1981 (yeah really) Audi 4000 diesel mystery

[Christopher G. Mason]

On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 2:17 AM, Tony Hoffman <auditony at gmail.com> wrote:
> So, thanks to Chris, I bought this car today. It is a 1981, the engine
> is the 1.6L solid lifter turbo diesel with the 5-speed trans, as he
> mentioned. It was originally owned by VWOA, and run for two years and
> 17k. Then, the current owner bought it, in 1983. It was her first car,
> and her only car, for the better part of the past 27 years. The real
> strange part is that she hardly drives, as she is a stay at home Mom.
> So, there are only about 105k miles on the car. She does have all the
> paperwork since she bought it. BTW, she paid $5100 for it in 83.
>
> It is a US market car, though. The engine code is CY, BTW. I'm going
> to get in contact with Audi of America and see if I can get more
> information on the car from them as well. It certainly is a strange
> combination, though. I've never seen a 1.6 in anything older than 82,
> I've never seen a 5-speed in an older 4000 diesel, and I've rarely
> seen a turbo diesel in a 4000, they weren't even in Rabbits till 83.
> And, as the Rabbit came here diesel in 77, I can't imagine they would
> have put the turbo in the Audi first. But, then again, I guess I'm set
> to learn a lot more about the US market for the diesel 4000 shortly.
> ;-)

The 5-speed turbodiesel combination was apparently available in the
4000 and Quantum. Both are listed in the EPA database with fuel
economy numbers. Regarding the 1981 part, if your state has emissions
testing you might run into some problems as the VIN decodes to a gas
engined car. NJMVC's system has it coded as a diesel in their system
currently. They don't actually do automatic VIN decoding when they
title cars, so all engine types had to be manually coded.

>
> BTW, when I showed up, the car actually no longer runs, and it only
> turns over a bit back and forth. I suspect the timing belt has skipped
> several teeth and the valves and pistons are hitting. Either way, it
> looks like we will be tow-dollying it to Carlisle, and getting it
> running there. That is, unless we get rained out this week for a day
> or so and I get a chance to go down and work on it. Either way, the
> car is in exceptional condition for the year, and it's all original
> except for the wheel covers.
>
> BTW, anyone that is going to Carlisle have the timing belt tensioner
> spanner wrench? If so, it would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Tony Hoffman
>

Sad to hear it no longer runs.