new corrado owner! died while driving home!

[92corradoVR6 0]

new member here. looks like a cool forum, lotsa info!

 

picked up a 92 corrado VR6 on monday night from a friend. had a 1.5 year-old dead battery, so i threw in an Exide Marathon battery that i have from my race 65 corvair, and the VR6 started up on a charm. let it idle and warm up fully, then drove around the parking lot a bit, then checked the fluids, then off for a 5 mile test drive. ran absolutely great. tons of pull and chassis was set up just right. everything seemed pretty cool.

 

driving home, then car died on the freeway. the electrical system stayed on, lights / dash / and everything else ok, starter turned over great, but the engine didn't want to turn on. pulled over quickly, called up my friend, he comes and helps out. as i'm cranking the motor, he notices that there are sparks while cranking the starter from the transmission-ground wire area. we check that 13mm bolt, seemed loose, tightened it up fully. now, the car has stopped sparking from the transmission-ground wire area when cranking the starter, but no way to get the car fully running. so... towed the rest of the way home.

 

i did notice a few things today:

 

1. the one of the positive cables (dual wires) that goes from the + on the battery, to two 30amp fuses between the headlight and battery, seemed *SOMEWHAT* kinked from the slightly-larger exide battery sitting on it a bit, but the wire coating didn't puncture. the 30amp fuses were fine, and not blown.

 

2. the first time i started the motor today, after 2 days off, it kicked on for a few sputters, then died again. sounded really rough for about 2 seconds, then died.

 

3. when i turn the ignition key to the on position, the check engine light stays on. i'm not sure if this is supposed to stay only momentarily after turning the ignition on, or whether its a signal that i blew something in the ignition? not sure of this.

 

if the staying-on check engine light is a sign of a problem (just with the key turned to the on position, with no starting yet), are code-readers readily available for our cars? i could pick on up from a local auto joint....

 

or could i have fried the ignitor? i do have an extra one my friend gave me with the car.... but since it kicked over for about 2 seconds today, maybe thats not it?

 

thanks much guys!

 

.: new VR6 owner, slightly frustrated, but determined :.

[dr_mat 0]

Sounds like you have fuel supply problems to me ..

[vwdeviant 0]

See if some-one local has VAG-COM to scan for error codes...

 

But yeah sounds like fueling issues.. maybe blocked filters?

[Toad 0]

Chuck 5 l of fresh fuel in it... the guage could be rooted...

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Change the thread title for pity's sake...... it reads like "New Corrado owner died on the way home" :lol:

[jslootweg 0]

Change the thread title for pity's sake...... it reads like "New Corrado owner died on the way home" :lol:

 

 

Thats exactly how I read it! I was expecting to hear some sad story or something like that. I agree, re-word the thread title!

[Mystic Rado 0]

Glad you're not dead...:-) If the fuel's been sitting in the tank for 18 months it'll be way past its best - it deteriorates, evaporates and generally dies. Try draining it out and adding some fresh gas as suggested above.

 

[Mind you, I might have read your original post wrong, has the car been sitting for 18 months or is the battery just 18 months old and dead...]

[Rpmayne 0]

It might be worth borrowing an ECU if someone has one. Not sure if the VR ones are as vunerable as the mk2 digifant ones but I managed to blow one up by not tightening the earth strap to the block after doing the clutch. As I understood it, because there was not a good path directly back to the battery the starter motor current earthed through the ECU so frying it.

 

I've also had an ECU go in the VR (not my doing as far as I am aware) and the motor turned over fine but no sparks and the injectors stayed continuously open resulting in hydraulic lock.

 

Unless your 100% sure what you're doing I would get a reputable garage to take a look at it. No mk2 Golf prices with a VR, I bought alot of expensive cures for mine, half of which I probably didn't need. Problem is finding someone who knows about them.

[vwdeviant 0]

Amazed it even started with 18mth old fuel in it....!

 

And I agree with the change of thred title.... was expecting something a lot more creepy... and probably NSFW too.