Necessary modification for the G60 motor

What you are looking at is the waterpump on the PG supercharge motor as seen from below. Installed is a non-standard aluminum thermostat housing. A typical G60 motor will have a black water outlet made from plastic.

One of the most significant weaknesses in the Corrado is the use of plastic parts. I am sure there are cost and manufacturing factors which made the engineers choose to manufacture parts using moldable composites. These parts are manufactured to last for 4-5 years and then VWAG probably expected many of us to move on to newer cars.

One of the most well known of these parts is the Heat Exchanger which was subject to a Department of Transportation recall. The plastic ends on the heater matrix would crack and leak hot coolant on the feet of whomever was sitting in the passenger seat!

There are other plastic parts in the cooling system which also fail miserably. One little known part is the thermostat housing on the water pump. This small part is made from the same material used on the heater core and it too will become brittle with age. Most often it warps and begins to leak.

This is a simple and inexpensive fix that I believe to be an essential modification for any G60 owner who plans to keep his Corrado. The solution comes from another of the A2 brethren--the lowly 1985 1.8l low compression Golf. VWAG used an aluminum thermostat housing on these 82hp motors. This part is a direct replacement is identical to the plastic part used on our Corrados.

The power steering pump usually has to be temporarily relocated in order to reach this part. It uses the same two bolts and gasket. It is a simple fix that will eliminate the inevitable waterpump leak and ultimate failure of this hard to reach part.

There are other composite parts in the cooling system which we will discuss in later posts. Unfortunately, there are no direct replacement parts for those parts.