Any opinions regarding 1982 5kt automatics?
mark
mconnor at frontiernet.net
Sun Jan 21 11:16:39 EST 2001
David,
Wow, an early 80's 5KT! Now that brings back some fond memories! A family
member of mine owned a 1981 5KT. It was a great car! I believe when he
finally got rid of it had over 190K miles on the clock and was still going
strong. He experienced only one major problem with the car during ownership.
The turbo developed a bad seal, started blowing oil and had to be replaced (as
I recall around 150K miles). The early turbos were not intercooled and caused
a failure. At the time, the fix was a new used turbo to the tune of $400 from
a local yard.
In terms of the steering rack that would be the same as the normally aspirated
5K's. Looking back, our family has owned several 5K's and never had a problem
with steering racks. In my opinion, the notoriety surrounding early 5k's
steering rack failure can be traced back to the introduction of the wrong oil
(non-pentosin type) into the power steering reservior. I forget the details
but there was something about regular power steering fluid deteriorating the
seals in the rack causing them to subsequently leak. Perhaps other listers
could shed more light on this.
While we are on the topic of fluids, as I recall, there was also a manufacture
recall associated with the differential oil in the transmission on these cars.
The story goes that the differential oil could "evaporate" over time and cause
a major failure in the differential. This could cause the wheels to bind and
lock up while driving. I believe that this so called problem was about as
prevalent as the "sudden acceleration" problem with the 5K's. Not very. You
may recall, for the 1984 model year Audi introduced a revolutionary new
aerodynamic body style. IMHO, Audi's were selling like hot cakes back then and
I think alot of the bad publicity out at the time was an all-out assault by the
major automakers to kill Audi sales. P.S. Ever look at an Ford Taurus, Dodge
600ES, Dodge Monaco, Pontiac 6000, Mazda 626... up close (can you say: AUDI
COPY)?
Getting back to the 5KT. IMHO, It was built like a tank. The slushbox held up
well and never gave my Brother a problem and it was driven, shall we say,
"spirited" most of the time. In terms of parts availabilty, most of the
drivetrain/engine parts would be interchangeable with the newer 5K's from
1984-->1988. Really the only big difference between the early to late 80's was
strictly sheet metal and interior changes. The drivetrain, steering and 5
cylinder engine were virtually the same from 1978 through 1988. IMHO, It was a
tried and true design and I would venture a guess that Audi's thinking was "why
try to perfect on a engineering winner!" .
As you can probably tell from my responses here that I was and am a big fan of
the old Audi 5K design (1978-1983). I only wish that you could still buy that
body style new today! I would be the first to purchase one! They were a solid
car that were truly ahead of their time in terms of engineering. I think that
this is still applicable to Audi today, being way ahead of their time compared
to the competion. Hope you find my opinions helpful and good luck on your
purchase! Please keep the list posted as to how you make out as I feel we all
would would be curious to hear. Thanks.
Regards
Mark
Leah and David Mueller wrote:
> Just wondering if there are any listers or sites that can give some
> "objective" opinions and or help regarding the old 1982 5kt series. Any
> particular weak spots? Are they warm in winter? Parts available? How are
> the racks,
> auto tranny, and turbo system on these?
>
> Thank you
> David 4kq
More information about the quattro
mailing list