4kq reluctant start

[Huw Powell]

> My wife drove her 4kq (the one with the funky starter wiring I haven't
> replaced yet--but will soon) a little over a mile from our yard and parked
> it in the sun with ambient temperatures around 80 F.   About 20 minutes
> later she got a no start.  Engine turns, won't catch. 

Remember that third wire on the starter?  That is one of the several 
things Audi added in the mid-80's to combat... hot starting problems.

The starter motor is in a very hairy location, heat-wise.  The downpipe 
sits there dumping all its heat into the starter.  This tends to make it 
draw more current while cranking, dropping the voltage to everything 
else.  Along with problems like vapor lock (fuel boiling at injectors) 
which they also tried to ameliorate, a problem such as yours can arise.

I'd fix those wires and see if it helps.

If she (or you) run into that problem while away from home again, 
probably the best thing you can do is raise the hood to let air move 
through the engine compartment and cool things off a bit.

If it gets chronic, measuring the current drawn by the starter would be 
a good idea.  I once had chronic hot start problems on my 82 coupe, 
turned out the starter was drawing over 200 amps - cold.  Car would 
push-start just fine, but the starter was useless.

-- 
Huw Powell

http://www.humanspeakers.com/audi

http://www.humanthoughts.org/