'88 80Q help solving accident-related issues

[Huw Powell]

> I think my question may have gotten lost between the lines of the "how 
> did the thief get the key to our car????" problem, so I'm reposting. 

I think that even though it came through, no one had any useful answers 
for you - especially considering the post-accident, track-car nature of 
the problem.

> Please, I track my AudiDudie and she's my daily driver, so I want to 
> ensure these are not safety issues and am looking for your help.

> After the initial repairs, odd noises during driving or braking led 
> us to start fixing more things: we replaced both rear wheel bearings as 
> they must have gotten crunched, and both front rotors, since the right 
> was warped and scarred. In addition, we we chamfered the edges 
> of the front brake pads, but we re-used the old brake pads.
> 
> I now have new noises which were not present before the accident, and 
> these sound very suspicious to me. Everything has been taken apart and put 
> back together so many times that I'm really puzzled about this and don't 
> know where to start looking. 

Considering that this is a track car, and suffered a rather severe 
CRUNCH that would have been my recommendation - remove everything under 
the car that moves or is attached by rubber bits, and then examine/test 
everything and reassemble using on known good parts.  Which is, of 
course, a lot of work.

> 	1) I hear a staccato, very high pitched squeaking at the rear 
> wheels, most of the time when driving in a straight line.
> 	I hear squeaking of the front wheels only intermittnetly when 
> driving. I noticed this particularly on a gravel/potholey road and when I 
> make the corner into my driveway. What up with that?

It's scary.  Maybe not terrifying in a daily driver while you try to get 
it fixed, but no way something I would want under me at a track event. 
Not that I've ever tracked any of my cars...

> 	2) When I brake, 2 ka-klinks come from the front brakes; first 
> the left brake, then the right brake when I come to a stop. I have 
> basically a stock setup: Girling calipers, PowerDisc rotors, and 
> performance pads. Can this be shims? What do shims do, and does it matter 
> how many there are?

Again, I'd be nervous about driving the car at all on this one. 
*Something* is not tight or lined up one way or another.  I'd want to be 
certain it wasn't a brake problem before driving the car.

> 	3) I hear a hollow THUNK sound somewhere in the front suspension 
> near to the ground when I'm making a turn or going over something 
> off-camber. Is this important? Could it be a suspension piece and where 
> would you look first? 

This may be related to the ka-klinks.  There are literally dozens of 
bits of rubber between the cars body and the road (not counting the 
tires), and each of these can become worn or damaged.  The symptom is 
often clunking sounds as the suspension shifts from one angle to another 
in the worn part(s).  The clunks are most apparent when moving slowly 
and changing steering angle or direction of travel, but they can turn up 
at other times, too.

On old worn cars, elimination of these clunks completely usually entails 
all new rubber bits.  On my coupe, they got quieter and quieter with 
each overhaul of part of the suspension until I almost had to 
hallucinate to hear them.

-- 
Huw Powell

http://www.humanspeakers.com/audi

http://www.humanthoughts.org/