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dsdev

Engine lumpy at Idle... ?

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Hi Guys, new here.. and to the rado scene too!

 

i just bought a 95 Black VR6 Corrado, 50k miles on clock, it's in damn good condition.. however, theres a couple of things i feel i need to check out.. and wondering if anyone has any "initial" ideas?

 

firstly: was air-con an option ? sure i saw an old corrado poster saying it was standard... it's a 95 Karmaan edition.. so it's got the heated leather seats, etc.. but no air-con.. that bugs me.. any ideas how easy it is to fit an aircon system from an old corrado ?

 

secondly: wether it's a fresh start in the morning, OR if i've driven around for an hour or more.. when i stop take out of gear and leave the car running.. at idle, it's lumpy.. i know thats not much help.. but picture it :) the car seems to be idling at about 600-800rpm.. (ish) this moves slightly when the fan kicks in.. and the car actually bumps all around at idle.. it almost makes me feel sick it's burbling around so much.. i was told this could be a timing belt issue.. but at 50k miles?!!

 

thirdly: battery performance.. the car has a new battery, but the other night, i was waiting on a side road for my girlfriend.. silly bint took 45mins to get there.. well anyway, i was there and i had the radio and heaters on.. for about 30 mins of that time.. so when she gets there i try start.. battery dead.. boy did i look a fool... is there anything i can do to improve this ?

 

think thats about it for now.. if anyone can offer any advice i would very much appreciate it..

 

Thanks all :)

 

Dave

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Quick answers:

 

air con - no factory air con option for RHD cars.

 

lumpy idle - there's many discussions on the VR lumpy idle on the forum, have a dig around. This can be for many many reasons, not always an indication that something is "wrong"

 

battery - buy a new one!!!

 

Make sure your alternator is charging it properly first.

 

When you say "heaters" I hope you don't mean you had the seat heater on for 45 minutes?!

Dunno how many watts they are, but if it's anything about 2-300 Watts you're looking at 16 amps current, which will drain a FULL 64 Ah battery in around 3-4 hours.

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air con - some dealer-fit air con cars are kicking about, but it's rare, and not very good, by all accounts.

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Welcome to the forum!

 

Air-con, sorry don't know the answer to that but Roddy will know for sure.

 

Idle - That's just the way the 2.9 VR6 is I'm afraid. Trying to get one to idle smoothly 100% of the time is very time consuming and unproductive 90% of the time. I'm sure there is an underlying reason for it but as yet, it's got many people stumped. The VR6 is timed with chains and yes if the tensioner wears excessively, it will throw out the cam timing slightly, but I wouldn't expect that problem from 50K engine.

 

Battery - The heater fan draws a good few amps and the radio can suck about 2-3 amps from the battery aswell. Best bet is to fit the biggest battery humanly possible and be done with it!

 

Kev

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Welcome to the forum!

 

Air-con, sorry don't know the answer to that but Roddy will know for sure.

 

 

someone call me :p:p :lol: :lol:

dsdev,.............seriously A/C as far as i'm aware was only a dealer-fit option(that very few dealers actually offered) and not a factory-fit option from Karmann on RHD later cars at least.....also every Corrado is a Karmann edition........all of them should still have the "karmann" badge between the handbrake and G/knob except of course the "storm".........they were built there :lol: :lol: leather was just an option on all Corrado's save for the "campaign" and "storm"which had leather as standard............

 

 

your idle sounds about right tbh......as the C VR6 idles at approx 650rpm +/-50 IIRC.....although its not the smoothest of idling engines at the same time it shouldn't feel like its about to stall....its maybe because you are not used to the engine's characteristics :wink:

 

 

anyway hth and welcome to the forum :wink:

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Plug in VAGCOM and the software should tell you your VR6 is idling at 680rpm.... Ive been told by a few people that if the rev counter needle is not moving when the car is idling then you dont have a problem - if it is moving about then you need to take a look at it.

 

I was always complaining to my mate about my idle as I had just traded up from a 16V Corrado and it felt really lumpy on tick over compared to my valver that was always sillky smooth on idle to the point I had to check the rev counter to see if it was still running :lol: - I then compared it to my mates 70k miles Storm (Showroom condition) and found that both cars were exactly the same .... got used to it now and I put it down to the fact its such a powerful engine :D

 

Look at the skylines for instance - totally over engineered yet Ive listened to a few and they 'burble' on idle and you can feel the engine idling lumpy *:)

 

Scott

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Hi Guys, new here.. and to the rado scene too!

 

i just bought a 95 Black VR6 Corrado, 50k miles on clock, it's in damn good condition.. however, theres a couple of things i feel i need to check out.. and wondering if anyone has any "initial" ideas?

 

firstly: was air-con an option ? sure i saw an old corrado poster saying it was standard... it's a 95 Karmaan edition.. so it's got the heated leather seats, etc.. but no air-con.. that bugs me.. any ideas how easy it is to fit an aircon system from an old corrado ?

 

secondly: wether it's a fresh start in the morning, OR if i've driven around for an hour or more.. when i stop take out of gear and leave the car running.. at idle, it's lumpy.. i know thats not much help.. but picture it :) the car seems to be idling at about 600-800rpm.. (ish) this moves slightly when the fan kicks in.. and the car actually bumps all around at idle.. it almost makes me feel sick it's burbling around so much.. i was told this could be a timing belt issue.. but at 50k miles?!!

 

thirdly: battery performance.. the car has a new battery, but the other night, i was waiting on a side road for my girlfriend.. silly bint took 45mins to get there.. well anyway, i was there and i had the radio and heaters on.. for about 30 mins of that time.. so when she gets there i try start.. battery dead.. boy did i look a fool... is there anything i can do to improve this ?

 

think thats about it for now.. if anyone can offer any advice i would very much appreciate it..

 

Thanks all :)

 

Dave

 

every single corrado in the world is a 'karmann edition', they were the people who built them!! :lol:

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hi guys,

 

thanks for your help, seems like theres not much wrong with it then! obviously, i didnt know every corrado was a karman, but i do now!!

 

im gonna go out and find the best possible battery and see what i can do .. hopefully i wont have a re-occurance of that fateful night. apart from the couple of things i posted, the car is generally tidy..

 

I notice someone asked where i found a 95 rado with 50k miles :) if you want a nice clean quiet rado come to jersey :) this car has had 2 female owners.. from new it was owned by a 60 year old granny, and then a police woman.. so i can guarantee it hasn't been ragged..

 

cost me £5750 .. . im guessing thats an OK price... theres a couple dents, but thats definately only a dent wizard job, they arent bad at all.. and apart from that the original 8 yr old wheels haven't even been scuffed.. so all in all im pretty chuffed..

 

Oh... your completely right about not being used to it.. i've been driving a 99 Audi S4 for the last 2 years.. was my baby. but alas.. she was just to expensive to run/insure, so i sold it to my dad :) it was putting out 343bhp and 400lb/ft torque and was the smoothest car i've even been in.. fantastic.. but i'll admit i've always had a hankerring for vw's little super coupe..

 

thanks for the help,

 

Dave

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Oh... your completely right about not being used to it.. i've been driving a 99 Audi S4 for the last 2 years.. was my baby. but alas.. she was just to expensive to run/insure, so i sold it to my dad :) it was putting out 343bhp and 400lb/ft torque and was the smoothest car i've even been in.. fantastic.. but i'll admit i've always had a hankerring for vw's little super coupe..

 

So do you agree with the majority of motoring journos that Audi's have numb and lifeless steering? Seems to be the only thing that stops them getting 5 out of 5.

 

Not having a pop, I just can't believe a car as sexy as the RS4 can possibly be as bad (on the steering) as they say....

 

Kev

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in standard form they are not as impressive as they sound on paper.

i bought my S4 about 18 months ago, and as you probably know they are 265bhp standard..

 

well, from a chip, exhaust & Downpipes.. it boosted up to 343.. was really impressed with that.. and include the fact i fitted 18" wheels, H&R coilovers with racing springs and porsche 993 bi-turbo brakes, it totally transformed the car.. its fantastic. oh.. and if theres anyone looking for 1 single mod to improve the whole driving experience in an S4, buy a short shift gear change kit.. wow..

 

Dave

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Was the S4 the biturbo V6? Sorry I was thinking of the new shape RS4 V8, doh, but that also has 340ish bhp, hence the mistake!

 

I was taken round castle coombe in an ABT fettled S4......it was mental. I Didn't hear the ABT rep complaining about the numb steering, though!

 

Yours sounded like a really nice car. Shame you had to part with it :(

 

The C must feel lethargic by comparison?

 

Kev

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your idle sounds about right tbh......as the C VR6 idles at approx 650rpm +/-50 IIRC.....although its not the smoothest of idling engines at the same time it shouldn't feel like its about to stall....its maybe because you are not used to the engine's characteristics :wink:

 

My engine idles lumpy like everyone else's apparently, but on very frequent occasions, it sounds like it will stall, and then it often does. My engine has ~75k miles on it(swapped at around 50k) and the rest of the car(trans,chassis) has ~125k miles.

 

Cheers.

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