laquer had come away over the previous 7 years but they now look great.

Woody, can you help: My fan works but it's pretty noisy and also not very effective. When you say you got a MK2 blower, did you get the whole fan unit and bits and pieces that go under the passenger part of the dash? Did you need to buy anything else, what did it cost and was it easy to fit? I have air-con; no idea if this'll make things more tricky. For what it's worth, if your heater control dashboard switches ever go, I found that a second hand Passat dial was easy to come by and fits perfectly. Ask for a Corrado one and almost every scrap yard will have no stock – just make sure it’s undamaged as many breakers rip these units out and destroy the retaining holes for the screws. It cost me £20 and VW wanted over a hundred for the part and 4 hours labour to fit it – idiots ;-)

Thanks for your comments. Garage has replaced teh alternator saying it was faulty free of charge. It may have shorted on the dip stick tube and this has been relovated slightly. Also, the warning lamp was a blown led and is being replaced. Hopefully, this'll last more than 8 months.

No idea; I'll check tomorrow and let you know. Is there a recommended battery and alternator for the VR6 (it has air con and an up-rated hi-fi with amp)?

My C broke down on Sat due to a dead alternator. It was last replaced in Aug 02 (GSF recon) just after I bought the car when the same thing happened and I needed a tow from Manchester to London :mad: (great service from Green Flag). After looking through the paperwork that came with the car I’ve found out that it was also replaced by VW a year before. I don’t just want to have another alternator fitted only for it to go again in 8 months, so can anyone suggest what may be wrong / what I should look at? Symptoms are: - When the alternator was replaced in Aug 02 the garage noticed that the battery warning light wasn’t working. They replaced the alternator but suggested that it wasn’t cost effective to rectify the warning lamp. - Car sometimes cuts out for no apparent reason; generally after engine is running for 3 miles when I approach traffic lights at the bottom of a long hill. It’s also more noticeable in winter and would happen twice / three times per month. When car was last serviced (Feb 03) the coil pack was found to be cracked and was replaced along with HT leads. It's only cut out once since and seemed to be much better. - Sometimes the electric windows / wipers are slow when the car is first started. Seem okay once the car is driven for a hundred meters. (Assumed that the car is leaking current from somewhere.) - Every now and again the central locking doesn’t unlock the drivers door first time round. (This may be something unrelated but remember a threat on alternators and central locking). - The radio’s reception seems worst when the car phone is plugged in (proper Nokia hands free kit hardwired to the car). Again, could be unrelated. It’s been to two different garages and no one has been able to trace or rectify the underlying issue. Any suggestions?

Storm - 15 gal tank and get 20mpg communiting in stop start SW londonb traffic. so approx 300 miles. Almost never see the trip meter go past 30mpg even if I'm going a steady 60 on a motorway. No idea how accurate it is, but I know the speedo is absolutely spot on between 50 and 110 when measured against my GPS radar detector.

I thought I had the same issue when I got my Storm last autumn as my wheels always spin and there's no perceivable traction control going on at the wheels, so I assumed it wasn’t working. However, at winter and on snow I could hear it trying to work - faint clicking noise from the ABS sensor unit on the dash, or from behind it - but again no impact at the wheels. This only happens up to an indicated 15mph. Either it's been disconnected at the wheels or it's a crap system. I suspect the latter. Never heard about the 1/2 throttle bit but before.