'78 80 (Fox): battery light stays on

[Ti Kan]

Tom Nas writes:
> [ '78 Audi 80 ]
> A couple of strange things though- when you connect the battery, the 
> battery light on the dash comes on and stays on until you turn the key in 
> the ignition to start it. It charges fine, so does anyone know what could 
> cause this?

Check the condition of the thin blue wire from the alternator and trace
its connectivity all the way to the instrument cluster.  Is the alternator
charging ok?  What's the voltage at the battery when the car is running?

> Also, the turn signals are dead (but hazard warning lights work fine) and 
> the heater blower doesn't. I've examined and cleaned the old-style ceramic 
> fuses and the fusebox, no dice. Anyone able to help?

Bad contacts at the turn signal lever switch?  This is the sort of
stuff that a wiring diagram and a multimeter would come in real handy.

> It doesn't help that the car didn't come with an owner's manual and the 
> oldest workshop manual I have access to deals with the next generation 80 
> which came out in 1979. I'll be scouring the swapmeet later this month, but 
> I'm pretty sure it will be hard to find a manual.

Robert Bentley still sells US-spec Audi Fox service manuals, much of which
should still be applicable to your car.

> The final comment might make the car a parts car only (which is what it was 
> intended to be, but it seems a shame to tear into a rust-free rare car with 
> such a low mileage)- the autobox works great but it howls like mad. Sounds 
> like it's low on oil, but there might be another explanation.

It would be cool to convert to a manual transmission.  If you can't
locate a type 82 car as a complete donor, you might still be able to use
many things off of a VW Dasher (I guess it was called the Passat in Europe?),
or a type 81 4-cylinder car, or a VW Fox (the Brasilian-built one, was this
model ever sold in Europe?).  Perhaps it would even be possible to source
parts from the US...  Just thinking out loud about the possibilities here.
The 4-speed boxes (type 014) was used on the Audi Fox, early Audi 4000,
Dashers, and early VW Foxes.  The 5-speed box (type 013) can be found on
many Audi 4000 (4-cyl) and later VW Fox models.  All these cars used cable
clutches, but the shift linkage is specific to each transmission type
(the 4-speed and 5-speed have different shift patterns too, with the
4-speed having the reverse gear up and to the left like most VWs).

-Ti
01 S4 2.7 biturbo quattro
84 5000S 2.1 turbo
80 4000 2.0
-- 
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
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