[ba] 82 audi coupe dies intermittently

[urq]

... the long crank times may be indicative of a residual pressure issue such
as a fuel pump check valve, fuel pressure accumulator or fuel distributor
pressure regulator ... but there is no way this would cause stalling after
the engine has started and is running.

Fortunately the engine control stuff on the '82 CGT is pretty
straightforward ... what you need to do is to find out if the engine is
losing fuel or spark.  One clue I look for is to see if the tach drops
immediately to -0- as soon as the engine loses power ... this is indicative
of a loss of spark ... if the tach goes to zero slowly as the engine slows
it is probably that you are losing fuel.  Can you hear the fuel pump on the
car when it is running?  If so, do you hear the sound change with these
events ... or does the pump even go silent?  If you think it is a loss of
spark it may be the Hall Sender on the distributor (is the connector broken
by any chance?)  You might even want to pull off the distributor cap, rotor
and the plastic shroud and check to see if the wires to the Hall Sender are
being cut by the shutter wheel.  The next in line is the coil driver ...
probably located to the dash stiffener above the glovebox.  Finally it might
be the ignition coil itself.

Hope this helps!  Good luck!
Steve B.
San Jose, Kaleefohnia (USA)
>
> I have an intermittent issue on my car that has me stumped. It started
> in the summer and I thought it was heat related but it's now doing is
> even when cold.
>
> Initially, I could start and drive the car any distance with no
> problems and then park it. If I started it up again within, say, half
> and hour and drove it, sometime during the next 5-20 minutes it would
> die. Restarting would be very difficult unless I waited about 30
> seconds. Then it would start and run for some period of time, 5
> minutes, 30 minutes or all the rest of the day.
>
> I got in the habit of getting out and removing the gas cap and that
> seemed to make it start faster/easier, so I thought it was a venting
> issue for the fuel system.
>
> Eventually it got to where it was doing it even when it wasn't hot and
> when I talked with a local mechanic he suggested replacing the fuel
> pump check valve. I did that and that seems to have made the problem
> worse. He said that it could be the fuel pump but as it starts okay
> when cold and when running, runs normal but then just dies, I wonder if
> it isn't something else. Once I wait to start it, it does start back up
> without seeming to have to pump/pressurize the system.
>
> Any advice/tips are appreciated.
>
> Again, it's a stock 1982 Coupe.