NickRStorm

Best of luck. Just a word of warning if the MOT place is on the new computerised MOT system, you'll need to take your V5 (log book) or they can't issue the certificate!

I bought a set of these and have been very pleased with the quality. Mine have Corrado stitched in white but other than that, they appear to be the same. Have had some small issues with slipping out of place on the drivers side, but double-sided tape has brought a permanant cure.

Starts & dies within a second.

One thing to watch for is the immobiliser if it's a late model VR6 - it will either need the matching ignition key or the original recoded by VAG.

A failed coilpack only takes out 2 cylinders IME (I've had 2 go in 6 years on the Golf). The engine still runs but feels very under-powered & generally unhappy. I'd be inclined to try another ECU if possible. I'm just having the ECU in the wife's Highline Golf replaced due to terminal water damage :( Hers failed at 90 on a dual carriageway with no warning. Car started again when it cooled down & then cut out when it warmed up. It felt like the crank speed sensor, but we couldn't even get VAG-COM to read the ECU.

Before replacing it with another plastic one, you might want to take a look at this: http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18588 A nice bit of kit & a permanant alternative to the brittle plastic version.

There are 2 earth cables going to the battery. Thick one is for the starter which we can assume is OK. The thinner one is attached to the body & is the one that may be bad. A jumper cable from a good clean earth on the body to the negative battery terminal will eliminate the thinner cable as a problem. I'd be more inclined to suspect the battery personally. A new Bosch silver top 63AH battery is only about £50 from GSF.

You sure you haven't pushed the 'local' button? That would produce exactly the same symptoms.

Suspect a weak battery &/or a bad earth. The coilpack won't produce a spark if it doesn't get at least 11.5 volts. As it started when pushed but won't when cranked, it's obviously not got enough battery power for some reason.

Bad luck mate. I think my personal count is about 8 assorted animals over 30 years driving, including a dachshund that commited suicide under the wheels of my motorbike! Reminds me that back in the early 80's, I worked at March Engineering when their designer Adrian Newey (now the McLaren F1 designer) hit a cow at 70+ in his BMW 3 series - THAT was nasty & he was really lucky to survive. The roof was pushed back to the rear of the front doors & sheared off the front A pillars. The cow didn't survive & nor did the BMW.

Assuming you have absolutely no sparks at all, I'd be checking the ignition switch (a known weakness) or possibly the coil-pack.

Nope, non-reading of the reader coil would allow it to start & run for about 1 second.

PM sent

I have 70+ slimline DVD boxes that I'd willingly donate if required.

I believe you're right - happened at the same time as the switch-over to OBD2, IIRC. One other point to look out for on the Golf (I have 2) is the suspension & bushes will be very tired if it's still the original stuff. Putting decent coilovers on will transorm the handling. The rest of the points are nothing to worry about for that sort of money. I just paid £4200 for a very similar one with Koni's, SS exhaust & 17's, uprated cams & chip.

The GPC is really out of date (last time I was there, they told me it hadn't been updated for over a year!). Best to call them really. FWIW, I bought the complete set of strips & end caps for both sides for knocking on £90 delivered from GPC only 6 months ago. The new strips are slightly different to the original in that the rubber has been replaced by some kind of synthetic material which looks a bit thicker & more durable.

Gah! That'd be Windrush, I presume?

Ah, that I couldn't tell you as we have a barter system going - I do his IT & he does my 3 VR6's :) His labour rate is cheap tho' @ £30/hr IIRC

Standard is good for the rear - he did my C's rear bushes earlier this year & it made a huge difference to the handling. The problem he ran into with mine was that all the brake pipes were siezed solid in the bias valve & he wound up making all new brake lines :lol:

I have used Martin Adams in Bourne End for years - he's a good bloke & has always kept all my VW's in tip-top shape. Tell him Nick the VW nut sent you! 01628 850000

How much more "official" do you want :)

I always thought that a car had to be more that 25 years old to be officially a classic ? [EDIT] Wikipedia would seem to agree http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_car

Here's a guide from a link on http://www.vr6oc.com http://www.amin.cc/pdf/odb.pdf BTW, I've got a '95 VR6 Golf with a coilpack and it's deffo an OBD1. I also have a VR6 Golf built in late '96 that has OBD2 & they do feel like different cars. OBD2 makes it feel much more responsive.

I wouldn't be too worried - insurance companies often out-source claims to specialist companies to cut down on the need to actually employ any staff. That's how they make all those profits at our expense!

LOL I sense an increase in premiums coming on :)