Warning to all VSR owners!!

[TREVR6 0]

Hello everyone :) I'm writing to tell you all about an experience I've had recently with my vr6.

I'm fairly sure it was just very bad luck and a compleet one off. I feel I should warn you though as it could so easily have been avioded!!

Situated in the center of the intake manifold is a vacume opperated flap, I'm sure you know the one, but if not I've pointed it out on my photo. a small piece (postage stamp size) of said flap, broke off, entered cylinder 3, cost me money and left via the exhaust. The little sod pebble dashed a piston bent a valve and gave the head a good pasting too! Oh yea and my poor little spark plug! :cry:

There is no sign of impact to the remainder of "the culprit" and a fully intact air filter suggests nothing has been in to damage it. It is cracked however and very brittle leading me to believe it was simply down to metal fatique! it'll have opened and closed a time or two since 1993!!

I wonder how many others are on the brink of disaster, or indeed if anyone has had a similar experience????

In one respect I was, I supose, quite lucky. It happened whilst at fairly low revs, my head skimmed out ok and somehow it didn't score the bore, phew!!

I don't want to scare you all but it may be worth checking, it could have been so much worse!!!!

I laser profiled a new flap out of spring steel (plenty spare if anyone wants one) bolted it on with st/st bolts and tig welded the nuts on, just to be sure!!! :wink:

 

 

dinkus edit: De-capped ;)

[VR6 0]

VSR manifold!!!

[Storm 0]

Lucky git?!?!?. :-P You have a performance mod on your engine worth a few quid, anywhere from £600 -1000 depending on who's buying. Standard cars do not have that flap. Effectively you have variable intake length tracts, from that thing marked VSR.

[VR6 0]

I'll give you £200 + my old manifold and that's being generous.

 

Ignore Storm, he talks out of his ass

[Storm 0]

I agree ignore me, all that stuff above it crap. That flap is an errant cat flap that an elderly owner fitted by mistake and you need to get rid of it. You can have £202 + my old manifold from me

[TREVR6 0]

Sorry, I didn't realise I was special. I've edited the title to suit. Damage cost me about £750 so me and my VSR are about even!!!!!!! :oops:

[Andy Brookes 0]

you lucky bugger!!! what a nice suprise!

[VR6 0]

You're not special.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

£205

[TREVR6 0]

DON'T THINK I'LL SELL IT THANKS GUYS. AFTER ALL WE'VE BEEN THROUGH QUITE A LOT TOGETHER. SKINNED KNUCKLES, SWEAT AND TEARS ALL COS OF THAT PESKY FLAP!!! :wink:

[chargedupstorm 0]

This is just as likely happening on a car fitted with a Schrick VGI, never mind the VSR.

Even more likely if you have forced induction and the same setup... what have I let myself in for?

Out of interest TREVR6 - what colour is your Corrado and what age is it, it looks very similar to Tom Sewell's old VR6.

At least it's sorted now... !

[corradovr6sc 0]

I've heard of that happening before on FI cars with variable manifolds but I think it's very rare. However some people apply loctite to the bolts which hold the flap just in case.

[TREVR6 0]

IT'S A 93 K, DARK METTALIC GRAY (NEARLY BLACK), I BAUGHT IT TWO YEARS AGO FROM A OLD FELLA CALLED RODNEY IT WAS IN FLEETWOOD AT THE TIME! I'M THE FOURTH OWNER DUNNO WHO HAD IT BEFORE RODDERS!!! :lol: IS THIS THE ONE YOU THAUGHT IT MIGHT BE???? :roll:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

So the manifold was dealer/factory fitted?? Just curious as you said the flap will have opened/closed a fair few times since 1993.... Who ever bought your car new in 93 and had that fitted as an option wasn't short of a bob or two! It was a £2000 accessory at the time IIRC and very limited numbers made....quite the little sought after part!

 

As the others have said, the Schrick version of that manifold has the same weakness but 10 years isn't a bad lifespan tbh....shame it had to take a piston and valve down with it :x

 

One advantage of the Schrick is you can check the valve when changing the plugs (has to come off to change them)!! The VSR is fit and forget......so the valve is never checked!

[chargedupstorm 0]

No TREVR6, the car I was thinking of was Khaki green pearl and believed to be the only VR6 in this colour in the country.

Again out of interest, do you have the paint code of yours, (Located in your owners handbook on the paper sticker inside cover, or rear boot, and orange sticker on offside front wing adjacent to air filter) or can you post some more pictures of your car it looks an interesting colour all the same.

[chargedupstorm 0]

One advantage of the Schrick is you can check the valve when changing the plugs (has to come off to change them)!! The VSR is fit and forget......so the valve is never checked!

Yes but you soon get fed up of the b@ll ache having to remove the inlet each time you change the plugs or have engine needs ;-)

Especially when you have air con pipes and a strut brace !! It was slam panel off to make things easy for me!

[Rpmayne 0]

That's what put me off with the Shrick VGI. Shame they couldn't have made it so the plugs could still come out, leads look tidy and bonnet doesn't need hacking. Are the VSR's still available from anywhere? Would be well chuffed if I bought a VR and found it had one fitted already from new.

[chargedupstorm 0]

I'm afraid the VSR's are like rocking horse sh1t -

For more info take a look on this thread :

 

http://www.the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewto ... highlight=

[TREVR6 0]

YEAH I THINK IT MUST HAVE BEEN A VW DEALER JOB AS IT SAYS "VSR VW PIERBERG" ON IT HENCE MY NOT REALISING IT WAS A BIT OF A SPECIAL ITEM!! IT'S ALWAYS JUST BEEN THERE YOU SEE!! :oops: IRONIC REALY THAT THE ONE THING THAT'S CAUSED ME SO MUCH HASSLE HAS TURNED OUT TO BE A BIT OF A JEM!

 

 

 

 

 

chargedupstorm

THE PAINT CODE IS LA7U 03

PUT YOU A COUPLE OF PICS UP THEY'RE NOT THE BEST, I'LL BE PUTTING SOME MORE IN MY GALLERY SOON :!:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Trev - Your car looks great. I love those wheels, what are they? Pierburg invented the VSR manifold but VW bought the rights and co-developed it. Schrick made their own version later on but has un-equal length inlets (unlike the VSR) to further boost torque, and it really works.

And before you get moaned at, drop the caps :wink:

 

Guy - Yeah it is a ball ache. Changed my plugs this very eve actually, flap all OK and it took all of 30 mins.....but then I don't have a brace or air-con :wink: I can live with 30 mins of fecking about once a year.

[TREVR6 0]

THANKS V. MUCH, WHAT A DIFERENCE A SUNNY DAY MAKES! THE WHEELS ARE "ANTERA" NOT SURE WHAT MODEL THOUGH SORRY. THEY'RE ONLY 16'S THOUGH! WHAT A DIFERENCE AN INCH MAKES!!

[chargedupstorm 0]

TREVR6, Very nice example of a Pearl Grey Metallic VR6 you have there, quite an unusual colour by all accounts too. And a local Lancs/cumbria car with the EC number plate.

 

Kev, my problem was my Schrick gaskets were disintergrating due to the methanol injection of aquamist :-0 - made it a little more of a job as well.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Can you get spare gaskets guy? Mine was looking a little knackered when I took it off, it's a bit of a cornflake packet job really. Surely Schrick could have done better than that!

 

Aquamist...good stuff that. Used to use it on my MK2 16V turbo with a 9 litre washer bottle....and i needed that much, LOL! The inlet manifold was stone cold after an hour's thrape...

Has your kit got the flow sensor valve? I had an early kit and the only way I could tell if the pump was working was to hang the jet pipe out of the bonnet and see if it squirts when the map sensor triggers it, LOL!

[chargedupstorm 0]

I only recently bought the DD2 (Dash Display System2) including the flow sensor for my Aquamist kit... expensive at over £100 for what it is, but I'm investigating wiring it up to a Y band sensor in the cat-bypass pipe and then trigger a re-circ valve when the car is running lean. Obviously have to work out how to get a solonoid to trigger the release of the valve as the current re-circ only works on -ve vac.

No I asked both AmD and Vince to try and order me some Schrick inlet specific gaskets in the past, but to no avail. I ended up making my own out of gasket paper which was time consuming in itself.

To be honest you could get away with an OEM metal gasket on the Throttle body, I'm currently doing that on the VSR as I hate the 'making your own' procedure with relish!

Or another trick of the trade, the gaskets from a Ford galaxy are cheap as chips and most motor factors stock them... they aren't metal but seem to last the same distance.

[Supercharged 2]

I've just put the Shrick catalogue in this thread...

 

http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic. ... 450#231450

 

Can you not get the gaskets from them?? - It may be worth sending them an email...

 

BTW, Kev, not sure If I showed you but I got the DDS2 device with my kit...

 

Guy, are you using water/methanol or just screenwash..? how much does it use, I take it you use the 7ltr water bottle...?

[chargedupstorm 0]

Guy, are you using water/methanol or just screenwash..? how much does it use, I take it you use the 7ltr water bottle...?

 

I'm using a combination of both really, I got baffled by the maths but with my current flow rate but I could easily go through an entire washer bottle in 2 tanks of fuel and heavy on boost driving.

I'm currently working on this recommendation:

'What is the maximum alcohol/ water ratio I should use?

No more than 50%, otherwise you will increase the cylinder temperature rather than reducing it. Beyond that ratio, onset of detonation is more likely. Methanol freezes at -96 deg. C, 50% mixture will stop the mixture from freezing at around -40 deg.C.'

By using an air / fuel ratio gauge you will get a good idea of what job the Aquamist is doing.

I'm going to do some inlet temp logs with VAG-COM with it switched off and switched on to give some valid comparisons. For sure my car runs better when it's running!

I'll even be armed with ice cubes for the washer bottle on my next power run too!