checking a 100cs for my cousin

[Sean Ford]

--- cjcasati at hotmail.com wrote:
> "Hi Christoph, I looked at an Audi today and I wanted your opinion. 
> It was a '92 Audi 100 CS, 97000 miles, it seemed in good condition 
> but I don't really know how to tell.  I drove it and it drove really
> nice but again I'm not that confident in my own assesment.  It's a 
> V6, 2.8 liter, manual tranmission, all leather, power everything, 
> Bose system.  It's had two previous owners.  They had the maintenance
> records...replaced the catalytic converter...and some other small 
> stuff, I can't remember.  I was thinking about having a mechanic 
> check it out.  They're asking $6900 but offered me $6500. I'm not 
> sure how much more I can talk them down, maybe $6000.  What do you 
> think about this?

Hey, this sounds like my car! :D

Things to check, in no particular order:
1. oil leaks; check head gasket and valley pan gasket (need to remove
the top cosmetic engine cover held on by 4 0.25 turn screws).
2. check for power steering fluid leaks, especially the hose that runs
along the top left side of the engine.
3. Try to determine if all 4 Bose speakers are in working order, I
still can't tell if the tweeters in the doors work on mine, but it
sounds fine so they must.
4. Ask about oil consumption. The early 2.8's are notorious for
drinking a quart every 1k - 2k miles. Personally, I think it's a head
issue, but that's just me. A lot of the early 2.8's had head gaskets
replaced, and I don't think the heads ever really went back on right.
Just my own little conspiracy theory.
5. I've been through 3 wheel bearings in 50k miles, you might want to
have the inspection pay extra close attention to those. 
6. the usual electrics; seats, windows, sunroof, mirrors.
7. check the Climate Control, here's how:
 a. start the engine
 b. on the CC panel, press and hold the upper air flow button and the
recirc button
 c. the left display will change to 01, press the recirc button
 d. the right display will change to 00.0 if everything's ok, otherwise
it will rotate through CC error codes. Write down the codes and either
call a dealership, or check back here, or check audiworld.com in the
FAQ, they have a listing of codes there.
8. Check the battery under the rear seat, it's very easy to remove,
just 2 phillips head screws.
9. look at the water pump, make sure it's not leaking, early build
pumps were, uh, porous.
10. obviously, the condition of the timing belt, it's an interference
engine.
11. That's about it, everything else the usual used car things to
check; brakes, clutch, etc.

HTH

=====
Sean Ford
audi_92_100CS at yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/seanford.geo
'92 Audi 100CS 5-spd non-q
'00 Triumph Daytona 955i
'89 Suzuki Katana 600

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