_Matt_

Update - whilst I await my diagnostic reader to arrive I decided to in plug the air flow sensor and the car started straight away when warm. Plugged it back in and same symptoms - difficult to start. Might have struck lucky. Next question my part number is 021 906 462 - but a Bosch replacement sensor is the best part of 200 quid. Last time I replaced one of these I paid about 60 so has anybody else managed to find one for a more reasonable price? I’m assuming Bosch is the right make to go for and is what is currently on the car. Cheers, Matt

I see your point mat! I do use mine quite a lot at the moment, for an old girl - 100 to 200 miles at the weekend (fast roads) and around 50 miles in the week. The warm start is pretty constant - today started up from cold on 2 or 3 starter turns. 8 miles to Sainsbury's along B roads and restart was about 10 turns. Off to nursery (less than a mile) and around 15m mins fannying about picking the kids up and again 10 cranks to start. And thanks fendervg - that clears that up for me.

Thank you Roger. I have seen M Chapman and I think they do bodywork - so useful contact! I actually use a mobile VAG specialist from Chingford and prior Corrado owner (vw audi care - Steve). He also looks after my Seat Exeo family wagon. I'll let him continue with the pump investigation now but if we end up down the wrong road the offer of testing with your ECU would be great. Cheers, Matt

RE; the FPR - is this the sort of thing to buy - why is considered an upgrade - isn't the 4bar is standard fitment on the 2.9? http://vi.vipr.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=380193167390&t=1314194734000&tid=310&category=61258&seller=su_nioj&excSoj=1&excTrk=1&lsite=3&ittenable=false&domain=ebay.co.uk&descgauge=1&cspheader=1&oneClk=1&secureDesc=0&oversion=890d5c63

That's exactly like mine Jim - stopped at traffic lights etc. I get a burble when reving say to 1500/1800 rpm once warmed - I love that and standard exhaust too. At the moment I am going to first focus on replacing fuel pump relay and then the FPR valve to try and work on the hot start issue. At the same time investigate status of coil and leads as aware heat can make these less effective over time. If I can't fix it after that lot I'll just have to live with it. It is a bit annoying but as the car starts perfectly from cold I'm happy there's not a serious mechanical issue. Oil consumption is minimal and what I have lost is likely to be from the small leak I have on the sump gasket.

Thanks Roger, I have somehow missed the last replies on my thread! And good to see someone local - I am in Potters Bar but my kids go to Nursery outside St Albans (Willows) and I often use the Corrado. Since this thread I have bought a secondhand abs pump, still needs to be fitted. The ABS light is mostly on. I have replaced the relay marked 79 as it got broken whilst having the alarm fitted. I'm lucky in some ways in that the wiring in the car hasn't been disturbed (according to alarm fitter) but there still could be a problem of course. I will try the cleaning of the electrical relays and check out the status of the ECU. There were various fault codes relating to the ABS initially but upon reset and re-read i was just left with the mechanical inlet fault - however I realise the fault codes are basic at best on these cars!

Thanks Roger. I'm tempted buy all the bits - crack, termo housing & rings. If anyone has part numbers or recommended suppliers that would be great. The crack housing concerns me a bit as I gather you have to push it through the (head?) and have to feel your way to making it connect on the other side. Need to do some more research here, only saw one video on this part's replacement and it was on an R32.

Perfect thanks for the heads up. I see what you mean on where it is and the water hose clips to remove... working from home is very convenient for nipping out to check these things :)

Thanks - is FPR the regulator? They seem cheap enough to try out. RE: misfire I hadn't thought of this. I had new spark plugs at the service a few months ago but no idea when the leads were last replaced (if at all). Good shout and easy and easy enough for me to do. I've never worked on changing stuff on the fuel system before. Are there any precautions I need to take when changing something like the FPR? I don't want fuel squirting everywhere!

Cheers Sean! Yes not sure I want to go down the route of changing all of those parts without testing first. At the moment it is starting, eventually. I'll try the cheaper options - Fuel Pump Relay, Regulator first but until it completely fail I don't think I want to be spending on a pump - febi bilstein do one but it's 150 quid. Re: the start - just moved the car off the drive to check levels and it does go to 1500, then 1100 and as you say 600-700. Could just be resonation - I don't mind it - i was just thinking maybe a weak pump was consistently pulsating rather than flowing nicely. I have changed the PCV as it was torn at the connection and that has made coming on and off throttle less jerky, I'd also thought it might have been causing he pulsating vibration sensation on idle but it's not.

Hi, I know this topic has been done quite a lot, but I'm just wondering if my two issues could be related. When cold the car starts as you'd expect for a 150k motor - couple of turns of the starter and it fires up. Not sure if relevant but the revs got to about 1500 and then drop down to somewhere around 1000. I don't remember my other cars doing this - they usually just co to around a 1000 and drop to 700-800rpms. Once some temp is in the engine my idle is around 700 and although the tacho is static you do feel a repetitive vibration whilst it is idling which I consider to be a rough idle. I have seen youtube vids where the tacho is moving and the car is wanting to stall but mine is nothing like that. The other issue is warm starting. The starter will crank for a guess 10 times and then the car will slowly splutter into life with no throttle input or if I jab the throttle it will eventually start and rev. Sometimes it won't start and I'll try again and it does start but not as quickly when cold. I have no fault codes. On a previous car I had a warm starting issue which was the crank or coolant sensor (i forget which but the fault code pointed to it). However on this car with the slightly rough idle I think it's fuel related and possibly a weak fuel pump. How do I test it or is it just a case of they wear out and you replace? And where is the best place/best brand to get a replacement pump? In my head I think the car behaves when cold as the ECU fuelling demand is different on a cold engine but I don't know this for sure. I've also seen people are re-routing the fuel plumbing, I think to keep some fuel in the lines but I don't quite understand the job at the moment. Cheers, Matt

Cheers, that sounds ok. Watched for a few youtube vids too. This seems the best time as any to get my sleeves rolled up. Await further threads on - feck I cracked the the crack pipe what now or how do I get an air lock out :)

Cheers yeah I’ll stick it back to the original spec stat. is it an involved job? Ie drain coolant and lots of taking stuff off to access? I’m coming back to working on cars from a 15 year break so confidence is lacking and I’ll use my mechanic if it’s complicated.

Hi, I went for a long run at the weekend around the motorway. After getting stuck in some traffic and seeing my engine temp rise from 85 to 90 I noticed it sank down to 70 once on the move again. It rose again to 85 a few times on the remainder of the journey but spent most of it's time @ 70 degrees. The previous owner said the thermostat was a cool stat from the VR6 used in the T4 camper van. I assumed 85 was the cool stat normal position. I know the dial isn't that accurate but I'm thinking my stat is starting to get stuck open if the reading is sitting at 70 and I need to think about replacing it? Oil temp remained as it usually does: 100-106 on a motorway cruise. I don't know when it was last done but can see the main rad hose to the right of the engine was replaced in 2011 so guessing it was back then. So assuming I need a new stat (and housing as I'm lead to believe from reading around) should I go for a normal stat or stick with the cool stat - what's the benefit/why bother with the cool stat - is it just less stressful sitting in traffic jams knowing the temp is unlikely to go over? Cheers Matt

Hi, I actually found my missing clips in the rear ash tray. I found some screw on eBay but haven’t found the carpet/trim style clips I’m afraid.

Does anyone enforce the covenants - like a managing agent or a residents association? I think they would be my first port of call if such thing exists in your circumstance. I often feel these restrictive covenants wee put in place when the site was being developed - to keep it looking nice or make sure large commercial vehciles were parked out of the way of site traffic as phases of the development were being built. Once the developer has moved on there isn't anyone to enforce. If you feel you can approach and chat that would be best but it's difficult as it's almost like your first conversation is a compliant, where as you really just want the area to remain as per the covenants were supposed to protect. The guy next door probably just wants his van next to his property to deter thieves and protect is livelihood.

Green VR6 - very tidy standard example - numeric private plate xxxxx ME i think in High Barnet, North London @ 5:20. I was cycling in the opposite direction and you're the first Corrado I have seen since I bought my VR6.

Just a note on rubbing - i build bicycles (for fun) and use helicopter tape to protect the frame from rubbing (cables etc). I've used this to protect the bonnet paint.

My recent buying experience echo's fendervg. I didn't buy a low mileage example, couldn't afford it as it's just my toy - they seem to be around £6-7k for a standard example. So I bought standard 95 VR6 based on condition and have ended up with a 150k example with FSH. Car is clean, the engine is a smooth a butter and doesn't appear to use any oil but I do have a small list of jobs to do which I see a standard maintenance on a 23 year old car, except for the Bilstein B12 kit where i could have replaced with standard items. I paid £3500 in Jan 18. As it is high mileage it will never go to the really high prices but as long as I get back what I paid for it in around 10 years time (if I ever sell it haha) I'd be happy. Certainly cheaper than buying a modern car and watching it depreciate into the ground! I liked this car because it had things like the original purchase doc, original plate surrounds, first aid kit still in it's shrink wrap, original radio, boot looks unused and it doesn't appear to have had any accidents from both my and my mechanics point of view (we could be wrong there though!). I probably could have got it cheaper but liked the car and didn't want to mess the seller about for the sake a couple of hundred off it. Best of all I love it and want to keep it in fine fettle.

I bought one from this chap, there aren't any currently available but sharing the seller in case he gets any more: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162901262801

Hi, I'm looking for a few trim clips to replace missing and have as general spares. Ebay has universal xxx piece its it says will fit the Corrado but I thought I'd ask on here if there was somewhere more suitable to source. I'm after the plastic screw which secures the kick panel under the steering/above the pedals and some of the metal screws which are missing that screw into brackets. I wouldn't mind buying a kit with lots of different options if there was such as thing though. Cheers Matt

Ahh thanks - yes there are 3 relays; 2x "179" and 1x "79". The outer casing came off of the relay when it was taken out. I'll buy a new one to be on the safe side (although I have ABS pump issues anyway!)

Hi, I'm having an alarm fitted at the moment and Fuse 79 on my broke when it was removed from the holder behind the glovebox. Does anyone know what it's purpose and also for my interest what the fuses behind the glovebox are for - I only knew about the ones in the drivers footwell/under steering wheel Cheers Matt

I must admit, being a new owner, the parts situation is a bit of an eye opener as to why so many of have been broken. I had wrongly assumed the Corrado was mostly built from parts from other VW stock and didn’t realise some were bespoke. In terms of other pumps – I’ve seen some that look very similar but differ in the last bit of the part number - they end in 117 instead of 217. Would this work - might even be worth a punt if it’s only £30? I have seen some ending 217 B but they look like completely different units.

Thanks, I have had a couple of quotes from bba. £350 for a refurb unit or £189 to repair mine, plus vat and carriage. I know what you mean though, but more cash but at least you know it will work and by the time you’ve sourced and fitted a second second hand pump cause the first was bad it’s probably the same!