merkaba22

I have been reading the posts on this issue and would like some advice about what to include with this repair as these guides are getting noisy on my '93 Corrado VR6 now. It has 156k on it and the clutch was replaced at 103k and the the head gasket at 99k. It burns about a liter of oil every 2k miles. I have seen that the oil o-rings are cheap and easy and that VW does not feel that timing chains need to be replaced only guides, etc. What about wholesale replacement of valve springs and/or lifters, etc. Also, I read there is a Updated kits for OBDI (1996 and earlier) cars using newer style guide rail and tensioner bolts form MJM and I wonder if there are pro and cons on these kits v the original style. What is the opinion on just finding a low milage replacemnt motor; and if so recommended, anything I need to know to get the right one -- any suggestion for sources in LA? And anyone to do the work in LA? Thanks:)

I installed Brembos on the front and Hawk pads all around and they are great:) 1) Since then sometimes when I brake at a medium pressure, the right brake seems to groan as if I hadn't replaced the pads at all. 2) The other thing is that when I do brake hard (and there is no groaning) the ABS light goes on temporarily sometimes (and more rarely, the CEL goes on too) for the short duration of the braking. Any clues? I saw some low mileage axles on eBay with ABS sensors and wonder if this is a good choice -- also, I in view of the fact that I need new fornt wheel bearings....

Hey Chris -- thanks. Actually the brake noise that is harsh happens occassionally but under harder use between light and full on -- so there is still a bit of a mystery there. Thanks on the insight about the bearing too -- is this a good time to address the sensors? If the sensor goes out what are the implications, I am a bit ignorant on this matter?

Hi once again! Well, my '93 VR6 has a soft rythmic noise from the right wheel area when I turn right which I am concluding is the right axle somehow -- it was something like that with my previous and older Jetta. I guess if I am right it might be timely to attend other things, like doing both sides and including new axle boots. Do you concur and is there anything else to suggest while the repairs are being made? I was wondering about the ABS system in particular -- I put on Brembos and Hawk pads in the late spring but get a grinding noise sometimes as if the pads were already worn out (can't be) and there were at least two times this past summer that the ABS light flickered on momentarily. Anything obvious that could be done at the same time?

Well, the overheating seemed to be fixed when I realized the fan wasn't coming on and my regular mechanic spotted that the connecting sockets were not inserted completely. It seems that the mechanic who does my mods and who was installing my Neuspeed front cross brace and who also checked the AC, didn't plug the connectors back in all the way. After that they car has been running great for the last week until I noticed all the coolant had dripped out onto the floor of my garage yesterday -- I filled it up again, and it leaked out yet again and I noticed that it is down a quart of oil -- unusual for this car in the 15 months I have owned it. Is it a long shot that the oil burned when the car got hot (never over 256 degreees) and the wataer pump which just had been replaced is defective?

They checked the head gasket when they changed the water pipe and said it was fine -- I guess they could have got it wrong. If that is what need to be addressed, is there an upgrade to be aware of? I guess on the other hand the watre pump could be faulty ... Any other thoughts?

Back in June all the coolant drained out of my car in downtown LA -- I had the coolant pipe, coolant flange plug, water pipe, thermastat housing & seal ring, thermostat, water pipe plug, hose flange & coolant pipe o-rings replaced for $511. Then I replaced the coolant resevoir myself becasue I was told it was leaking -- it was not after all. A few weeks later it was dopping coolant again and I had the water pump replaced for $269. Ever since the fan seems to comes on early and I took a trip this weekend and in stop and go traffic on the I-5 to San Diego, the coolant resevoir pressure cap releases all the coolant when the engine temp raised up to about 256 degrees. It was just 76 degrees out at that time of the day. This VR6 usually runs cool at no more than 234-246 degrees. I noticed a VW dealership a few miles back on the freeway; called them and they had another cap, so I replaced it (what else late on a Saturday aftrnoon can you do?). And, it happened again 3 miles from the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert I was on my way to .... After the gig I drove all the way back to LA after midniight when the air was cool and it stayed below 246 at a steady 75-80 mph. Had my broken AC checked out last week when I had a Neuspeed cross brace installed; it was suggested (I ran out of time) that the issue seems that the fan for the condensor is no longer working and may be a bad resistor or relay, etc.. Any possibility of the two being inter-related where a relay or sensor is not working well, the engine over heats back in June and blows out the water pipe and contributes to the demise of the water pump a few weeks later? And that relay/sensor is also related to the AC fan issue and the over heating last weekend? Or is there something else that may be at the center of this? I just bought a Bentley:0

I saw these on VWVortex:http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1963129 Is this a good solution?

vdubjb -- where did you see that post? I did a search at vwvortex under "driver's edition" as well as "brakes" and went through the Corrado classifieds twice and could not find that post? Do you have that exact url in your browser's histroy, perhaps:) btw: could I get the ss braided hoses with the brake fluid replacement now and still be able to use them for the 288's I look forward to getting later this year? Also, I just checked the service records (when I bought the car -- one owner -- I got the service records and saw the brake lines were flushed about 15k miles ago .... Is this normal time to flush again?

Thanks for the advice:) I guess it would be more cost effective to get the calipers used -- how can I tell the good from the worn? Good idea on the brake fluid replacement -- Ithink it may 3-6 months until I do the whole job -- is it worth it to replace at this time?

Hi! My '93 Corrado is my first car with ABS -- lately I notice that the brakes are a little softer than I am used to and I can feel under hard breaking a bit of a pulsing or steping through the break pedal -- I thinkthis is the ABS. The pads and disks are OK right now but I am sure I will need to replace them all sometime this year (I would like recomendations on the largest I can fit with my Speedlines) -- but any advice and perspective on this would be greatly appreciated. Man, do I love this car:)

When I got the jump start this mornig I could see the fuel leaking at the injector rails and had the rubber lines replaced immediately. Thanks. At the time of the jump my radio came on and spit out the CD (it was turned off) -- the shop said the battery was old but holding charge. It was a little low on fluids, so they topped it off. Any ideas on the CEL/dead battery situation? Is the radio cominng on a clue??

Great recommendations on the fuel lines, thanks -- is this something I can do myself easily and are the rubber main fuel feed and fuel return lines something I need from VW? Also, the car's battery didn't make it over night again -- this time I made sure the radio was off....

I got bad gas this summer and had all the electrical stuff cleaned and put in a new distrubtor since the Hal sensor gave out. Runs amazingly smooth! Since then I have been smelling gas on startup, just a little and then seems to go away -- been meaning to check it out .... Now, in the cold weather and I use the heater, I realize that its always giving this smell -- the heater just pumps it in. It sounds like there is a pin hole leak in teh fuel line to the injectors -- if anybody can confirm this, is there an upgrade I should know about? The CEL went on -- kinda flickering, ie. not a full costant glow and the pulse varies with the engine speed -- no performance issues though. I had the codes checked out twice at Renner Motorsports here in LA -- no codes recorded. Now, this morning the battery was dead -- left the radio on overnight accidently (although this never was an issue before the CEL was blinking). Got it jump started and its fine again. Looking for solutions:)