fendervg

Lemforder or Febi Bilstein would be OE suppliers, so should be good quality. I think I bought directly from VAG at the time (5 years ago or so) and they were around 80 euro the pair.

You'd have to hop on the ferry to Ireland! It helps that the chief mechanic there is Lithuanian guy who has two Corrados and knows his VAG stuff inside out. I think in terms of labour time the main thing that will catch you out are seized bolts - if everything comes off straight away, it's handy enough - and I gues a good lift will also come in useful. In term sof the lifespan, how hard it's been driven and rubber perishing would be the factors - I changed mine at 95k (albeit 26 years) and just wanted to refresh and tighten things up as I was doing all the front bushes too - it made the handling and steering much nicer, but not sure how much you would notice on their own. I don't know of a test, maybe excessive side to side play in the axle, or cracked/worn rubber? There's obviously meant to be some play in there anyway. Probably same lifetime as a decent clutch at a guess.

Looks like it should do the trick.

They took the rear beam off - it's much easier that way and not much more labour - it can be done i situ but gets tricky with the access. so most people just end up pushing in some poly bushes after cutting the old ones out. They used a large hydraulic bench press that they had for wheel bearings etc. - with a bench press you don't need the special VAG tool. If you want to get the tool, the like of Sealey etc, do their own versions - alternatively, with a bit of research you will find lots of folks have made their own DIY version. But to be hones this should not really be a challenge for any experienced garage, as all older VAG cars had this kind of setup. Very surpised that tonedef's specialist were not able to do it.

As far as I know the cluster has no ECU or startup routine - it's fairly basic electronics. Would it be not easier to get hold of a known working one from a breaker or someone who has a spare and plug that in to rule it out? I guess there might be a chance of damaging the replacement though.

Once the garage has a decent press (and they all should have) it's a relatively straightforward job - best way is to drop the beam and press the old one out, new ones press in - I'd advise only using OE rubber ones for the rear, although poly ones will just slide in but give off handling. I had it done by my mechanic here in Dublin for rwo hours labour and I supplied the bushes.

- passenger side parcel shelf off - fan unit is visible at the far left end of the ducting to the heater matrix - unplug power loom to fan unit - remove casing by twisting and remove fan unit - insert new fan unit etc. It's been a while since I've done it, but it should be reasonably easy tbh.

I used to have moderator rights, but not any more - cab someon with admin privs please jsut block/disable the user account in question? Generally, nothing should go via PMs (especially a classified/want) unless there has already been communication in an open thread. Direct PMs about some item you were looking for elsewhere that a "friend" has, are a sure no no.

Could also be an earth problem - if you take the lower parcel shelves off, there are earth points on both sides at the inside of the A pillar - these are worth checking. There is also a voltage stabiliser on the back of the clocks, these are usually something like this, but you will need to check yours for part#: https://www.mk1autohaus.com/Instrument-Cluster-Voltage-Regulator-Tachometer-Signal-Stabilizer_p_7010.html

The test on the tank is worth doing - on my Mk2 I had an issue several times, especially with after market cheaper expansion tanks, that the terminals would corrode and short, leading to a constantly flashing light.

hah! not sure if they still sell on eBay. but at least the web site is there.

Good spot. Hopefully this helps someone.

Yep, not cheap - kits for the Mk2 are cheap as chips, and you could even get a refurb/repair kit direct from VAG at one point.

I bought these parts back in early 2020, so not everything might still be available. Most of the bits came from dieselgeek: 02A Cabin-Side Bushing Set for 1989-1999 cable shift Volkswagens $29.00 02A Plastic Cable Holder 1J0 711 256 $39.00 02A Super Slider for 1993-1999 VW $29.00 02A Shift Cable End Bushing Set for 1989 - 1999 MK3 and MK4 cars 1 $29.00 mk1autahaus_2003 (not longer online under that name) VW Corrado Mk3 Golf Jetta vr6 Passat 02A Shift Cable Bushing & Box Rebuild Kit $39.00Unit price $39.00 This last one includes the seals

Let me take a look through my emails and I will check - I think a combination of dieslegeek and fleabay, but I will see if I can find some receipts.

There might be air in there somewhere - have you tried bleeding it with the reservoir cap off and working it slowley from side to side?

Great stuff - do you think there is anything similar that could work for the bushes on the long link arm between the spindles? I know that they are a different design, but always hopeful.

It loks like they are held in place by the gear ratchet on the control side that operates the flap - if you remove this, the pin that secure the flap is gone, so after that it is just a friction fit. Make sure you mark the position of the gear before removal, although it should be easy enough to work out if something goes wrong. Check out parts #29 and #30 in the diagram:

Just checked the family album, and both the looms and the control relays are different - the loom also incudes central locking and remote closure of the window on the lock. Having said that, plenty of people have swapped to late door cards and mirror/window switches, so a search here might throw up something - I know the Canadian forum used to have a write up on this - but I think that went dark a few years back. Can you use the early switched in the late door cards? Worst case would be getting the diagrams and tracing each wire pin out by colour and matching them up.

Correct - they are single wire sensors, earthed to the engine block via the mounting threads - this then has to go back from the block to the battery via the engine earth - even a small amount of corrosion or a nicked wire can cause issues.

The window switches talk to a relay unit behind the driver's rear passenger card - so the loom from the switch would be going to that unit, so not sure if that is different too between early and late - I'll see if I can look up the parts. Is it possible that early switches also carried the mirror controls, hence more wires?

Yeah, my old ones are quite worn and deformed - you could probably double them up, but they are an odd size to get hold of.

Have all replacement parts now, so here is a definitive (I think): From left to right: 1. Wiper arm nut 2. Wiper arm washer 3. Spindle lock nut 4. Plastic spacer (sits inside the gromment) 5. Rubber grommet (sits in hole for spindle in cavity) 6. Support washer (sits on fours support grooves/shoulders on lower spindle) The key thing is the gromet, the support washer then sits snug from the inside of the panel, and the plastic spacer is inserted from the outside and sits inside the grommet, the black spindle lock nut then tightens down directly on to the flast face of the plastic spacer. Here are the part#s if anyone needs them - all still available from Classics and aftermarket, fleaBay etc. sPINDLE NUT - 7D0955243 SPACER RING - 867955251 GROMMET - N90465501 COVER CAP - 1J0955205A 9B9 CRANK ARM - 535955121 COVER DISC - 481955255 WASHER - N01155811 NUT - N0111513 SPACER - 111955641

5w40 was never specified for a VR6, or most VAG cars of that era - they are pulling wool. 10w40 mineral, or semi-synth is correct, most often you will find Quantum Silver mentioned as the VW own brand, available online or from TPS. LiquiMoly is another. There are also plenty of oils on the market aimed at older vehicles. They could be referring to the much later 24v VR6 engines from the late 90/00s, also if your engine is freshly rebuilt with all new seals, 5w would work (as some here have mentioned). I have only ever used 10w40 semi-synth with the VAG specification.

That looks great - looking forward to good test results.