5K Resurrection Party on July 4 (long)

[Fred Munro]

You are a sick, sick man, Mr. Meyers.

You fit right in with the rest of us on this list.

Congrats, Paul!!!

Fred Munro
'94 S4

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Meyers" <paul.meyers at citrix.com>
To: <quattro at audifans.com>
Cc: <chris at force5auto.com>; <jskousen at qwest.net>
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2001 7:48 PM
Subject: 5K Resurrection Party on July 4 (long)


> Last July, on a high-speed, high-temperature hillclimb to Snowbird resort,
I
> lost the heater control valve, silently dumping the coolant and frying my
> beloved Gray 5KTQ. Smoke filled the cabin and tears filled my eyes. I had
> the beast carried back to my home, where it rested forlornly covered by a
> slowly shredding car cover in the middle of my sons' basketball court.
Some
> suggested, and rightly so, that the car should be retired and become a
> source of parts for others. Such was the emotional attachment to this
lovely
> car that I decided, in the face of reason and economics, to attempt to
> repair the damage rather than see this fine vehicle go to the crusher.
> Bravely resolved, but not so easy to accomplish.
>
> Of course, the loom is no longer available from Audi, so I asked Chris
> Semple to find me a used replacement. By December, a suitable donor car
was
> located and its loom was excised. I had just completed the installation
> during two warmish (38 degree) days when, to my horror, I discovered that
> the frying had extended to the ECU harness as well. I was sick! The good
> news was that Chris had saved the ECU harness as well from the donor car.
By
> the time it arrived, though, there was a foot of snow in the back yard and
> my enthusiasm for the project disappeared like the waning sunlight.
>
> So, enter Joel Skousen. My buddy, chum, and prime source of infection for
my
> Audi mania. At last count, Joel owns 8 Audis. Wow. He's over the edge,
just
> ask his wife. Joel saw my lack of enthusiasm to jam my too big hands back
> into too small spaces, and correctly interpreted the problem to a lack of
> faith. Wonder of wonders, he volunteered to spend his 4th of July helping
me
> get the gray car back on its feet.
>
> We started at 8:30 or so. By 2 PM on the hottest day of the year (105
> degrees and no shade), we were about half done. While we were in the house
> getting rehydrated, my wife asked if we thought we might get it started
> today. I visualized the ridiculous mass of wires hanging from the
underside
> of the dash, with no steering wheel, instrument cluster, switch cluster,
> etc. and dispaired. "Joel, I'll bet you 150 bucks it won't start," says I.
> Not to be outdone, Joel, by this time a little less sanguine about our
> prospects offers "naw, I"LL bet YOU 250 bucks it won't start!" We each
> raised the ante, both on the same side of the bet, until we were both
> laughing ourselves silly. The laughter subsided to be replaced by the
> sobering prospect of endless cranking or, worse yet, billowing smoke. Back
> to work.
>
> By 5:30 the moment of truth arrived. We had each checked the others work
> and, honestly, had delayed about as long as we reasonably could. Joel had
> noted that there was no coolant in the engine (I had drained out any
> leftover coolant to prevent freezup in over the winter). I handed the keys
> to Joel. Politely, but firmely, he pushed them back to me. "You do the
> honors," he said. Gulp. I hemmed and hawed, but I couldn't put it off any
> longer. What if it smokes the replacement harnesses or, more likely,
simply
> wouldn't catch? What then? I sat down in the wheelless, clusterless
driver's
> seat, inserted the key and, while holding my breath, twisted it.
>
> Miracle of miracles, it started right away. There was a rather loud tick
> from a stuck lifter and some sort of "thunk" coming from about the middle
of
> the engine that didn't bode well. But, after the oil warmed up, both
noises
> went away and the engine settled down to its familiar, lovely idling
sound.
> I couldn't believe it. The engine was incredibly abused, but, with some
help
> from synthetic lubricant, sprang to life without any complaint after more
> than a year of neglect.
>
> After spending another day recabling bunches of wire, tying down harnesses
> under the hood, chasing several electrical gremlins (the speedo didn't
work
> and the instrument cluster had no illumination, cruise control on the
> fritz), and putting all the rest of the parts back into place, the car
> flawlessly passed the Utah safety and emissions inspections! The limit is
> 220 ppm of CO and the car produced 30, both at idle and at 2500 RPM.
> Amazing.
>
> So, thanks to Joel, who never lost faith that we could eventually get this
> beautiful car running again, and to Chris Semple who provided the
> replacement looms, and to the Audi gods, for allowing us to enjoy bringing
> such a special vehicle back to life. What a great week! And no more
accusing
> stares from the kids about the derelict car on their basketball court!
> Life is good.
>
>
> Paul Meyers
> Gray 87 5KCSTQ 1.8bar 147 kM eurolights fuchs boges everything works!
> Pearl 88 5KCSTQ 1.8bar 128 kM eurolights fuchs bilsteins 2pc-em k24 turbo
> Repainted Pearl 87 5KTQA 1.8bar 203 kM eurolights TT wheels bilsteins
daily
> driver
> Blue 86 5KCSTQ parts car
>
>