CrazyDave

Point taken on the brakes Kev, I reckon mine don't seem that bad because I'm down on power at the mo (maybe 250ish, if that is considered down). So although I have to be careful the brakes work well for my driving. I'm sure when I feel the full 8psi potential it'll make the decision for me. 16" sounds like a good compromise to me, and speedlines are a very good Corrado standard looking wheel. I've just picked up a new brake compensator valve to fit this weekend along with complete new pipework. Not taking any more chances with brakes after recent findings, bursting solid lines etc etc. Compensator is seized and leaking after I disturbed it to fit Goodrich hoses last week. Just so glad I found it when I did, the brake lines really looked in very good condition in all the places you can see them, but obviously not up to even a standard car. Insurance, John @ Brentacre, spot on, very helpful.

Currently I'm just using the handbrake as the pedal just goes to the floor :lol: :shock: :shock: Sorry, bit pi$$ed off at the mo.... I think my brake compensator valve has sprung a leak (not my new pipework as first suspected), fluid everywhere, happend on Sunday 200yards from BVF gate in Malvern. At the minute, 280mm Brembo grooved with ds2200 pads. Not great, looking at 288's late vr etc or S2 calipers on the 280's. May seem small, but I really don't want to change wheels. Car looks so standard, and I like it that way.

Not yet, but that'll add to the fun when I get around to fitting one! OK with 8psi, but 14 will be nuts :shock:

Welcome Marcus! Your gonna love having a turbo :lol: . Quite a bit of work, but loads of grins at the end!

Hi Staffs, got your PM. I've just done a huge response to try and help and the forum died on me! So hears a quick summary. The LE-Jetronic (well I think it is but not sure) fitted to the valver is pretty reliable as it's mostly mechanical. But it does have a few quirks. The faults you guys have sound like a combination of the following: Idle problems can be caused by a sticky ISV so it does need a clean, but also check that the throttle switch / throttle plate is closing. I've seen the cables goes sticky and stop the TB closing the switch properly. The engine won't idle if the switch doesn't operate, so check it does mechanically. Then check that it does electrically with a meter. Sometimes some oil worked down the cable does the trick if its tight. The jetronic system has a flow metering head (like a MAF but mechanical). It's just a flap in a very precisely machined cone, air pushes the flap up and the shape of the cone sets how much fuel pressure, more air moves the flap up and give a higher fuel pressure to the injectors, so more fuel. Warming up or choke is done by regulating a resistance pressure to hold the flap down a bit to make it lean, or allowing it to rise more to make it richer. You can see the cone and flap by removing the rubber ribbed hose on the left of this pic. Be very very very carefull not to damage the cone or the flap, it should lift easliy if you pull the bolt in the middle. The cone should be clean, not oily. I've seen problems with the cold start injector triggering whilst driving along, this will make the car drink loads of fuel and die like you all describe. To test this out, just pull the blue plug off the injector (it's on the end of the fuel rail in this pic, lower left). Drive it around for a few days and see how it goes. The car should start without this at the moment because its not that cold. Air leaks are also a big problem for LE, make sure all the vac hoses are ok and that the breather hoses are clean. Hope this helps? Dave

Pull the lid off the fuel pump relay and jam the contacts closed with a cable tie. A quick test. Are you in Worcececestershire at the minute? A little busy this weekend but could be ok sometime next week if thats any help? Don't get down mate, its only wires by the sound of it, plenty of help from here will get it sorted! :) As Crasher said, diag port would be a huge help, will need to read fault codes and reset at some point anyway.

is that not the map sensor? Well on my Golf 1.8t it's air temp, but it is one of the first AGU engined gti's with cable throttle, so it doesn't have a map sensor or closed loop boost control.

MAF is on the right just next to the air filter housing. Big pipe about 3" dia with a plug on it. Air temp sensor is in the manifold just after the throttle body. Little black thing with a two pin connector and a 6mm allen pin holding it in. ECU is only interested in how hot the air is post turbocharger.

Hi Sam, got it all together then 8) . VR Sensor is on the front of the block near the gearbox. Pull the plug, get somebody to her crank over and measure the two pins in the plug from the sensor. Should have several volts AC on a meter. This is wired via the big multi plug on the engine to the ECU. I'll have a look but don't think the black/yellow wire is anything to worry about, pretty sure I've got one hanging around also? Pretty sure the fuel pump should prime when you initially turn on though. So it could be a wiring problem to the fuel pump relay as it is triggered from the ECU. Have you tried bridging the fuel pump relay with a cable tie? Should go then. Got a Bentley manual here that'll help with the spare wires.

Are you running with no grill whatsoever? Thats a massive area that is opened up. Why not try building one up from cardboard, and thin ply in order to get an idea of the area you need open for correct cooling. All the old petrol/paraffin cars/tractors used to have curtains which you adjusted depending on the ambiant temperature and workload. I don't see why you can't use this principal with your car. Yeh, it was a quick test to see what the difference was. So like you say, try one at a time and see what the best balance is.

Had a good run on the motorway today, engine doesn't get up to temp with no grill! Hence the two sealed up slots then :? Going to try opening up the right hand half so the charge cooler rad gets more air but not the main rad. Even thought about fitting a long rad underneath the front like yours Kev. Nice and cold down low, but keep the existing one.

Nice one Toad! Second datasheet, Fig A is the standard sensor on a VR. Fig B is the 1.8t sensor. Only thing is the curves are on different scales, DOH. But they are pretty close if you read -30 at the bottom end on both sensors, so a small error if you don't re-calibrate. My ambient reading was the same on both sensors, just need to check a span.

Toad, I've still got both sensors fitted on the car so I'll check it when cold tomorrow and then warm it up a bit and move the plug to check the reading, should get a 10 degree span that'll confirm if they are the same. If anybody finds a datasheet we could check for definate? http://www.bosch-motorsport.de/pdf/sensors/temperature/NTC_M12-L.pdf This is the standard one.

Response time of the standard Bosch VR temp sensor is 10s for a 90% temp change (from the datasheet). The open element type is much much better, but I can't find a datasheet for it yet? Bosch Number 0280 130 085 VAG No 058 905 379. The location of the sensor on the standard VR manifold isn't really in the air flow, the 1.8t has it next to the tb so that even at idle the air is flowing across it. But it could be fitted to the VR manifold by drilling a new hole near the TB and tapping the M6 fixing screw, with a bit of sealant on the screw to stop it leaking. The sensor element would appear to be the same resistance(I checked it with a meter at ambient), but without a datasheet I can't comfirm this. So the curve may be different, but highly unlikely. I also discovered why my charge air was getting hotter than I expected (and you're all going to love this one!). The charge cooler rad is fitted in front of the main rad and the main air flow is through the plastic grill, but the three slot grill on my car only has the bottom slot open! I took the grill off tonight and had a good drive around and it's miles better, even when idling the inlet temp isn't going above 35 degrees, on the move it's 28. It's nearly always the silly things! M12.5 hole with M6 blind tapped hole. Location of the original temp sensor inside CrazyDave short runner! Bad Dave. The new sensor built up on the manifold.

Chris, I went through the sizing of my CC with Dave at chargecooler.co.uk (same guy as the other link you have). Mine was based on 400HP which is a little less that the turbo capability at 1bar boost. But as I didn't really want to go that high I went for that one. The 6" diameter unit is much better for low loss cooling but I don't think it will fit, just not a big enough gap on my installation. They can go in pretty much any orientation providing you have the header tank as the highest point, so that any air works its way out of the system (I'm about to relocate my header tank because its not high enough). Having used this one for a while I think it could do with a larger volume of water in the system. More pipe or a bigger tank, so that it's not so sensitive to heat soaking. On a different note, I managed to modify my manifold to take a 1.8t air temperature sensor (it's an exposed element type, different to the normal vr6 one which is enclosed in a plastic case ). Tried it out with the one off my Golf, and it works much better than the standard VR6 sensor. The temperature pretty much instantly (about 1 second lag) tracks the air temperature when the throttle is opening and closing. The normal one suffers badly with heat soak and the thermal inertia is about 10-15 seconds! Not good for FI as the ECU will back off the fuel / igniton to compensate for the false high manifold temp. Not checked yet but I bet Bosch do an exposed element type sensor that will fit into the normal M12x1.5? hole. Maybe an early quattro or similar FI car. Because the 1.8t item needs a 12.5dia hole and a M6x1 threaded mounting hole.

Coming together then Stu! I've got some pictures somewhere of some heat wrapping that I fitted to both my O2 probes, just to keep the cable cool. Same stuff as on the pipework under the bonnet, but taped with alloy heat tape to the sensor. Seems to do the job nicely. Didn't realise Bill did all the Innovate stuff, good info for the future. I need an LC-1 to use permanently on my car instead of filling the glove box with LM-1!

Sorrys guys, been on hols for a week! Just had to spend an hour reading through to catch up. Well I could read this stuff all day long :) As usual I've been driving the family 1.8t Flog... blimey it feels flat as a pancake after the C :lol: Get building that VRT Simon! You know you want to :lol: Just something about the 6 cylinder sound with a turbine whistle added to it. Great soundtrack (but refined and quiet). Never liked the idea of hacking a car up for 4WD, I know a few have done it on here. Getting the alignment spot on must be really critical or the thing just won't handle correctly. Maybe when mine gets a bit older, I'd like to mid engine it, but only rear drive, much more fun that way (I'm thinking sideways, vr engine howl and turbo....Mmmmmm Heaven! :shock: :shock: ) The 3076R does spool a little later than the 3071 by the sound of it, but I still haven't been out it Kev's car and vica versa. Very pleased with the way the '76 spools though, not aggressive but strong. But maybe that'll change when I get the mapping sorted. Huge list of minor niggles to sort, then it's got to go on the rollers I think. AIT Sensor from a 1.8t, mounted just post TB directly in the airstream. Performance plug leads. MSD coilpacks if things don't improve with the leads alone. Direct coilpack (either OE pack without the dwell unit or MSD) control with MegaSquirt box, but I'll need to sort out a driver board as it only has two high power coil drivers built in. So dwell can be then be done by the MS aswell. I'd really like to try the OE manifold back on, just to see what the difference is, but need to work out some alternative pipework? Chargecooler fan, electric coolant and radiator fan control box (to replace the failing OE unit). Bit of electronics to control all this lot, can't be doing having to do things manually. Kev, did you get one of the heat shields from ATP? Cos mine fell off the other week! Made a right rattle like the exhaust had come loose, but the weld had broken and it had dropped down between the bulkhead and downpipe. Have to agree with you both on the VTEC, great fun for a bit, but really hard work all that revving all the time.

Hi Chris, could be any of the usual VR failings. Might actually be coil pack? They start off with those kinds of faults, and only when the weather is just right (ie a bit damp like its been lately). Next time it does it have a look at the coil pack and see if you can see it tracking or hear it even. Hope this helps. PS Are you coming to the joint Bristol / Worcester meet on 1st July?

Boost pipework is pretty short, so the repsonse is good, seems to come on very quick when you open the throttle anyway. But I have a run of pipe behind the radiator that needs lagging as it seems to soak quite a bit of heat due to the charge cooler radiator fan blowing through the main rad. I've tried switching to simultanious injection tonight, the AFR seems much more stable, it was set for two squirts alternating. I'll give that a try for a day or so and see if things feel any better. Also added a bit more filtering to the map sensor input. Traffic is just one of those things these days, but I know what you mean, everything starts to roast nicely! Since doing all the work to mine it seems to hold at around 90-95 all the time. The Spal fan just kicks in and pulls the temp down really quickly.

Wow! Great info. Thanks all. I have Pre and post CC temperature already but ambient / inlet air is a good idea and easy to do. Can's also sound like a much better idea, as knock sensors tend to be optimised for lower rev ranges. The human ear is fantastic. :) The inlet tract is 72mm long so not that short but I suspect it will have trouble at lower rpm due to being approx 4 times shorter than the VW standard manifold. All the sensors have been calibrated, thats one area I have lots of experience in (I'm happy to say!). Coils are a must I think, although some decent leads would be a good start. I really haven't given the top end much attention up to this point, I've been concentrating on getting the driveability as good as poss. I'm very pleased with the mid range and crawling in traffic is a dream compared to Motronic. 1000rpm in 2nd gear, no stumbling or jumping, just smooth accel, decel or steady speed. But as you say, time to open the taps up! Thanks again both, really helpfull :)

MS logs at about 20Hz and I try to keep the software lag filters as low a poss, to give good response. The AFR closed loop isn't active in boost, and I'd turned it off for these runs anyway (standing 1/4 mile at GTI International by the way). The igniton must be down to my map settings, which I don't think are correct. The high intake temp is due to the sitting at idle for about 25 minutes with the engine on and off waiting for the run. But you have a point with the sensor it could do with being placed into the air stream (it's in the base of the plenum chamber at the moment) and changing for an open thermister bead type, which would be much better for a boosted engine. The air is colder than the trace, I have a thermocouple in the boost pipe post charge cooler and it's a good 20 degrees lower than the MAT. So another problem area. Cold air feed is in the front off side bumper via the old hole for the carbon filter. Nail on the head with the timing I think. My forum name may be Crazy but I'm quite the opposite when it comes to it! I just don't have any information on how far to push the timing. I have a knock sensor connected to the MS so I was going to use that to get the timing sorted. Timing figures so far are based on VAG-COM datalogging of the standard car with Motronic ecu. This seems to hold steady at about 24-26 degrees from 3500k to 6000k. Minimum super unleaded 97 (Esso) and usually 99 V-Power. Thanks for the info, much appreciated! Karl, it's back to school time again! Keep reading though, most of it is still a dark art for me! Hopefully the light will come soon. :)

Good info guys! Have a look at the logging from one of my runs on Saturday. Top trace RPM, MAP, CLT (coolant) Middle MAT (manifold air temp), AFR, PW (injectors in ms) Bottom TP (throttle position %), SparkAdv (degrees), WallFuel (accel enrichment correction) this is way off still and needs work. Good call from both of you, boost is a little lean so I'm going to try a little more fuel in those areas. And if you haven't spotted already my fuel table only goes to 150% so I'm right on the edge of it, needs rescaling to cover to 200kPa like the ignition. Quite a lot of oscillation on the MAP sensor when in boost and it only just hits 150kPa max, most readings are 130-140 ish? But I guess the signal is showing some aliasing in the log file. EGT isn't part of this trace unfortunately due to this being the MS-II extra code, so I have a separate data logger for that which I didn't have hooked up for this run. But when it has been, I see 4-600 ish degrees C at cruise and 7-800 when accelerating WOT. This seems a little cool? Makes me think the timing is getting a little bit to advanced? Ignition advance looks very flat doesn't it? It's pretty much all in at this engine speed.

Well not quite the standing quarter result I was looking for :lol: . I seem to be rather down on power? Which kind of explains why I'd been getting used to it. :( Best quarter time was 15.054sec not great considering, and looking at the acceleration curve from the radar trap it would appear I'm getting good grip, even if first gear doesn't last very long. Just not enough go! Decision made then, time to book some time on a rolling road to get the top end power sorted. Here is a link to my MegaSquirt MSQ file http://www.d2designs.vispa.com/VR6%20Turbo%20A.msq Goes without say really but I'll say it anyway 'Use this information at your own risk!'. Target AFR table for closed loop control of fuel. Ignition Advance. Fuel Table.

Simon, It's not posted yet, but if your looking for a basic setup for a VR6T then I can send it to you. I'm not completly happy with it yet but it's a real good start and it's been running on my car for about 2500 miles now. I'm using an MS II processor with v1.0.2 MSII_Extra code. If you've been through my gallery then you'll have the basic spec of the engine, turbo etc that it's setup for, but just in case: 2.9 VR6 with stainless spacer and MKIV multi layered head gasket. GT3076R turbo with 8psi wastegate. PWR chargecooler 10"x4" with 10" front mounted aux rad and fan. Cams are standard, as are pistons, rods etc. ARP head and rod bolts. Custom fabricated short manifold. None of the original car wiring has been cut at all, and an old Motronic box serves as a termination point for the MegaSquirt looms. MS box is in the glove compartment. I'll post my latest MSQ stuff in a day or so, getting ready for Inters at the minute. :D

Looks like a nice job Vaughan. Always amazes me what a good bodyshop can do. My wifes Mk1 GTI was a real mess after having a 38ton lorry loaded with bricks run up the back of it, but the repair was first class and it lasted better than the rest of the car in the end! My wifes neck wasn't so good for several years after though. Cars are much easier to fix than people. Can't wait to see the result at the next meet! 8)