90q missing on cyl. 5...more help needed

[Dave Hord]

Car: 1989 90 quattro.

I posted this problem last month, in the last two weeks of January.  Car is a
2.3L non-turbo.

When it's wet out (raining, snowing) the car starts to miss on one or two
cylinders.  In January the miss seemed specific to cylinder #5.

I have replaced, at the recommendation of the list, the following:

Spark Plugs
Rotor
Cap
Spark Plug Wires - Installed with di-electric grease.

I have checked the hall sender wires, and connection...and these _seem_ okay,
though I'm not 100% positive of this...how can I be without replacing them?

The problem seemed to be MUCH better, but not perfect the first week...mind
you, it never got that wet.  In the past week we've had rain, snow and then wet-
snow turning into rain.

Problem was present.  Car will miss and run really rough at idle. Pushing on
the gas will cause the engine to stumble and miss further, back-fire into the
exhaust manifold and such.  Give it FULL throttle and the car will stumble for
a quarter of a second and rev right up smooth for you.  Keep it above 2500rpm
and it's the smooth 5cyl I remember.  Let it drop to idle, and it's ugly.

If the car sits overnight, problem is gone in the morning...UNLESS the air is
still damp. Then problem _might_ remain.

Given the above..what ELSE could it be???


Known problems in the engine compartment:

Crank Seal leaks oil.
Temperature Gauge not working
Engine mounts are on the way out.


My only thought is that either the Multi-Function-Switch, that I understand
sends a signal to the T-gauge might be the culprit...or perhaps there is oil
leaking onto an important connection?

We rally in 12 days...and I DO NOT want this to start somewhere during the
rally!!

Help greatly appreciated.

-Dave







------------------------------------------------
89 90q  purrs like kitten...okay, a LOUD kitten.
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