tonedef

So this afternoon I finally got my CC finished. It still needs gassing up but seeing as how I've got no tyres on my wheels and the bumpers are in the paint shop, the car's going nowhere so it will have to wait. I still have one fault code showing on vag com as I've nowhere to connect my second coolant temp sensor wires to yet but I can sit in the car and direct lots of heating to wherever it's needed. (Unlike the standard set up!) After I took the pics I got the shorter glove box fitted, it's just deep enough to still fit the multi changer in which is good, and was half way through modding the lower shelf when it got too cold/dark in the garage so I gave up until tomorrow. If anyone is looking for a fan/heater assy complete with controls from a late model VR, let me know or make me an offer. It's got the original 95 heater matrix fitted as far as I know (I've owned the car 6 years) but it was fine when I took it out.

Tempest These are the ones I have, left hand drill bits and extractors. As I wrote before, best thing is when the drill actually gets the screw/bolt out although it doesn't happen every time. Sometimes you have to use the extractors too. Mine didn't cost quite so much but I had to wait for them to be on offer. Tony http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&tool=all&item_ID=10418&group_ID=1254&store=uk&dir=catalog

The followers are Febi/Bilstein same as all the mechanical bits. I don't understand why it didn't seal, everything was done to the letter, just that once it was back together and running I noticed tiny bubbles at the end of the block by number 1 cylinder. I ran it the other day to show my dad and it seemed OK, in the end I had to spray some WD40 on the join to find them. It's just the smallest of gas leaks, you'd probably run the car forever and not know but while it's on axle stands in the garage I might as well get it right. :D At least the rattles from the cam chains have gone now, the followers were probably OK before, I only changed them cos it was in bits. I checked all the valves for play in the guides and they were fine. I fitted a new clutch too but the old one looked identical to it even after 115K miles. I guess that's the benefit of having a car so long, I bought it over 6 years ago with just 50K on it so I know most of the history!

I use some really tricky left hand fluted (run in reverse) cobalt drill bits bought from the Snap On man. They come in a kit with broken screw extractors, cost an absolute fortune but are really worth the investment when part way through drilling (nice and steady) the screw comes out on the drill. :D

VRTrickster My bolts, cam followers, chains and guides came from vwspares.co.uk. All my gaskets are from VAG although I'm sure that for such as the exhaust etc GSF ones would be fine, possibly even the same ones without VAG price tag? And buying a VAG head gasket hasn't been any great benefit to me as it's coming to bits again tomorrow isn't it!

chigmuss The 12 somethings are the valve stem oil seals. They fit over the top of the valve guides before refitting the valves and springs. I've still not decided which new gasket to use next time although I guess it'll be another steel one, I like the idea of a bit more compression for free! I'll be pulling it to bits next week and will make the call then, I just keep firing it up every now and then to check it still leaks, it does :lol:

I can't make my mind up yet which way to go with it, I'm sure enough people have fitted the metal one by now to prove it's OK, I've just screwed up somewhere! I'll see what I find when I get it to bits again. It's a shame really as I'd got all the top end rebuilt and climate control installed while I was not busy with work and now I'm tied up in Kent for the next few days then off to Germany next week. Glad I never promissed my wife when she'd be getting her Corrado back :D Let me know how you get on ? Its going to be another couple of weeks before I get my head back on. Can I ask a silly question , did you use new head bolts? Another thing, when you took the head off, how many spring dowels did you find on the block/head? Mine only had one and Im sure you would benefit more with two to align the head, no ? Im just wondering if theres a possibility it could have fallen into the block or something !! Someone please put my mind at rest on this one! I used a new set of head bolts and will again next time! Also, there were two dowels although when I first oulled the head off they were both sunk into it, I had to get them out and fit them into the block to align the gasket when I rebuilt it. You might beat me on the rebuild as I'm busy with work for a while now :x

I can't make my mind up yet which way to go with it, I'm sure enough people have fitted the metal one by now to prove it's OK, I've just screwed up somewhere! I'll see what I find when I get it to bits again. It's a shame really as I'd got all the top end rebuilt and climate control installed while I was not busy with work and now I'm tied up in Kent for the next few days then off to Germany next week. Glad I never promissed my wife when she'd be getting her Corrado back :D

I read Mr Renshaw's thread-athon the other day, he used some and gave a name for the supplier too. There's 88 pages to go at to find it though!

I use a 1/4 drive ratchet, 11" wobbly extension and a deep 10mm socket, no problem!

I heard about Metal Magic too but I knew Pristine did a good job and at the end of the day I went with what I knew! The place I went to was Tyre Torque in Kirk Sandall. If you call Pristine they'll tell you the closest agent, they will also ship a set of loan rims there too if you need your tyres transplanting onto something to keep you on the road. I didn't use that as my car is on axle stands in the garage, I also didn't have to pay for tyre stripping and fitting as i do it myself, so budget for a few more quid there. I have no pics from before, believe me they were not pretty wheels though, the worst bits were the back of the wheels and the wells where the tyre beads sit. They are now however like new:

Just had my Speedlines refurbed by Pristine as they leaked all the time. One of them needed a repair on the edge of the rim too but total was £214 inc VAT. http://www.pristinealloywheels.co.uk/ They look stunning, just like brand new wheels, shame my motor's still in bits. :( Just read your post Neil and noticed you're in Sheff. There's a Pristine agent there somewhere as they organise the shipping for you too. I took mine to a place in Donny. Tony

Thanks once again Supercharged. :D

The torque wrench is a Snap On one and it's been calibrated by them less than a year ago, I wish it was that simple! The way it looks, there are small oil bubbles as if it is a gas leak pushing it out rather than a simple oil leak. Having slept on it I believe that I'll be using the old type gasket next time for sure, not that I mind keep pulling the engine to pieces or anything. kevHaywire You suggest using the Victor Reinz gasket as they are best, better than VAG original? Remaining possitive, at least the gearbox doesn't have to come out this time, the cam chains are already done :lol:

Am I being boring having one of each? OK so my 20V Turbo is still in it's S3, and it's staying there with it's 4x4 too :D

Quick update to this thread, I fired the car up tonight and the CC seems to be working pretty well. One of the actuators seems to be stuck as I can hear it trying to operate on most settings and I've not had the system gassed up yet so it'll not do cold but we seem to be getting there. Unfortunately it doesn't quite move forward from here as the head gasket isn't right so the engine's coming to bits again, but that's another story!

So this evening I started up my engine after the rebuild, fired up first time and all seemed OK until I noticed the small bubbles of oil at the number 1 cylinder end of the cylinder head. :( I know everything was clean, very clean, and I know the head was flat, and of course I also know that the head bolts were tourqued to the right number and then 180 degrees etc. I know as I did it all myself. I also know that it's coming to pieces again, guess I'll have the head skimmed this time just to be on the safe side. Only thing I don't know for the moment is which head gasket I'm going to use, do I go for old type or shall I be brave and fit another steel one???

Here you go Mark, sorry but can't open the door any further at the moment as there's a wall in the way and the C's got no wheels. Tony

Just to lighten things up a bit, obvious it's a woman's car, mine always looks like this when my wife lends it back to me!

Not sure if it's the same on the Passat but on my S3 if you "press and release" the Reset button rather than "press and hold" it switches off the display. The S3 button is under the right stalk if that's any help? Cheers, Tony

If you can't get them working and really need heated seats I have a pair of grey leather (working) heated seats that I'd consider swapping for your unheated Recaros :)

I can see a few of those being snags :lol: Don't be put off though, you know it'll be worth it. Every time I get really down with it I just take the S3 for a spin with climate control on and then remember the days of getting into the C with wet clothes and peering through the small patch of screen that the heater managed to clear. Makes it all OK again!

Thanks for that, I'll see what they have on ETKA the next time I'm at the dealer for that code :D

dinkus You'll sure need that week or two, not only for doing the job but also as you need time away from it as it drives you up the wall! I'm lucky to be doing the engine rebuild at the same time so at least if I need time off the climatronic I can do something useful. I had a few problems early on, downloading some wiring diags from the Russian web site was a start and then CoxyLaad sent me some Golf drawings which were better. The best thing however was getting all the Passat wiring diags on loan out the back door of my local dealer, but as my seperate reply to CoxyLaad says, it doesn't help when you've got a wire you cannot plug into a sender as there's already something there! This would all be OK but I only started by refurbing the rims, I got carried away :twisted:

Unfortunately it seems to depend on what year build you get. The kit I have came from a 96 Passat although when you refer to the wiring diagrams it's obviously a 95 build and has an input for the G62 sensor at Climatronic pin T28a/5 whereas a 96 build would have the G62 input at ECU pin T68/14. Now as VW never intended to fit Climatronic to my Corrado they generously provided the input direct to the ECU. The bit that really confuses me is that there appears to be no repeat of the signal from the Climatronic to the ECU on a 95 Passat so how did it know the coolant temp???