80 Quattro Starting Problem

[Kneale Brownson]

I'd check out the wiring to the starter.  It may LOOK intact because the
insulation is there, but the wires inside the insulation may be corroded
beyond belief.  Look at the green stuff on the two wires in this photo:
http://www.pbase.com/kneale_brownson/image/43663744     That's the starter
on a 4000 quattro, predecessor to the 80/90.  The pix was taken after I'd
pulled off some of the crumbling insulation.  I had to splice wires in from
up near the battery to get to clean copper wires.  Poor wires mean the
starter can draw so much power it overwhelms the power required for spark.
They also can mean the starter won't function at all.


At 06:18 PM 1/3/2006 -0500, sembai at verizon.net wrote:
>My husband's 1990 80 Quattro has developed a strange starting problem.  One 
>evening a couple of weeks ago he went to start the car as usual.  It turned 
>over and ran roughly for maybe two seconds, then died.  He tried a second 
>time, it did the same thing, but for a slightly shorter period.  On the 
>third try, the car didn't turn over at all.  He waited an hour and tried 
>again, and it started right up.  The next day he left the car home.  I went 
>out and started it a couple of different times without any problem.  I also 
>put a battery charger on to make sure a low battery wouldn't be a problem.
>
>Concerned about possible looming trouble, my husband sent the car over to 
>his Audi mechanic.  The shop checked out the cold start valve, replaced a 
>fuel injector sensor, and checked out the battery.  They may have done a few 
>other things as well, but that's as much as I know was done.  While there, 
>the problem never reappeared.  A relative picked up the car without any 
>trouble.  When my husband picked up the car from the relative later that 
>night, the starting problem of course appeared.  The relative returned the 
>car to the shop, which checked out the car and couldn't replicate the 
>problem.  My husband picked up the car after hours last Friday and drove it 
>home, since the shop couldn't find the cause.  Saturday afternoon he tried 
>to start the car, and the starting issue reappeared.  We left the car until 
>Monday afternoon, when I tried to start it and encountered the same problem. 
> Today I went out late in the afternoon and couldn't get the car to turn 
>over at all.
>
>At no time in the past couple of weeks did any dash warning indicators come 
>up.  The only other thing I can add is that the car is 15-years-old w/ 
>170,000 miles on it, so it doesn't make sense to perform an expensive fix.  
>The shop was very good about not charging for the diagnostic work, just for 
>the sensor replacement (which it apparently did need).  
>
>Any thoughts would be appreciated.  I'm not a mechanic or an engineer, so 
>please keep that in mind if responding.  Thanks!
>
>Holly
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