Kevin Bacon

Agreed. Need to get a stethoscope on it and see if the source of the noise can be pin pointed. If the chains are a little slack, for what ever reason, that'll cause all sorts of slappy clappy tappy unhappy noises.

As others have discovered, Bill Schimmel has also identified a need for these handy bits! - http://vr6parts.com/onlinestore/index.php/12vr6camgear.html

Sounds like worn pistons had the same problem myself and it wasn't the head!!

+1

I had the head done first, thinking the smoke was caused by worn guides/seals, but the increased vacuum made the smoke worse! It was the classic ovalising of cylinders 1 & 6 but switching to Silkolene 10W50 certainly reduced the smoking considerably.

If plugs 1 & 6 are caked in a white crusty substance, or are wet, it's definitely bores.

From what I remember from my TB dabblings back in the day:

2.9 & OBD1 2.8 are the same diameter plate, but the 2.9 does not have the ramp in the housing. Instead it has a 2 stage opening mechanism, slow, then faster. Both of these can be bored out and larger plates fitted.

2.8 OBD2, same size again but cannot be enlarged due to the way it's constructed. Also has the ramp in it to speed up gas flow at small openings, for better response at low speeds.

I used all 3 in mine, standard and modified (except the OBD2 one) and I preferred the 2.8 throttles. The ramp works well at low speeds and the 2.9's linkage gives quite a heavy and lethargic pedal feel.

Re: the isv, all of the external sensors etc are 12 or 5V feed from an ignition source and the ECU pulls them to ground. If you were to connect the isv across the battery, it should open fully. If that happens, you can outrule the isv. If the 1100 rpm cold idle drops down to 680rpm as it warms up, you can also rule it out.

If you have access to VCDS, check the throttle position is

Another common idle problem is the noise damper box which contains a poly mesh insert that can get sucked out into the piping, restricting flow.

I agree with the MAF though. 9 times in 10 it's the cause of rough running & power loss.

I'd keep them personally. The only wheel I would swap those for is the 16" Vento cup challenge Speedos, but good luck with that......uber rare!!!

Very tidy car, wheels suit it perfectly....just needs the ride height jacking up an inch and it'll spot on :D

Could it just be you've forgotten how noisy they are? Are you driving alongside dividing walls when hearing the tapping? I remember mine sounding like an M3 when it was standard, but on the open road it was better as no sounds were being deflected back.

Maybe take it out for a long Italian tune-up when you've put the 10W50 in it. Get some proper heat in that bad boy and blow the cobwebs away.

As much as I love the P1, it just seems a bit 'man in a shed' compared to the other two. The 918 is just a bit too Porsche if you know what I mean. Ferrari, as usual, take the same basic ingredients and somehow make them more special.

Depends how you do it. I spent £1000s on my VRT engine. R32 is way cheaper in comparison and really not that much slower in the real world. You need a lot of road space to get the most out of a VRT because corners come up real quick!

120 degrees! I would have pulled over and called Green Flag before that, lol. Don't think it's ever reached 100. Thought I'd never heard fan go full blast before, other than on manual switch got fitted.

 

By way when fitted engine forgot the fan pulley belt, doh! Is it poss. to fit this with engine and radiator in situ, heard some say is with a bit of skill. It ran whole summer with no belt, had'nt realised had twisted and flew off and never overheated, really can't be arsed to take front end off again, it's just went back on.

I wouldn't go by the dash gauge! On some dashes it reads quite a lot lower than the actual temp!

Never had to refit that belt in situ before but I bet it's a pain in the rump! Might be easier to take the bumper off and tilt the slamp panel forward a bit.

Yeah that's all the black sensor does in Non-AC cars. It switches on at 120 deg C, which is quite a rare event, even in VR6s! It never came on once in the 9 years I had mine, not even in a hot summer sat in traffic for 4 hours once!

It'll be the black plastic/resin section of the coilpack that's at fault. Although it's a wasted spark system, it still consists of 6 individual coils and it's not often that 2 go at the same time. Yeah that's the nature of electrical problems, the components either work or they don't, so can shutdown without warning!

I suppose you could confirm by swapping the partner cylinder's dry plug into cyl 3 and swap the lead over on the coilpack. If it then fires, it's defo the coilpack, but as you've bought replacement bits already, you may as well slap it all on and call it job done - hopefully!

I thought Ferrari were vehemently set out to prevent this 'grudge match' from ever happening? I wonder what punishment Harris will get for it lol! He's already rubbed them up the wrong way once before! I think he's desperate for a Mafia visit or something :D

I'd take the Ferrari personally, for that V12 engine, and it just seems the most coherent package.

You only lose 2 cylinders when the low tension side fails, I.e. a broken wire or failed ignition driver inside the ECU.

I wouldn't bother around the 400hp mark. The 4Mo gearbox is reputed to be the strongest O2M, but they all have the same inherent weaknesses. I wouldn't overly concern yourself with it tbh because it's just the 1/4 mile launching people, or big boost folk that break them.

Going Haldex can be quite a mission. Might be cheaper to fix what you've got. If it was just the diff that exploded (assuming a standard one), you can get away with sticking a new one in (with bolted crownwheel) and a new casing. The gear shafts might be OK.

Regarding the SQS Haldex controller, you'd want the MHRB variant so you can disengage the Haldex clutch at will. If you leave it on permanently, it will be bind up on full lock at slow speeds and under steer will be pretty bad.

These 911's seem awfully common,

 

You don't see as many people on the 911 forum saying they have a Corrado, much rarer vehicle.

 

LOL

What's interesting is so many Corrado owners aspire to 911 ownership at some point. I can see why though. Both cars are pretty much the cream of the VAG group for enthusiasts.

I used to love 911s but kind of lost the bug when they started doing so many incremental updates. I love the looks of the 993 wide body, but to drive I found it a bit bland. It is a unique feeling the way 911s hold the road though. Not driven anything quite like it since.

Having said that, there is currently one 911 that has reignited my interest in them..... but it's too expensive!

I bought all new terminals from this guy (very helpful):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/3waycomp?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

Good find! Quite a comprehensive selection!

Mine had that grey / blue outer covering, it's just heat shrink to hold the pipe's shape I think. Either way, that one is split and the outer layer is bulging accordingly!

Hey buddy, the VR6 has a WORM chip in it (Write Once Read Many) so the original one needs hoiking off the motherboard and a rewritable one put in it's place, then a map can be written to it as many times as you like on the dyno. To stop rival companies copying it, Vince et al use a special chip socked with encryption in it. He also has to use an ECU emulator or something when mapping, so it's a lot of wires and boxes all over the scuttle area! Probably why an older style maps are little more expensive.

With the later cars like the MK5 R32 and GTI etc, they can be mapped up the OBD2 port (which is what Revo et al do) so no need to open the ECU :) With the newer stuff it's more about hacking into the software, so again the costs of that need to be recouped.

Yeah I loved my 2.5" Techtonics system, sounded really nice and had no problem running 400hp with a turbo, so not restrictive in the slightest!

If you want extra crispiness in the throttle, fit the G60 final drive!

The 10w50 Pro Race S stuff does an amazing job of quietening down a slightly noisy VR. Just wish it wasn't quite so pricey!

You think that's pricey, check out Millers Nanodrive.....and dealer 5W/30 stuff!

Can't go wrong with Silkolene though, VRs seem to love it.

Standard VR6s run very little ignition advance in the low>mid rpms, so the main improvement is sharper throttle response, plus a bit more peak power if the rev limiter is extended to 7000.

Probably best to do it alongside some SP263 cams and then you start to really notice the gains. I remember Vince at Stealth saying he was so impressed by those cams it wasn't really worth bothering with a Schrick / VSR!

I admire your steely determination!

Pain in the ass these old cars though? Sheesh.

'Modern' cars aren't without their problems either, and the parts are considerably more eye watering. Got a defective steering rack in your MK5 sir? That'll be £1200+VAT please. Springs snap, dampers leak, CV boots split, electronics fail, gearboxes break, injectors fail.......and we're talking WAY before 100K under their belt in a lot of cases.

No kidding. The last 48 months, I've been through a fair amount with this car, financially and emotionally! It leaves me in a dilemma of "sell it because it's been such a pain in the ass" but similarly with so much invested in it financially & emotionally, it's kinda hard to even consider letting it go. And anyone who owns these cars knows, the day when the weather is great and you're warbling along with the VR on song, often makes up for all the heartache!

Yeah I know that feeling only too well!

Personally if it were me, and you're really not gonna like what I'm about to say - chuck that engine in the bin and get a lump, harness and ECU out of a MK3 Highline :D

There seems to be a problem with 'rebuilt' 2.9s failing at the moment. MikeVR6 had 2 blocks go on him (professionally built), that guy who posted recently with 2 failed engines over 400 and 6 miles, Roger Chatfield with his cams welding themselves to the head and now your issues. OK, so it seems like it may be down to a duff tappet, but if that's what you're gonna get from aftermarket parts, personally I would just cut my losses and move onto something better - engine wise. I know you don't want to R32 it, so the next best thing would be that OBD2 lump + management. It really is something else next to that old OBD1 dinosaur!

I popped them both out. The right hand one was nice and springy and easy to push in and out. However the left hand one was rock solid. Pushing it in place in top of the valve there was absolutely no movement. I pulled it out and put it into a G-clamp, I had to twist using some ridiculous amount of force before it began to move, and then was nice and springy like the other one. Putting it back in place I could now push down on it in place.

 

Hmmmmm, I would have taken those tappets back and got another set personally, or at least replaced the defective one. Hope the tappet valve doesn't seize up again!

As for the HG, unless it's weeping a lot of oil, I would leave it personally.

Looks like it. Aftermarket tappets have always been a gamble in the VR. Some quiet, some not, and now this!

Yeah they've been doing that since the MK4 Golf mate. They put a specific EQ into the head unit tuned for the interior. Same on the MK5's RNS units. You can actually select the car model if you plug it into VAG-COM!