VR6 quick update and stories of woe :(

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Surely the rust would have been washed away with the fuel? How long has that been sat there like that?

[The_Dude 0]

Surely the rust would have been washed away with the fuel? How long has that been sat there like that?

 

 

Well it sat on my drive for about 2 weeks, but got started once or twice. Its odd, cos me and Dave had it running so I would have expected it to be washed away. I only think it sat at DG over the weekend before they started pulling it apart. :scratch:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Weird, not seen that before. On my engine the fatter end of the regulator is the return to the tank, so the injectors shouldn't have seen any of that rusty water if your rail is setup the same. Odd!

[The_Dude 0]

Well I was looking thru the history last night and there is a nice fat receipt from 2006 for a bottom end rebuild...nearly £3ks worth which did include chains. :( The rebuild was done by a company called enginetuner.co.uk who are based in Plymouth. So beware these cowboys! It had an ad for a company called Storm on the other side, I take it this is not Storm Developments, who seem to be a bit more reputable and based in Reading.

 

Pretty disappointing really, it was a contributing factor to me buying the car as I knew I'd be strapping extra power on the side...

 

It also had a brand new head! Hopefully I'll be able to keep that if its not too beggared, maybe get it ported too while I'm there.

[dukest 0]

hmm, i'd be taking DG's assessment down to them next time you were close by and seeing what they had to say for themselves...

[Philmo 0]

Commiserations Jim.

But congratulations on pulling it round to a positive way forward and best of luck. :clap:

Must keep the V9 flag flying!

[The_Dude 0]

Commiserations Jim.

But congratulations on pulling it round to a positive way forward and best of luck. :clap:

Must keep the V9 flag flying!

 

 

I find it hard to stay angry for too long, its just not in my nature, I'm too laid back for rage! 8)

Once I'd got home and calmed down and actually thought about it, I wanted to keep the car. Yeah, she's not perfect in many areas but it brings me fun, friends and outings and a new engine isn't that big a deal in the scale of things.

 

hmm, i'd be taking DG's assessment down to them next time you were close by and seeing what they had to say for themselves...

 

Could do, but they'd probably just say, "well its 4 years down the line and you strapped a supercharger to the side so what do you expect?"

But I do agree that the job they did was frikkin awful. I'd be surprised if they renewed half the things on the bill if the chains were down to the rivets. Oh and I think they were Scooby specialists which explains a lot, those engines go boom all the time anyway so they're probably used to doing and seeing shonky work.

[Toad 0]

It had an ad for a company called Storm on the other side, I take it this is not Storm Developments, who seem to be a bit more reputable and based in Reading.

 

:lol: No, they are w@nk, or certainly were in the old days.

[The_Dude 0]

It had an ad for a company called Storm on the other side, I take it this is not Storm Developments, who seem to be a bit more reputable and based in Reading.

 

:lol: No, they are w@nk, or certainly were in the old days.

 

Well I guess the moral of the story is don't trust anyone who calls their company Storm! :)

 

Plans are afoot for a new engine...

[Supercharged 2]

It had an ad for a company called Storm on the other side, I take it this is not Storm Developments, who seem to be a bit more reputable and based in Reading.

 

:lol: No, they are w@nk, or certainly were in the old days.

 

No, nothing to do with Storm Developements - Engineuner and Storm Performance are run by two brothers and they are Rice / Subaru 'specialists' - pretty poor rep from what I've heard!

[CazzaVR 0]

Just seen this, Jim- really glad you've decided not to break it So gutting when things like this happen, and they always seem to happen when you're skint :( Totally worth sorting the old girl though 8)

[Walesy 0]

Dunno if this is any good to you mate, but it seems like a good price for a low mileage car and you could sell most of it off to make your dosh back - breaking a MK3 has to be better than a rado! :lol:

 

http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=631475

[The_Dude 0]

Dunno if this is any good to you mate, but it seems like a good price for a low mileage car and you could sell most of it off to make your dosh back - breaking a MK3 has to be better than a rado! :lol:

 

http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=631475

 

 

Cheers for the link Walesy, but unfortunately I'm not in a position to do a cash buy of a car. Pity really as it would work out more economical in the long run, but atm I just don't have the readies, so its gonna be a credit card special! :grin:

[big ben 10]

just get a credit card cheque mate, that looks a bargain and a half!!

[poll250 0]

Some cards also do Balance Transfers to current accounts with highly reduced interest rates - Virgin for example. HTH

 

Andy

[millerman 0]

jim sorry to hear your problems with the engine mate and glad your not gonna break it but

remember one thing at least you can still look at your car out of the window mate and be safe in the knowledge you will drive her

in all her glory again one day

 

unlike me :(

 

dont worry im over it now really :D :lol:

 

chin up mate it will all be good again soon :D

[The_Dude 0]

jim sorry to hear your problems with the engine mate and glad your not gonna break it but

remember one thing at least you can still look at your car out of the window mate and be safe in the knowledge you will drive her

in all her glory again one day

 

unlike me :(

 

dont worry im over it now really :D :lol:

 

chin up mate it will all be good again soon :D

 

 

Cheers Kel, unfortunately I can't see it as its at DG but I know what you mean!

 

You decided what you're going to do about a replacement yet?

[rado2 0]

I feel for you mate i had a b5 passat 1.8t which i spent about 11k on and made it a 320bhp monster was a beast i did the same thing never replaced the head bolts stretched them and bag head gasket and shagged engine, i sold it for a grand cos i had enough of it . then my girlfriend got me a day in a r8 as a present and it reminded me so much of my white corrado i had years ago . so when i got home i went out and brought a storm grey vr6 corrado cos its the closest thing i will ever get to a r8 . I have had it 8 months and done just over 1000 miles in it cos it always goes wrong so over the winter i have been slowly rebuilding it and doing it properly. i still need to sort the engine like chains head etc which i dont feel confident in doing myself so know it will be a huge bill and i still want to turbo charge it at some point. I brought house a few months back and have no cash . i guess if cars and for that matter the corrado is a passion and a hobbie you will find a way there always is. We have to meet our responsibilitys but life is to short to miss out on what gives us pleasure hang in there bud it will be ok .

[rsgntx 0]

Thought i would post this on your thread! i know you thought about throwing in the towel but glad to see you got something going! all will be good!!! :D

[The_Dude 0]

That photo makes me really miss my car...its been quite a while since I saw it. I must say its looking a bit sorry for itself. :( I'm glad I decided not to break it for parts, but I don't think my bank account is too happy about it.

Anyway, an update....

The supercharger and water injection is sold. :(

I have sourced a nice cheap block thru DG (thanks guys!) and a rebuild is in progress as we speak. :clap:

 

There are some bad things I'm finding out about my car though. I'm not going to name and shame the garages responsible, but my god, I wish I had some mechanical knowledge as I could have saved myself a lot of wasted money. Such as the water pump being welded to the block. :censored:

And the "custom plate" which was fabricated to hold my water injection pump turns out to be a crap flat bit of rusty metal.

2.8l 24v Climatronic system.pdfIMG_6807.jpg[/attachment:2nw1hxgj]

Done by the same garage who fitted my coillies and forgot to do up the nearside rear top nut. No wonder it felt odd. :brickwall:

Then there was the maf wiring, source of a lot of my running problems methinks...

Crap maf wiring.jpg[/attachment:2nw1hxgj]

 

Its taken me a while to find a garage who I trust and that give good customer service, but DG Autotech get my vote. Nice guys, totally genuine and friendly who want things to be done right and and what's the best for me and my car, and not just to take my cash and do a half-assed job.

[A5 VRX 0]

Totally agree with you there, some of the work carried out by garages is shocking, why cant they do a decent job? I would rather (and i am!) driving my car with little faults until i can get down to DG again and have them sorted properly. Glad to see your sticking with the car though and getting it running again!

 

AJ

[KADVR6 0]

 

There are some bad things I'm finding out about my car though. I'm not going to name and shame the garages responsible, but my god, I wish I had some mechanical knowledge as I could have saved myself a lot of wasted money. Such as the water pump being welded to the block. :censored:

And the "custom plate" which was fabricated to hold my water injection pump turns out to be a crap flat bit of rusty metal.

2.8l 24v Climatronic system.pdfIMG_6807.jpg[/attachment:1vpempzb]

Done by the same garage who fitted my coillies and forgot to do up the nearside rear top nut. No wonder it felt odd. :brickwall:

Then there was the maf wiring, source of a lot of my running problems methinks...

Crap maf wiring.jpg[/attachment:1vpempzb]

 

 

name and shame them mate, it may stop people going there, or at least it will make them weary of going there,

 

but glad its being looked after by some "proper" mechanics who will/do take pride in there work.

[The_Dude 0]

The water pump I presume was done by the muppets who did the rebuild before I bought the car. Storm in Plymouth.

The suspension and water injection was done by Tuning Werkes in Croydon. You may know them, they are a sponsored advertiser on ED38. They couldn't even get the water injection working, when I picked up the car they said, "oh yeah its all working, the lights are flashing on the controller" so I take it out for a drive and don't notice any difference. I look in the manual (which they also had) to check what the lights should be doing and lo and behold they flash when its inactive and are constant when it injects. At no stage does it go constant. I take it back and they say they will ring Schimmel. Two weeks of silence pass and when I ring them the word is "schimmel said its not really worth it for your setup and that the pump can sometimes stick on" Bullsh*t says I, bet you didn't even ring him, but I've had enough and take the car back. So they have charged me for this install, not got it working and then said they can't/won't get it working. I take it to DG who set it up properly no problem.

The suspension felt odd not long after it was fitted and the steering quickly started pulling to the left, but I put it down to bad alignment caused by the shocking roads round here. As the car is at DG having the injection looking at I ask them to have a look at it as well. Turns out the nsr top nut wasn't done up properly and the rear bushes were fecked. Again, Tuning Werkes took my money and didn't fit the parts properly. Amateurs. (I actually got them fitted the other way round, suspenders first then injection, but it was quite close together and I hadn't had time to realise how shocking they were)

 

I'll post about the maf a bit later as there was a catalogue of errors in that install and it will take a while to write...I'm not gonna say who did it as its a well respected garage used by many people on here, but if you look back thru my posts in this thread its pretty obvious. Unfortunately some folk won't hear a bad word about them. :roll:

[Jim 1]

Naming and shaming is fair enough. Even if they're a garage that a lot of people trust / believe in, they will still make mistakes or have bad days.

[The_Dude 0]

Naming and shaming is fair enough. Even if they're a garage that a lot of people trust / believe in, they will still make mistakes or have bad days.

 

OK, you asked for it.

 

There's making mistakes and there's being sloppy and taking shortcuts. I believe Stealth did the latter when they fitted my supercharger.

 

I'll start with the service. When I rang to get a quote on fitting and mapping I told them exactly what I had (everything that was needed for an install) and they gave me a quote of £600-800 +vat. When I got the bill it was £1200 +vat. I had factored in for an underestimation of maybe £200, but didn't expect it to be almost twice as much. I drop my car off having driven 3 hours from south London and am virtually ignored. I get asked for the keys and a phone number and that's about it and the mechanic starts to walk off. Bearing in mind they are in the middle of nowhere I ask how I can get to a station. I get a grudging "oh I suppose I'd better call you a taxi then" Damn right pal! How the hell did you think I was gonna get home? You didn't even bother to inquire if I had brought a mate in a second car. No, you just walked off. (also bear in mind that DG are also in the middle of nowhere and have no problems giving lifts to and from the station)

 

Two weeks later I go to pick up my car. Again I am ignored when I walk into the garage (having paid for another taxi), I'm looked at by a couple of the people who work there, including Vince, who then go back about their business as if I wasn't there. No "can I help you?" So I walk up to Vince who is remapping and tell him why I'm there. "Ok, be with you soon." About 40 mins later he makes an appearance and then I am presented with the bill. On it is a few things that weren't mentioned when I booked it, which have bumped up the total. Grrrrr.

 

Which is where we come to the install.

They fitted the Mocal oil cooler in the nearside wheel arch instead of in front of the radiator, which is where it is in every other Corrado I've seen. Because of this they have to have specially long hoses made (for £50!). I had also supplied what Mocal had told me were the right hoses but Stealth told me were for a 16v? So why didn't they tell me so I could get them replaced for free instead of ordering the extra long ones at my expense? The location of the fit is very curious. Not only has it got coated in water and road grime from the wheel, it smokes in rainy traffic which was very disconcerting the first time it happened as I thought I was on fire, but two winters later and its going rusty and gets really dirty. At the time I had 18" wheels on and the mounting bracket at the top of the cooler only just missed the wheel by about 5mm when stationary and level. I parked on a hill at the time and when I reversed and turned it would catch the bracket and began to tear it open. Once I saw oil appearing on the wheel I had a look and rang Stealth who replaced it for free. Well, when I say free, it cost me £60 in petrol to get there and back and I used 5 litres of oil topping up on the way there. It was also very dangerous as the nearside wheels and brakes where covered in the stuff as I was driving along and I had a couple of hairy moments. The bottom of the car was also utterly coated. "Well you won't have to underseal for a few years" said one mechanic as it was up on the ramps. Ha f*cking ha you muppet. You should have checked the clearance when you fitted it and leave the smart arse comments to yourself.

 

A few months later I am getting more issues, it would stutter and occasionally refuse to rev, especially when I had low fuel in the tank. I take it back up and mention this. It gets taken out and tested for 5 minutes and is pronounced healthy. Vince then tells me that I need a stronger spring in the diverter valve as the one they supply isn't quite up to the job. OK, so why didn't you do this when you installed it? (tho I didn't say this at the time, I was just relieved that it wasn't anything more major. Or so I thought). Another £60 of petrol wasted. I get about 10 miles from home, getting low on fuel again and just about to get off the motorway when it won't rev so I pull onto the hard shoulder and then it won't start. I get towed to a local garage where I describe the symptoms and they say that its probably the fuel pump. Which it is. Another thing missed by Stealth.

 

And now the MAF wiring. As you can see from the picture I have posted they used crimps instead of solder. What the hell were they thinking? They obviously weren't trying to do a decent job. A year later I was having running issues again. More stuttering, hesitation, stalling and the engine would cut out for a second and I would lose all forward momentum, often just as I was pulling away from the lights. I trace this back to maf, located under bumper where I can't see it, but if I wiggle it the problem goes away. Quite embarrassing and dangerous when you have to pull over in traffic and hop out into the road and lie down to do it. I can even make it the revs change by poking the wire. It gets worse and worse so I decide to convert to OBD2 and end these shenanigans once and for all. Up to DG it goes and as Graham is taking it for a drive he can tell something is wrong. He reaches under and gives the wires a tug and 3 of them pop off. I mean come on, even an amateur like me knows that the maf wiring is pretty damn important and should not be extended using crimps.

 

Which lastly brings me on to the head bolts. I now know that it is essential to put on non-stretch bolts to ensure they don't stretch under boost and cause head gasket failure. This was not mentioned when the install was done and sure enough a few months ago I am doing a prolonged high speed run on a private runway when they failed. Luckily I limped home, but that was it. I'd had enough and needed a change.

 

So those are my reasons why Stealth won't ever get my business again except for forum dyno days where they can only rev the engine. If Vince reads this he needs to have a serious think about both his attitude to customers and the attention to detail and quality of work on special installs. Considering the V9 conversion was meant to be something they were pretty much the best at, I have found the quality to be severely lacking.