[s-cars] Seeking advice on '94 S4 purchase

[Sean Douglas]

Good question on the transmission, maybe another lister can shed some
light on the pinion bearing problems.

There are a couple of listers in the Boston area that could probably
point you to a good mechanic. Ray T, are you there?

Sean




> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kevin Day [mailto:kday at ultrameta.org]
> Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2003 8:50 AM
> To: Sean Douglas
> Cc: s-car-list at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Seeking advice on '94 S4 purchase
>
>
> Thanks for the heads-up on the transmission.  Is this a
> manufacturing defect, or are the replacement pinion bearings
> the same as original? I.e. if it was fixed once, is it likely
> to need repair again?
>
> Can anyone recommend a good Audi mechanic in the Boston area?
>  I might want to have someone with a practiced eye check this car out.
>
> -Kevin
>
> On Wed, Oct 01, 2003 at 09:12:18PM -0700, Sean Douglas wrote:
> > Turbo failure is not that common (maybe some long time
> listers can add
> > to this), but I haven't heard or read this failure. A new turbo is
> > ~$1k, not a lot compared to other parts. The big ticket is the
> > transmission which can be know to fail, here is a write up from
> > s-cars.org:
> >
> > 6. The drive line: A survey of the S-Car Registry has
> revealed that a
> > fair number of early S cars (1992-1994) exhibited
> transmission failure
> > brought on by worn pinion bearings. The number one symptom
> of this is
> > a car that makes a whining noise while rolling. The noise will be
> > there at any rpm and will change pitch with your speed. It
> will occur
> > whether the clutch is in or out. In my opinion, this is the
> one weak
> > link in an otherwise bulletproof car. If the car you're looking at
> > does have noise coming from the drive line, be aware that
> replacement
> > runs between $3,000 to $8,000 dollars depending upon who does the
> > work! If the car makes the noise it better be priced accordingly.
> > Don't be afraid to walk away if you don't have a good independent
> > mechanic who can handle the transmission swap. With the
> transmission
> > warnings aside, most cars at this point have had the issue
> addressed.
> > I don't hear of many tranmission failures any more aside from those
> > that get 'well used' in highly tuned cars.  ;-) If the driveline
> > itself has a lot of slop or play in it (forward/backward
> slack when on
> > or off throttle) you may be looking at worn engine or
> tranny mounts or
> > bad CV joints on the drive shaft. The center bearing on the drive
> > shaft can also wear out over time.
> >
> > As you mention, t-belt is crucial and ditto the water pump.
> You don't
> > want this to break on 20v motor and the repair can be very
> expensive.
> >
> > Good luck.
> >
> > Sean
> >
> > Sean Douglas
> > 1997 Audi S6 - MTM Stage 1+
> > 1990 Audi 90Q20V
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: s-car-list-admin at audifans.com
> > > [mailto:s-car-list-admin at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Day
> > > Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 8:21 AM
> > > To: s-car-list at audifans.com
> > > Subject: [s-cars] Seeking advice on '94 S4 purchase
> > >
> > >
> > > Hello all,
> > >
> > > This list seems like a great resource.  Hope you don't mind a
> > > few questions from a prospective owner.
> > >
> > > I'm going to look at a '94 S4 this weekend.  I don't know
> > > much about the condition at this point, but it's got rather
> > > high mileage (~170K). Other than the usual (records, t-belt,
> > > etc.) is there anything specific that I should watch out for?
> > >
> > > I understand that the turbo has an auxillary cooler that runs
> > > after the car shuts down, which should be good for turbo
> > > life, but this might be my first turbo and I'm a little wary.
> > >  If one had to be replaced, how traumatic would the price tag
> > > be?  (I see that Porsche has some applications for the same
> > > unit.  That's... not really all that encouraging :)  Any
> > > (other?) high-ticket repairs that I should look out for?
> > >
> > > Anyway, any advice, pointers, etc. would be appreciated.  Thanks.
> > >
> > > -Kevin
> > >
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> > >
>