[s-cars] Tie Rods and IR Key again

[Fred Munro]

Hi Greg;

I recently replaced the tie rod ends on my '94 S4 after 220,000 km of rust
belt driving. They came off very easily and the inner threads still had the
bright factory plating - I was totally amazed. A common problem with techs
who don't know these cars is they loosen the locknut but don't know to knock
the compression sleeve loose. With the compression sleeve still in place,
there's no way you will turn the tie rod end.

You can unbolt the rod at the inner bushing and take the entire rod to a
workbench if required to get the end out. On mine I knocked the compression
sleeves loose, used a dental pick to scrape the rust out of the slots in the
rod end under the sleeve, sprayed on some Walter Bolt Out, and unscrewed the
end. Slop a bunch of antiseize on the new end and thread it back in. You'll
need an alignment.

HTH

Fred Munro
'94 S4


-----Original Message-----
From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
[mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com]On Behalf Of Gregory Wolters
Sent: October 28, 2004 12:40 PM
To: S-CAR-List
Subject: [s-cars] Tie Rods and IR Key again


Hi All,

I posted this a while back and didn't receive any
response.  If anyone out there can help with either
issue, I'd sure appreciate it.  TIA.

Car is 94 S4 with 135K miles or so.  Weather got cold
and tie rods, originals as far as I know, are worn out
and squeeking.  Last time I had a 4 wheel alignment
the guy was not able to break the adjusting nut
free... my car is aligned, but my steering wheel
isn't.

What are the pros and cons of replacing the tie rod
end (at $15 per side) only versus replacing the entire
thing (at $130 per side)?  My feeling is that at my
car's milage I probably should replace the whole
thing.  There's just such a difference in price.

Can I do the job myself?  If I measure and adjust new
rods carefully to match old will I still require an
alignment?

Other issue is my IR key.  It doesn't work.
Everything works great if I use the key manually in
the hole.  I've tried all the stuff in the manual and
on the list but it seems my problem is different.
Checked key output with camcorder and it is
flashing... the batteries are relatively new.  When I
do the reprogram thing in the owner's manual, the car
beeps at me when I enter the code as it should, which
seems to indicate that the key and car are talking.
I'm at a loss.  Perhaps I just have a broken key.  Has
this happened to anyone else?

Greg
94 S4
Nevada City, CA
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