4kq Starters (a bit long)

[MTNBykah at aol.com]

Here is another story which may (should) change your opinion about quattro starters:

In '96 I bought a really nice 4kcsq with 52k mi on it.  Beautiful car.  At about 79k mi I was driving home into Boston when I came to some traffic.  I put in the clutch and the car continues as though nothing happened - I PANIC and SLAM on the brakes.  When I can breathe again I restart the car and continue.  Same result over and over.  After much experimentation I find that if I touch the clutch and tap the gas then the clutch will work.  WTFC?

Several "experts" suggest that the clutch slave is gone.  So I replace it - no dice.  "Maybe it's the clutch master cylinder..." so I try that too.  Nope.

After much debate I decide that it is a bad rear main seal leaking onto the clutch and causing it to stick to the flywheel.  No problem, just give me an estimate for a new clutch.  WHAT?  $800???  Welcome to quattro ownership.  After a little quick math I decide that it can't be rocket science to replace, and even if it takes me double the estimated time I will save so much $$ I will come out ahead.

I borrow a Bentley and take a deep breath - here we go.  Thirty hours later I am no longer a virgin, and it didn't even really hurt that bad.  New sachs clutch kit, throwout bearing, rear main seal, O2 sensor, etc. and she never felt so fine.

Not so fast buddy.

Less than 2 months later my perfectly functioning starter stuck in the 'on' position and ripped 2 friggin' teeth off of my nice resurfaced flywheel.  UUUGGGHHHH!!!

This left a gap just big enough for the starter to find no engagement at that point, which must have been a fairly common point of rotation for the engine to come to rest at.  Every other time I went to start her up, I had to push (in gear) just enough to turn the flywheel so the starter gear would catch.  After the second new starter shattered from spinning up in the gap and slamming into the next teeth I decided it was time...

Twenty-two hours later I had another fresh clutch - plus repacked front cv's and some new front end bits.

So - what is the moral of this story?  The next time you have that used starter in your hand and you are bolting it into your q, think about whether you really want to learn how to replace a clutch.  On the bright side, you can email me for advice.  I've got it down.

-Dan Nolan   Boston, MA   '87 4kcsq 175k & counting