fendervg

Mine varies a lot - the scale on the gauge is not linear anyway. Coolant temp gauges on newer VAGs are calibrated to sit in the middle, bang on, unless warming up or cooling down, for peace of mind. I think people were getting worried when they were seeing the needle move as conditions varied. My VR6 will vary a lot, depending on fans running, moving on open road, or sitting in traffic. I'd only get worried if it shoots up or consistently reads high, and would not consider the older senders and gauges to be a particularly accurate combination - I'd consider them a guideline indication of coolant temperature only. You can always double-check by looking at the oil temperature on the MAF for re-assurance.

Does the hose from the thermostat to the radiator get warm straight away after starting the car?

There's always some condensation in an exhaust in the morning, so no need to worry about that. You probably just have a slight leak somewhere. Congrats on the MOT.

Blue is coolant temp for ECU. Yellow is coolant temp for gauge, fan and aux cooling. Radiator is the coolant fan control temp sender. Other sensor in the thermostat housing is for cars with A/C or secondary fans.

I'd say he got it on ebay or second hand or from the dealer - was available to order from VAG until recently.

Do you have access to VCDS or VAG.COM? Some of the readings would really help you out here as a starting point. Otherwise you'll just be wasting money replacing things that are not faulty - and the parts aren't cheap. Been there done that. Also, using 20+ year old second hand parts off ebay or a breakers may not help as there's no way of telling if they are also faulty or gone past their usable life without proper testing. Also, what's the deal with the emissions in the UK for the MOT? Over here, for the NCT an older car must only meet the standards that were in force when the car was originally made.

No need for the grille. That was for Canada and Scandinavia. There should never really be a problem with a VR getting up to temp as they run hot anyway. Diagnostics software will definitely help here.

ECU does not look at the oil temperature or pressure. It's just the coolant temp (blue temp sensor in thermostat housing on VR6) that dictates the switch from cold to hot engine map. There is also an air temp sensor in the inlet manifold and another one on the cat, but they are for a different purpose.

What car and engine? Where are you taking the coolant temp readings from - at the instrument panel coolant gauge, or with VCDS plugged into the ECU? Reason I ask is that they are two different senders. You can test all the senders by putting them in hot water, and the resistance across the sender will change based on temperature. Maybe your thermostat is stuck open? This would lead to it never heating up properly.

http://www.sealey.co.uk/PLPageBuilder.asp?id=20&method=mViewProduct&productid=9320 Works like a charm - just make sure you read the manual and keep the pressure at a reasonable level. All you have to do then is to make your way round every bleed point, starting at the off-side rear and working your way closer to the master cylinder. You can also release some air from the ABS pump by carefully loosening off the brake line fittings just enough so that you get some fluid seepage while the system is under pressure. Worth a try.

Got some from VW a while ago - weren't expensive.

Clever idea - need to sort out the battery life though for that or take a 5v feed off the battery for a charger and hide the wiring and the phone.

Best of luck with the test Jim - will be nice to have a reward and payback from all the hard work you've put in. Is there a low temp rad switch or thermostat fitted? Some people do that as a way of sorting out cooling issues on the VR, but a properly running car shouldn't need it.

Jim is probably correct here - the matrix is really only a radiator. But it will affect the temp of the water going in, and therefore the heating effectiveness.

Yep - looks like they have been reversed - mine have definitely not been touched since it left the factory 23 years ago!

[ATTACH]82446[/ATTACH] This is how mine looks. It's a 93 VR

I'll see if I can check mine

Sounds like you are doing the right thing then - it might be worth getting a garage to do it with a pressure brake bleeding system. Sometimes they just need to be bled lots of times to get it right.

How are you bleeding it? Eazy bleed, pressure bleeder or the old-fashioned way? And in what order? You need to cable tie the brake bias valve on the rear beam if the car is off the ground, and there are also bleed nipples on the ABS pump if you have one.

Not sure about this, but I would have thought you would need a matching master cylinder with 312s? I know that was what I did on my MkII Golf GTI 8v when changing the brakes to G60 callipers.

@delfinis - the non-VR6 pipes are different in ETKA - basically the same as MKII Golf GTI ones,but I haven't seen one in the flesh so can't comment on flaring the ends etc. I'd agree with all original - much more refined than the aftermarket ones. You also don't have to polish them as much ;) I'd go back to OEM if I could afford it and was able to find the parts. I'm at 86K miles, so my original system probably wasn't even that bad in the first place.

I looked at getting a new exhaust to get back to standard from a Milltek and at the time (about two years ago) both the resonator pipe, center box and back box were all available either from VAG or through Classic Parts, but at about €1500 for the lot. You also need to drop the rear beam (do your bushes at the same time) or cut the exhaust to fit, as the two suitcase sections come as one part. I didn't go for it in the end due to lack of funds, but now regret it and would in hindsight have not got rid of the original exhaust and put on a Milltek. It sounds nice, but leaks a bit and requires regular tightening, causes some extra vibration/drone in certain gears and does not have the front silencer/pipe in it. If I could get hold of one (hint, hint, maybe your mate can make two ;)) I'd definitely look at putting that pipe back in. Just my experience.

@delfinis38 - I believe the part# for the front silencer/resonator pipe section on the VR6/ABV is 535253209

@robrado974 - cheers, I just checked out the site: http://www.pamties.co.uk/index.php?route=product/search&search=butyl They seem to have double sided butyl tape available as well - I wonder could this be cut to suit, as it's not as thick as the rope tape?

@thursdave - lol: - if you're giving them away I'll have a few as well please - need some to make my locking petrol cap work off the ignition key!