oneohtwo

Sorted a couple of jobs on the drivers side door this weekend. First, replaced the drivers footwell speak with a new Alpine unt - the old speaker hasn't worked for ages, so nice to sort that. And it was a nice easy job as it was the speaker and not the wiring. Also got the door handle off and gave everything a good greasing. Hadn't felt nice really, almost tight, so that's now nice and smooth. Thenreplaced the door membrane. Where I've had to peel the membrane back for previous jobs I don't think it was fully sealed and water has been leaking at the bottom.. Pulled the old stuff off and replaced with some DPM. Seems to have done the job overnight with the rain this morning. Surprising how much water gets to the inner membrane, not entirely sure how. I can see how it would pass the window scraper and run down between the two skins, but hitting the membrane seems odd. Slight difficulty is that the DPM is flat whereas the door and original membrane isn't. So not the nicest fit, but will hopefully do the job. I had hoped to reuse the original but couldn't really get the old sticky stuff off, and it tore in one place. Couldn't really find any replacements. Also tried fitting a layer of MLV behind the door card to try and reduce a bit of noise ingress. It's a tight fit, so this hasn't worked brilliantly, and you end up needed to cut chunks out to get it to fit, which rather defeats the purpose. I thought it might help deaden the noise of the doors shutting as well, giving it a bit more of a soft thunk, than the metallic clang they normally do but it's made no difference on that front. Need to give it a drive to see if it's made a blind bit of difference I suppose.

I don't know to be honest, but does sound like whatever it is it's aftermarket. I should have the seat off today to get a picture which might give us more of a clue.

Not right now, but need to get the carpet out again to dry it out (leaking door membrane), so will have a look and take some pictures.

Whilst taking the carpets out to put new sound deadening down I came across this little white wire that was tucked under the sill trim on the drivers side: It runs to a small box under the right hand passenger seat, but other end is unconnected. Anyone any idea what it is or what it should be connected to?

You're not wrong on the price of cats. Have been quoted £299.00 for one from Longlife, on top of £499 for the rest of the exhaust, and that doesn't seem unusual. The Miltek cat is pushing 400 and a JP is still £350. Jetex seem to have one for less than £100 for some reason... makes you wonder about the quality. Have you given it a go? I always assumed that stuff was just snake oil, but would be interested to see if you get some good results.

I don't have one, as I had the engine fully out when I had the cross member off. It's listed in the Bentley manual as 10222-A engine support, although actually that's just the VW specific tool and there's plenty of lifting beams available that do the same job. It's like a goal post frame that sits on the wings either side, where the bonnet closes, and then has two hangers dropping from the main bar over the engine, which I clip into the engine lifting eyes. This sort of thing: Laser 4842 Engine Support Beam 500kg - Machine Mart - Machine Mart Probably better than propping the engine under the sump with axle stands or concrete blocks.

I think it is probably doable in a day, but you may want to budget a weekend just in case. I have definitely got the front end off and changed the radiator in a day, but it's a bit more to get the cross member off. Front end is a pretty easy removal, once the bumper is off it's just 12 (IIRC) bolts on the slam panel. For ease of reassembly it's possibly to leave the bonnet release cable attached and just prop the slam panel out of the way. Do you have the VW engine harness that sits on the wings to support the engine whilst you get the cross member off?

I've noticed recently a lot of heat coming through the transmission tunnel right be the gear shifter into the cabin, and thinking I just need to add more insulation on the inside. But pondering it a bit more I wonder if the Cat is just getting a bit knackered. Before the engine refurb it the exhaust was getting pretty coked up with carbon and I wonder if the Cat has got a bit blocked. It can't be completely ruined as I wouldn't pass the emissions test, but I wonder if it is a bit, and that is causing it to heat up excessively. There is also the slightly unpleasant smell, which I used to put down to an old engine leaking oil everywhere, but know that is clean I wonder if it is also the Cat. I have read that overheating and an odd smell are signs of this. So I am thinking of replacing the Cat, and possibly the rest of the exhaust for a quieter system. Anyone else done this because of the above? Any recommendations?

There's this stuff: Ethomix Ethanol Corrosion Inhibitor Additive 250ml (frost.co.uk) Couldn't tell you if it is effective or not. We're OK for a few years, but as I understand it the premium 99 RON fuel will be going to E10 after a couple of years as well. Not sure what we can do then.

I think you're right it's something like this. What I ended up doing was painting over any small rust spots with Hammerite then using this stuff; Noxudol 3100 Sound Deadening Compound (frost.co.uk) Which I could just brush on thick in the areas I scraped off. Was quite nice in that it went on thick so levelled off with the existing stuff. Finished off the rest of the soundproofing anyway. What I did was strip everything back and put CLD mats on all available exposed panels. I was mostly aiming for under the rear seat, but did the boot as well, plus inside the rear side panels. Wasn't going for 100% coverage as that is a waste of time, money, effort and material. Also without knowing exactly which panels resonate it's a bit of a hit everything approach and hope that at least some make a difference. I replaced the ruined factory felt stuff with closed cell foam, and then laid MLV from front to back, basically the whole floor plan. So I do have a continuous layer under the boot carpet, under the rear seats, over the rear seat beam and down into the footwell, and then all across the front footwells to the bulkhead. The footwell MLV extends up the side of the sill as well, so got full coverage instead of just the two square pieces in the footwells themselves. Lastly stuck some open cell foam to the underside of the parcel shelf. This looks a bit unsightly and can't see it lasting long so i may see if it makes any difference with this removed. Having gone on a long drive it has definitely improved things, and the exhaust drone at motorway cruising is vastly reduced and I can hear the radio again. It's obviously not whisper quiet but dealing with the drone was my main aim so that is a big improvement. Drone still gets a bit high if having to pull up a hill with a bit more throttle, so may still swap the exhaust out. The downsides: - With the factory felt ruined I couldn't exactly work out the right thicknesses of CCF, plus I underestimated how much I might need. This means in the footwells the foam is only on either side of the central ridge, and then the MLV and Carpet is sat direct on the metal. In terms of sound and feel under foot it doesn't seem to have made a difference but the carpet doesn't fit quite so well, and is a bit loose in places. - Similarly either side of the transmission tunnels the CCF is thinner than the factory felt so the carpet isn't "filled out" against the trim so well. There's also a lot more heat coming through this area, so I think I need to revisit this area and get more foam down here maybe the stuff with the metal film on to help. Trouble is it's almost on the wrong side as the heat is already inside the car... It does get very hot down there though, either side of the gear shift, and it doesn't feel like it should. Anyone else get this?

When I took the car to Stealth they found it was stuck closed, which is why it wasn't idling properly without the open vacuum hose. They unstuck it, cleaned it with some carb cleaner and lubed it up, but said to keep doing it if it was still playing up. Was just seeing what new ones were available as an option. Had a few stalls since getting it back so will need to keep cleaning it.

I was in a similar position looking for one for an ABV engine (guessing the same part number) but all I could find from new was this one: 08SKV205 ESEN SKV Idle Control Valve, air supply Electric — Buy now! (autodoc.co.uk) By a brand called SKV. As far as I could ascertain they are Polish (Note the box in the picture says Germany, take from that what you will) and a fairly new company - but god knows on quality, you take your chance I suppose. For the time being I am going to stick with the OE one even if it is a bit iffy.

I'm fairly sure the original rubber ones are directional, with the longer tapered end pointing upwards, towards the chassis legs. Couldn't say on powerflex or anything like that though.

Thanks, yeah I think I have made a bit of an error there. All I can really find is bitumen underseal, and I am not a 100% sure if that is OK to use internally. I presume so, but don't want fumes leaching out! This stuff sounds like similar stuff by the description: Noxudol UM-1600 Underbody Coating (frost.co.uk) Reckon it would do the job? I think I'll give them a call tomorrow.

Unfortunately the centre console sound deadening was also pretty rotten so will replace. Did you leave the grey panel dampeners in place? Any idea what coating they used on the footwells? It's some sort of bitumen paint I think, a few mm thick. I suspect to help with panel damping.

Right, stripped out the interior and found the worst possible result - under the carpets (which have always been dry) in the footwells everything was absolutely soaked. Not entirely sure where this has come from. I had a matrix leak years ago but thought that had all dried out at the time. Perhaps it was just the carpets. It reeks under there as well. no idea how the smell didn't come out before. Anyway the upshot is that the factory felt material is beyond usable - so question is when you did your soundproofing did you put back the factory felt after you laid your new stuff, or did you remove it all completely and just use your closed/open cell foam layers? Edit to add, having thought about it more it would surely just be the new foam otherwise it'd all and up too thick. Second question though: I've had to peel off the grey panel dampers as they were soaked, but it's left a load of black bitumen/asphalt/whatever that was sticking it down. How best did you get this off? just scrape it off with a bit of heat I guess? Second Edit - Actually the black stuff is under the paint in the footwells, just an underseal type stuff I guess. What has happened is that the grey deadening has pealed the paint off revealing the black stuff, and it was such a mess under there I couldn't tell what was what. So having scraped some of it off I am a bit stuck. Any idea exactly what this stuff is and how I can replace it? Thinking it may have been better to leave the grey dampeners stuck down and let them dry out in place as they are obviously plastic things. Bah.

Thanks Hasan, gonna do a bit more reading around the subject before taking the plunge I think. Find out a bit more about the different products. Just a question though, how long did your install take you? Wondering if it's an easy weekend job.

Did you get any further with your sound proofing? I was looking at making the Corrado a bit more hospitable on long drives so was thinking about sound proofing. I have looked at this company to source materials from and the ranges seem simple to understand and they have a few guides. Sound Deadening Shop - Car Van & 4x4 Automotive Sound Proofing They seem to generally recommend a two stage process, which pretty well follows what you outlined: 1) Damping/deadening layer onto the metal panels, such as: Dodo Mat DEADN Hex Sheet – Sound Deadening Shop 2) Sound barrier, mass loading vinyl with the closed cell decoupling layer over the top: Dodo Barrier Pro – Sound Deadening Shop Which all sounds pretty straightforward, but I notice they don't included an open cell layer for sound absorption. I'm just wondering if that would still be useful, and then whether if you did that, that would go over the top of the MLV? They also sell this: Dodo Sound Stopper Pro v2 – Sound Deadening Shop Which does have open cell foam, a layer of MLV, plus a PU layer, so looks like more of a 1 stop shop, I assumed the PU would be a closed cell decoupling layer and be the side placed against the panels, but they describe it as the face, and protecting the open cell foam beneath, so I am a bit unclear on that. I thought open cell foam wouldn't work as a decoupling layer? Also, how much do you think your install weighed in the end?

Ahhh yes! I would like to go OBD2. I had a thought to do it during the rebuild but then I thought changing/fixing too much at once would create more chance for things to go wrong. In hindsight that was probably the time to do it though. Although saying that with how rushed it was in the end, maybe it was best I didn't add too much more to the job list. Can't really do it now though... so will have to find a fix for the idle valve.

Asked Vince to fit this when I had it in for the ABS and he said he's never fully got to the bottom of what the actual issue is. He doesn't think it's fuel related because in the past they've tested fuel pressure prior to starting and it's been fine - yet the engine will still turn over for ages before firing. The only method thing he's got to work is to briefly turn the ignition, less than a second, so the engine just starts to turn over, then turn it off. It will then start fire first time if you turn the ignition on again. I think he said his suspicion was that it was an oddity with the ECU, but he couldn't be sure. He fitted the non-return valve anyway, and to be honest he's right it's not really made a difference. Just have to file under mysteries of the VR6...! Anyway, ABS pump is all refurbed and working fine, so one less thing to worry about. But then they did find the idle control valve was faulty. Think it was just coked up and sticking before, so they cleaned it up and it is better, but still doesn't seem to work properly 100% of the time. Have to try and keep cleaning it as there don't seem to be many spares about... only new one is by a brand called SKV, which I have never heard of.

Further update on that, picked the car up from Stealth on Sat - ABS pump all refurbed - but they also looked at this more and found the idle valve was sticking. The engine had been running fine with the pipe uncapped because that was the only way it was getting in air to idle. When they were capped off it was stalling and hunting when driving and coming to a stop because the idle valve wasn't working properly. They got it off and cleaned it up with carb cleaner and some oil to free it up a bit and it has helped. On testing they found it stalled once but then was OK, and said it may still do this but to try and keep cleaning the valve. Since getting it back I have found it stalled a few times so this needs more work. Unfortunately it's obsolete from VW, hence why the didn't just replace and they've had mixed results with ebay specials. Will have a look to see if there are any new decent brands available. So not quite an easy fix, but at least I know what's going on now and can fix another gremlin!

Dropped the car off to Stealth today after the ABS light started coming on again (then stopped) and they diagnosed a valve fault so they'll get the pump off and send it to be reconditioned. It was looking pretty old and worn so will be nice to have another piece reconditioned - bit more piece of mind!

Took it into Stealth today for an ABS fault and mentioned this to Vince - he said it was most likely the ECU had adapted to the leak, and then when the holes were covered couldn't respond. They sealed them off and reset the ECU so hopefully that solves that one.

That's some great info, didn't realise it was an after fit. Maybe there is still some air in the system, but not sure what more I could have done to bleed it. Left the cap off until basically the last minute when the level was starting to rise and ensured I was getting heat into the heater matrix. I'll try fitting the valve anyway and see if that makes a difference. In hindsight I wished I'd changed the aux pump when I was putting the engine back together. From memory I had replaced the original which was leaking all over the shop with what I think was a Meyle one that doesn't fit properly in the mounts. Still seems to work fine though and I didn't get the gurgling before.

This is interesting. I too noticed these were exposed just after my rebuild but the engine ran fine. On enquiring on here and finding they are usually capped off I sealed them as I didn't have the caps. After I did this the engine ran horribly - idled OK but if I lifted off the throttle it would start hunting at idle and then stalling. I assumed the original caps weren't supposed to be air tight but were just to stop dust getting in so I unsealed them again until I got the caps. Everything has run fine in the meantime although I thought it odd that this was just unmetered air getting in, but ordered the caps anyway. Unfortunately ordered the wrong caps so still waiting for the right ones, but why would I be getting the opposite result of everyone else? I am assuming it means something else isn't quite right, perhaps the throttle needs adjusting slightly for idle?