Scary night (long)

[Shawn Manny]

inspect your tire for delam'd belts and unusual wear on the tread
faces...this JUST happened to me on my VW....had a pocket in the
sidewall from broken belts and boy o boy was the tread all squished
together.

On 7/6/05, AUDIJIM at aol.com <AUDIJIM at aol.com> wrote:
> Well, the drive home last night from DC to NJ was nothing short of hair
> raising. The pucker factor was definitely on the higher end of the scale. Besides
> the heavy rain, lightning, thunder, and the typical inexperienced foul weather
> drivers, my 282,000 mile Audi 5000cs Q got me home, but with problems. I just
> put the car up in the air, but haven't yet looked under there yet. The grass
> is very long, and the weeds are just right for pulling (I long for the day my
> wife picks gardening as her new pass time) so I'm taking a break before I start
> the lawn. It all started when I left National Airport to head for home. I was
> on the Baltimore/Washington Parkway when I started to get a shaky steering
> wheel. I brushed it off to a little bit of hydroplaning. I slowed down and it
> went away. It then returned on a less wet/puddled section of road and went away
> when I let off the gas. Now I'm a little concerned. It feels like it's coming
> from the right front. It got so sever that I pulled over to inspect the front
> steering and suspension gear and did I get soaked. I was remembering the time
> that someone or somehow loosened my left rear wheel lug bolts and how that
> felt (possible wheel theft attempt?), but this wasn't the case this time.
> Everything looked airworthy and I continued on. When I got onto I95 N, I was waiting
> to go through the tunnel so I might see what effects a dry section of road
> would have on my situation, no change. I continued on until the first rest area
> (Maryland House) and pulled under the cover at the Sunoco. I pulled out my jack
> and lifted the passenger front off the ground. With my Streamlight, I
> inspected the control arm and strut, drive axle and sway bar, everything under there
> that would indicate the sever steering wheel shake I was getting while on the
> accelerator. Nothing was visually wrong, even all the wheel weights were in
> tact and where they should be. Now I'm a little nervous for a couple reasons.
> I'm about 2 hours from home at this point, it's 0300 in the morning, I have no
> metric tools with me (less the tool kit in the trunk) and I can't see what
> wrong when I KNOW something is! I again pull over at every rest stop between
> Baltimore and the New Jersey Turnpike and home to inspect. To top it off, my A/C
> compressor exploded as I was going through the toll booth right after the
> Del/Mor Bridge on the NJTP. Now my visibility went Tango Uniform (Tits Up) and I
> have to use full heat to get any sort of clear sight. Not that my cooling was a
> problem, but at least the engine ran a lot cooler with the secondary radiator
> (heater core) now in operation. I'll keep you informed with what I find. The
> car has been running absolutely perfect and did so when I drove to DC and the
> car sat in front of the hangar I work in for 4 days, except to run to the barber
> for a fresh high and tight.
> 
> And to top it off yet again, I find out that my union has asked to be
> released from contract negotiations for a cooling off period and a strike vote. I
> will be lucky if I'm able to hold onto my job through the summer. Anyone need an
> airframe and powerplant technician with FAA and FCC, aircraft welding certi,
> SAE, former Audi tech, former VW tech, former State of Virginia safety,
> emissions tech and inspector and an AS in aircraft maintenance technology? I might
> need new employment soon.
> 
> Sorry for the rant, I needed to vent.
> 
> Jim Furdyn
> 1983 UrQuattro #170
> 1987 4000cs Q
> 1987 Euro 200/5000cs TQ 282,000 miles
> 1996 A6 Quattro Avant
> 1987 Mercedes Benz Truck model 1219
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