Poorly VR6

[red_baron 0]

Anyone who's seen my other thread in the suppliers bit (http://www.the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?t=50283) will know I've been having one or two problems with my VR6 post timing chain / clutch replacement.

 

The car cut out on me this evening on the way home from work. When I tried to restart it, it wouldn't fire and sounded awful as it was turning. I tried about 8 or nine times to get it going, but in the end plumped for the AA man. When he arrived (after about an hour) hey-presto, it started first time.

 

(Since the chains were changed, I'm having issues with the switch between cold and hot running. At start up the revs are around 950rpm and when warm they are about 600 - nothing unusual there, apart from the change between the two. Instead of a gradual drop in revs, the drop comes all at once.)

 

Once I got going again, I had no speedo - the spoiler was also stuck half-way up. I pulled over again - luckily Mr. AA was just behind me so he messed around with some of the wiring looms (the looms are a mess since it came back from having the chains done) and this time everything seemes ok. During the drive home the speedo was a bit erratic - mainly showing the correct speed, but occasionally dropping and then rising again.

 

I'm going to try and get the ECU read to see if any faults have been logged - I'm also going to try and find out the correct positions for most of the wiring looms this weekend.

 

Anyone know what could have happened?

 

Cheers,

Ian

[Goldie 2]

Unsure mate but id be taking it back to the guy that did the work.

[CrazyDave 0]

I agree with Goldie. Sounds like they've removed or disturbed an earth cable to the engine or something. That would give loads of strange faults.

[red_baron 0]

I understand taking it back to them (DubSport in Wigan) would make the most sense, however I've got absolutely no confidence sending it back to them to sort it out. At the moment, once it starts, it seems to run ok. Its just getting the thing to start in the first place that's the issue...

 

I've had a more detailed look today to see if I can find out what the problems are. I've sussed out that the oil temperature gauge sender unit has broken (it looks like a sod to replace as there's no room!), but as for the starting issues... I haven't got a clue. One of the Forum members has said he'll run Vag-Com on it on Tuesday to see if any errors come up - cheers Reggit.

 

Sometimes it starts as though the battery is going flat (it isn't however) and makes a deep "wheezing" sound until it fires. Other times it just wheezes and once it just clicked as though something was shorting out. On that occasion, the alarm/immobiliser wouldn't turn off and it kept beeping at me!

 

I took it to DubSport as they have been recommended by loads of people and they do a lot of cars that get featured in magazines. The work wasn't cheap, but there are simple things wrong like some bolts are missing from the ignition lead holder (the black moulding on the top of the engine), a wiring loom has appeared between the back of the cooling fans and the block (in fact one of the connectors on the loom is almost touching the fan blades) - haven't a clue where it should go, but there are 2 clips attached to some of the wires that look like they should clip to a 40mm hose...

 

I suppose all I can do is wait for the outcome of the diagnostics and then take it further.

[Goldie 2]

Best of luck red_baron, i hope you get it sorted.

 

Dubsport doesnt sound as though it is the company that it once was.

 

Is Ian Birch still there these days??

[red_baron 0]

Not sure... Barry is the guy on the desk (he seems to know what he's on about but is really arrogant - particulatly when my tax disc had gone missing) and I think the boss is a bloke called Mark. Mark rang me last Monday after I'd sent the fax over to complain about the standard of the work and the broken (and misplaced) bits.

[mgbv8mike 0]

Red Baron

 

My VR6 has a circular earthing plate behind the engine, check that this has all the wires securely fitted and is well grounded., also that the circular multi-pin connector is tight.. they will have dis-connected both of these to work on your engine, and they may not be making good connections.

[Supercharged 2]

Could be an earth but it sounds like they simply dropped the gearbox on the sensor (which is about £15 from VW) but check the wiring to it first as they may have stretched it if they forgot to unplug it - tw4ts!

 

FYI - Most Dubsport customers seem to end up at Stealth getting there poor work fixed!

 

Is Ian Birch still there these days??

 

Ian sold it years ago mate and since then the reputation has gone down the pan, don't know why these people sell the name as well as it always ends up going down hill (TSR etc) - he now runs his own company making custom exhausts.

[red_baron 0]

Well, today's a bit of a write-off (Christmas do last night - feeling slightly delicate! :pukeright: ) so my Dad's going to take a look tomorrow. Failing that I'll (nervously) drive it to work on Tuesday and Reggit's kindly offered to do a VAG-COM on it.

 

Supercharged - what sensor is it that they might have damaged?

[Supercharged 2]

There is a speed sensor on the top of the gearbox - you'll see the wires going to it... this is what feeds the speedo.

[red_baron 0]

Just had an update from red_baron HQ (my Dad)... the earthing plate seems ok - everything is securely attached to it. He's noticed something else though that's a little more serious... the inlet manifold is held on with only 2 out of 5 bolts. I suppose this could cause the starting issues... especially the wheezing?

[Guest]

He's noticed something else though that's a little more serious... the inlet manifold is held on with only 2 out of 5 bolts. I suppose this could cause the starting issues... especially the wheezing?

 

they have got to be having a laugh mate?!?!?!?!!?!?

 

I'd ring them up and 'calmly explain all my grievances with them' :twisted:

[Goldie 2]

Wouldnt be happy about that!!

 

Good advice from Therapor, play it calm....

[red_baron 0]

Well, the inlet manifold is now securely held in place. There's still a smell of burning knocking around but I'm putting that down to the large amount of instant-gasket that appears to have been used during the "repairs" (my Dad reckons he saw smoke coming from the o/s front of the bonnet when he took it for a drive yesterday - bad enough to pull-over).

 

Everything seemed to be fine today until I drive home from work when I was getting an intermittent misfire - at times it was really noticable, but most of the time it was fine and pulling as good as ever.

 

I've managed to read the fault codes this evening, however the (borrowed) software isn't properly registered so not all the codes came up. After leaving the car standing for about 3 hours after coming back from work, there were 3 codes logged:

 

00522 - Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor (G62)

30-00 - Open or Short to B+

01249 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs

31-10 - Please Register/Activate - Intermittent

00525 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs

03-10 - Please Register/Activate - Intermittent

 

After clearing the codes, I end up with just the first one - the 00522 one. I drove it for about 1.5 miles and re-read the faults - this time I got 2 codes:

 

00522 - Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor (G62)

30-00 - Open or Short to B+

00525 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs

03-10 - Please Register/Activate - Intermittent

 

After clearing the codes again, I still keep getting the same one code - 00522.

 

Is the engine coolant temperature sensor the same as the in-radiator temperature sensor? If it is, this was replaced during the "repairs" (I supplied the part). Anyone know what "B+" refers to regarding the short or open circuit? Could I have been supplied with the wrong sensor?

 

As ever, any help gratefully received!

[red_baron 0]

p.s. I think 01249 relates to a problem with injector number 1 (although this hasn't reappeared after the first time I did the diagnostics, worryingly). 00525 is a problem with the lambda sensor - "00525 029 – Lambda Probe G39 Short Circuit To Earth" (taken from another bit of the forum).

[Dogzyboy 0]

I'm having problems with a 01253 fault code which says is related to Injector no 5. Sounds like we might hava similar problem.

 

I'm currently having a few ignition issues so I'm guessing that it might be related to that. I also need to clean up all the earth points at the weekend to see if that solves my problem?

 

I'll be interested to see how you get on with this. I hope you get it sorted soon as I know how irritating it is to have a random misfire :mad:

 

Doug

[NickVR6 0]

i didnt realise until changing the injectors on mine it had 3 bolts missing of the inlet, but that didnt seem to cause any problems for me, no excuse for it happening in the first place though.

 

Sounds like your getting lots of false readings from vagcom tbh.

 

ill check with the guys at the garage i work tom and see what they think, they are pretty darn good with obscure what could have been disturbed problems!

[vr6storm 0]

 

00522 - Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor (G62)

 

 

As ever, any help gratefully received!

 

 

that one is one of the sensors beside the thermostat and I think can be easily buggered when the thermostat and housing is disturbed,my one needed replaced just weeks after my thermostat and housing was replaced

[red_baron 0]

Well... after huge amounts of head-scratching and cross-referencing with the electronic parts guide yesterday evening I found an anomaly. The three ports on the RH front of the engine are colour-coded – from right to left they are yellow (temp gauge sender unit), blue (temperature sensor) and black (thermo-switch for switching off fan). The plugs are colour-coded in the same way, however some numpty hadn’t plugged them in correctly – the yellow one was fine but the black and the blue ones were the wrong way around, hence the open circuit or short that the VAG-COM was picking up! Now they’re plugged in correctly there’s no fault.

 

I’m still concerned that the lambda probe was being flagged up as an intermittent fault, but it’s not any more. It only appeared however after a 1-2 mile drive (after clearing the fault first) so tomorrow’s exercise is to see what happens after I’ve taken it for a spin. If it is faulty, is it easy enough to replace?

 

The other thing I did tonight was look at the engine water temp using VAG-COM. As far as I can see, my temperature gauge is giving me a reading around 5 degrees below the actual water temperature. The cooling fan cuts in at 84 degress (according to VAG-COM not the gauge), this sounds a bit low to me but is it correct?

 

I think she's almost back to full health! :lol:

 

Oh, and the injector error seems to have cleared itself after my Dad re-crimped the wires as they were looking a bit loose.

[Dogzyboy 0]

Oh, and the injector error seems to have cleared itself after my Dad re-crimped the wires as they were looking a bit loose.

 

Glad you seem to finally have it all sorted out mate.

 

Can I just ask, which wires were a bit loose & required re-crimping? Hoping this might be the case on mine too? :wink:

 

Cheers,

Doug

[red_baron 0]

To be honest I'm not sure which wires he crimped... He did point at something but I shall ask the question and let you know!

[tonedef 9]

 

The other thing I did tonight was look at the engine water temp using VAG-COM. As far as I can see, my temperature gauge is giving me a reading around 5 degrees below the actual water temperature. The cooling fan cuts in at 84 degress (according to VAG-COM not the gauge), this sounds a bit low to me but is it correct?

 

 

Checked mine last week, the fan cut in at 86 degrees so you're in company :)

[red_baron 0]

 

Glad you seem to finally have it all sorted out mate.

 

Can I just ask, which wires were a bit loose & required re-crimping? Hoping this might be the case on mine too? :wink:

 

Cheers,

Doug

 

There's a connector that's visible on top of the LH front injector (just visible behind inlet manifold) - sorry I'm a bit ignorant as to the injector number. He removed that and found that the wires were a bit loose so tightened everything up. Seems to have cleared that fault

[red_baron 0]

Took the car for a spin today and after a short journey (to buy petrol as she was thirsty) I got the old smell of burning and some smoke from under the bonnet (I didn't see any but my Dad reckons he did). When I got back I wired it up to VAG-COM again and had the fault code "00525 - Oxygen Sensor (G39) 03-10 - No Signal - Intermittent"

 

Is this the lambda sensor? Is the one on sale at vwspares (http://www.vwspares.co.uk/product_info. ... ts_id=2107) the correct one to go for?

[Supercharged 2]

It is and thats the part but check the wiring first, the plugs can wear if you have soggy engine mounts - there is also an earth point down there on the rear engine mount bracket where the plug is held on - worth cleaning this up...