200QA suddenly no start, no spark - Solved!!!

[Peter Golledge]

Dave,

Get those kids trained up in the ways of old cars, Audi ownership guarantees
lots of "teachable" moments. ;-)

My 12 year old son and I have great shared memories of figuring out Audi
hydraulics, changing clutches etc.  He is counting down the years till he is
old enough to track with my wife and I.

Having said all of that, I'm probably going to scrap my 89 200TQA at some
point.  There are only so many old cars you can deal with at once. :-(

-----Original Message-----
From: quattro-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:quattro-bounces at audifans.com] On
Behalf Of David Michael
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 3:39 PM
To: Ben Swann; Quattro List
Subject: Re: 200QA suddenly no start, no spark - Solved!!!

Hi Ben

The two 6mm screws were tight when I removed the old coil.....

I agree that everything should be working - but it now runs, and runs well.
To  fix the AC, both LHS window lifts, rebuild the brake proportioning
valve, and replace the hood latch cable are all things I can do. But I would
rather go bike riding with my 5 year old son or skiing with my 11 year old
daughter. I have too many cars as it is, and somethin's gotta go.  It's with
a heavy heart that I say the old girl has to go, but my time is getting too
scarce, and I am not inclined to pay anyone to do the work....So I am
selling not because I want to make money or even break even. I just need to
stop working on it.....

It's got a SM chip, makes  full 1.8 bar boost in a snap, has full relayed
Euro lights, has the cargo cover, working parking brake,  etc etc. It is
well maintained, but it's a type44 after all....
I am the 2nd owner and have owned it for 12 years. But enough I guess is
enough...

Sigh

Dave




On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 4:56 PM, Ben Swann <benswann at verizon.net> wrote:

>  David,
>
> You do need to have the coil well grounded - the transistor is a heat sink
> and that is why it is connected to the firewall like that.  Probably the
> reason for premature failure is that it was not secured to the firewall.
>
> Having the car together with everything working makes it far more valuable
> than having all the little things needing repair.   Usually the cars are
> worth more to keep and drive than you will ever get out money-wise.
>
> Ben
>
>  ------------------------------
> *From:* David Michael [mailto:adavidmichael at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* Monday, March 22, 2010 1:26 PM
> *To:* Quattro List
> *Cc:* Ben Swann; psdooley at verizon.net; 200q20v at audifans.com;
> audi at humanspeakers.com; kentmclean at comcast.net; bob at chips-ur-s.com;
> cobram at juno.com
> *Subject:* Re: 200QA suddenly no start, no spark - Solved!!!
>
>   At lunch time I checked that the b+ (track 15) was 12V and it was. So
> then I temporarily hooked up my old coil (one connector, high tension lead
> and a ground clip) and the car fired right up.
>
> "course when I went to install the old coil more permanently, I totally
> forgot that the nuts on the back side of the firewall (in the plenum) are
> NOT captive, and they fell off and rolled under the blower. Fortunately we
> have a metric screw cabinet at work..
>
> While I can't be sure its the actual cause I suspect that, as a few folks
> had postulated (along with Scott M's website), the transistor triggering
> unit went bad. Ironically, it's a new unit I installed prophylactically
> about 4k miles ago. Infant mortality.....
>
> BUT, I this is the last straw. It's time for her to go. I no longer have
> time to keep up. Car runs like a freight train, but needs some peripheral
> work (window lifts, A/C, etc) and I no longer have time and don't want to
> spend the money. Anyone have any idea what a 200QA with 235k that is
running
> extremely well but needs work is worth?
>
> Thanks again to everyone for your help with this, and many other
> problems.....
>
> Dave
>
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 8:14 AM, David Michael
<adavidmichael at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Thanks for all your suggestions. Based on what you all have said, I need
>> to back the diagnosis up a step and 1st make sure the coils is powered.
>> SJM's website suggests that it if the ignition switch can fail and stop
>> powering the ignition circuit of the ECU.
>>
>> In any case, I will check 12V and use my LED tester to verify that the
ECU
>> is sending coil triggering pulses to the coil. Though it will have to
wait
>> till Monday - car is still sitting in the parking lot at work
>>
>> Folks on this list are great. Only way I could have gotten to 230k....
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 3:17 AM, Huw Powell
<audi at humanspeakers.com>wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> If what you mean is the coils don't fail that much, but the POS
>>>> (transistor) does, then
>>>> that is correct. The problem is probably not the coil itself, but the
>>>> Darlington
>>>> Transistor that is mounted on the coil, but generally the assembly is
>>>> referred to a the
>>>> coil by most
>>>>
>>>
>>> The transistor failing is not the coil failing. Coils are incredibly
>>> simple. Measure both sides. Good? then good. I'm running an old audi
coil on
>>> my '57 Trojan loadster. Made homemade ballast resistor. Works great.
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Huw Powell
>>>
>>> http://www.humanspeakers.com/audi
>>>
>>> http://www.humanthoughts.org/
>>>
>>
>>
>
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