dr_mat

What colour smoke? Stands to reason that you'll see REDEX burning off, nothing more!!

My money would be firmly in my pocket - it's obvious that when the two cars are pretty close (like this), it totally comes down to the driver... and more how hard he's prepared to push his car than how "good" he is...

To get 3.5 - 4k for a G60 it would have to be showroom condition... And there's no way you'd get a tatty car to showroom condition for £2k... Be realistic, Scott... :-P

Leave the cables where they are - just plug the old cable end back into the new fog light surround... Makes life a lot easier...

The Golfs do... Yup... :roll: But the galaxy engine parts are all stamped with Ford logos and ford part numbers only. I have a Ford PCV on my VR6...

The Galaxy had the AAA engine, yeah, but it had all the same anciliaries as the Golf, so shares all the same parts. They just have Ford badges instead!! :)

The point is, with a faulty lambda the engine may be running very rich, and might *actually* be running at 15mpg...

You could try Ford for one from a Galaxy VR6 too...

Perhaps they internally modified the matrix, and now supply the improved matrix for *all* model years? That would seem a little sensible for VW, but there you go!

There is, I've seen it - search on the Vortex forums for a link. I couldn't find it when this thread popped up tho, otherwise I'd have attached it! :( AFAIK for the early cars, the recall consisted of adding an inline valve to the heater pipes, i.e. under the bonnet, not inside the cabin. Maybe this valve is an integral part of one of the heater hoses now? Perhaps that one that always blows first on VR6s, and costs £43 + VAT? :(

I had heard that the later cars had the "recall valve" as an integral part of the matrix, so you may not be able to see anything on the engine bay side like Henny suggests, but the symptoms seem to suggest that there's been no "recall" thing fitted, whatever form it takes.

It's very common - you charge for the fact that you had to store the thing for 10 years in a warehouse on top of the actual value of the item.. At a certain computer company I know - SCSI DVD-ROM drive with plastic fascia to match system's finish: Price of item from manufacturer: £25 Price of item to the public in UK: £40 Price of item as an option when sold with the computer: £200 RRP when purchased from spares: £800 And then there's the £80 network card they charge £1200 for.. it goes on...! (Tho at least in the latter case there was engineering effort required to write drivers for the card!!)

Sensors are probably the same, but the main saving here is being able to buy sub-components of something that VW only sell as a single piece. Most of the sensors and stuff are not much cheaper at Ford, from what I hear.

Probably be ok, well, who knows, but it's too late to worry about it now! As long as your oil didn't boil off, the water coolant system is not so vital. Trace the pipe that comes from the heater, find out where that goes - that's what got starved of coolant, if anything.

Measure the voltage across the battery with a voltmeter a) after driving the car b) when the engine is running and c) after leaving the car off for a day or so. Compare and contrast and you'll likely see where your problem is.

Wouldn't it be great if we could say "why not buy the stuff from the VW dealer, cos they're pretty competitive and good at carrying stock"?

Even a straight-through pipe connector should be ok, as long as you bend the hoses round enough, but definitely do NOT leave them blocked...

white smoke.. hmm.. I'd keep an eye on the oil level too. I know oil produces blue smoke, but sometimes it's hard to see the colour.

smoke is very distinct from steam - which is it? It's absolutely normal for a bit of steam on cold mornings, nothing at all to worry about - moisture condensing out of the exhaust gases.

Tell you what, if money's no object, buy ME a steering rack! ;) Alternatively you can have my (Corrado, RARE) Speedlines (in good nick) for £1000 and I can go buy my OWN steering rack and a new set of Speedlines! :)

They might complain, but there's a definite recall document they should have been issued with, I can't find a reference to it now, but a copy of it is kicking about, maybe on the email group files section....

Yeah but at least with a dealer anything they break they have to fix... warranted work and all that.

Good question - not sure what the potential implications are of trying to run the ABS pump on a car with no fluid, maybe there's a safety cut-out. Yeah, sounds like your master cylinder is messed up... Dunno about the Passat VR6 tho, compare the part numbers!!

But why bother when the dealer will do it for free? Gotta ask myself that question! ;)

heater matrix (uk) = heater core (us) You take it to VW and tell them that your car vented hot steam into the cabin, which is a major safety issue. VW issued a recall in the US for all early Corrados to fit a safety valve to prevent this happening. Clearly yours never got done, so they should do it now, oh, and they are obliged to replace the core/matrix for free now that it has failed too - VW will reimburse your dealer for this work, it shouldn't cost you a penny. Unfortunately those of us with later Corrados have to pay for it out our own pockets....