Christoph

Hi guys, I've got a bit of a problem. You know when you turn the engine off, and leave the key in the ignition? The radio stays on right? No! Until recently, this worked no problem, but now it'll only work on low volumes. As soon as you start to turn the volume up, the radio cuts out. As soon as it cuts out, it turns it's self back on again, then off, then on, until you get bored and take the key out. :( It's an alpine 60W, so it's got a direct feed from the battery. At this point, I guess there's a feed from the ignition, telling it to stay on, and the feed from the battery, and nothing else, which makes me think it's gotta be the battery, but the voltmeter says it's OK. When the engine's running, the radio is faultless, so I don't think it's a loose connection / bad earth / ignition switch. If anyone can give me any pointers to help me figure this out I'd be really grateful. thanks guys Chris

Progress! I was (ahem) working from home on Monday, so I decided to see if my local VAG independant could take a look. They replaced the hose from the MAF to the throttle body, because it had a split (how much £££!), cleaned the throttle body, tested the battery and the alternator, and did the ECU reset procedure. Touch wood (still early days), it seems a lot better. I picked it up Tuesday PM, and it hasn't stalled since. The "Radio" issue is still there though. Infact, it's not the radio at all, that's just the most obvious symptom. If I turn the radio off (listen to the window rattle), I still get a drop in power when I hit the brakes and dip the clutch coming up to a junction. The revs drop a bit lower than usual, the dashboard lights dim, momentarily, and sometimes the "battery" light comes on. It seems to be worse the harder I brake. If I'm not pressing on, it's fine, the revs don't drop past the idle, no drama. Chris

Yeah, me too. Yeah, me too. I am normally on the brakes when it stalls, so I guess the next thing to check is the (vacuum?) hose to the servo. Thanks for your help so far Mat. Chris

On a separte note (because it might be a separate issue), After a 50 min drive home, the radio wouldn't even stay on, with the egine at idle. At the first sign of having to drive the speakers, it turned itself off. I'm guseeing that if the current drops below a certain value, a circuit in the radio turns it off. Does that sound right? However, after a short trip back home from the horses tonight, the radio was more than happy without the engine even running. I'm more confused about this than ever now.

OK, so I left the car for about an hour after I got home from work, found my digital multimeter, and... 14.4V across the terminals. 16.4V across the terminals with the engine running. WTF? Now, with the engine running, the (VW) voltmeter in my centre console reads 13.5V (drops to 13V with the lights on). I think this used to read 14 with the lights on not so long ago. Also, I found a part number for relay 109 (ECU), and it was in stock at my local dealership, so I swaped it over to see if that would help. It didn't, but at leaset it's ruled out. Chris

2 problems? On a Corrado? Are you mad? You may be right. The thing that made me think they were linked is that before, when I've had stalling problems, the engine has stalled as I've dipped the clutch, and both the oil pressure light and the "battery" warning light have come on as a result. The difference now is that the battery light comes on before the engine has stalled. Sometimes the engine even picks up again and recovers to a steady idle, but the warning light seems to be a precursor to a stall rather than the other way around. If I can find my multimeter, I'll try testing the battery. As you say testing the voltage across the terminals is easy. Do you know if the ECU relay that PB mentioned is the one that cuts power to the lights etc. when you start the engine? I thought that was called the "X" relay, but that might have been in my Golf? Cheers Chris

Thanks Mat. What insight! I'm not a noob dude. I know how to use the forum, but I can't find any posts that link stalling problems and power problems when the ignition is off. So this morning, when I dip the clutch, the car wasn't stalling, but the power was still dropping enough that the radio would switch itself off. Then I'm sitting in the car park with the key at position 1, so I can listen to the radio as I sort my life out and there's not even enough power to run the radio. Everytime it switches on, the display fades and it goes straight off again. I'm almost convinced it's the battery, but I'm just not sure how it's starting the car every morning if it really is that dead. At the same time it's not the MAF / CPS / ISV / lamda etc, because the engine isn't even running. cheers Chris

Hi All, I'm having a problem with my Corrado, where it will sometimes stall coming up to a junction. I've noticed that when it happens, the battery warning light on the dash comes on as I press the clutch pedal. It seems to happen more when I'm steering, as I aproach the junction. Also, when I was testing my new light switch, I noticed that with the engine off, turning the lights on made the radio loose power for a second. I'm sure that's not normal. The battery is a Basch Silver that I've had about 6 or 7 years, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was dead. Would a dying battery cause these problems? With the engine running my voltmeter is steady at about 14v, which I think means the alternator is OK? Any help or suggestions welcome, before I go out and blow 60 beer tokens on a new battery. Cheers Chris

Actually, yes It does. I went for a test drive and that's definately where it's coming from. Cool. is that an easy fix? Chris

Yeah, it's hard to say where it's coming from. I think it's the top of the window. Maybe I just need a new window seal. I'll try to pay more attention on the way home tonight. I used to be able to fix it for 5 mins, by knocking the switch up when it starts to rattle, but that doesn't work very often any more. Cheers Chris

Hi guys, I've done a search of the recent posts on rattling windows, and I can't find anything that sounds like my problem. My drivers side window rattles, sure enough, but ONLY when it's right at the top of it's travel (ie closed). If anyone's got any ideas about what might be wrong, or what to do about it, I'd be really grateful because it drives me nuts. Cheers Chris

Hi Guys, quick update... I checked the connection next to the oil pressuer sender (breaking one of the coolant pipes in the process. Oh how I laughed :mad: ) and it seems to have sorted the oil temp problem. Now, I'm just left with no outside air temp. Can anyone tell me where the sensor is so I can check the electrics? Thanks Chris Oh, and I can thoroughly recommend Hamilton and Palmer alarms. Pretty crappy website though.

Presumably if you fit a new head light loom, the current through the switch is drastically reduced, thus reducing the heat bulild-up and as a result the switch lasts longer? Chris

Hi guys, I need a bit of advice. I had a new alarm fitted yesterday and it appears to have messed up the MFA. The oil temp shows as --- even after I've been driving for 30 minutes, and the outside air temperature doesn't appear at all, it goes straight from oil temp back to the clock. I thought that maybe they'd managed to change the mode, but looking at the info on different modes this morning, they all seem to have a full complement of readouts. The other info, clock / distance / speed / economy etc all work fine. Anyone had problems like this before? TIA Chris

I just spoke to Andy, he's going to have some more in the new year, so best to try again then. I know it's sad, but I'm kinda excited about being able to see where I'm goin'! Chris