[s-cars] New-to-me '92 S4

[Andrew Beckert]

Wylie Bean wrote:
> Hello All,
> Just wanted to post-up and ask a few questions about my newly-aquired '92 
> S4.  It's tornado red with black leather. AZ/CA car. First, the rear brake 
> pads are done.  Anybody have any reasons why I shouldn't stick with stock 
> pads?  I don't plan on tracking the car anytime soon, if ever.  I've seen 
> lots of alternatives @ ECSTuning.com but don't know of any reasons to vary. 

I went with the PBR ceramics from ECS.  I would make sure cable and 
caliper guide pins are all moving freely, as that seems to be what kills 
the rears on these cars.

> Also, I've read a little on the knowlegebase about wheel bearings and know 
> about how notoriously bad the trannies can be.  I'm having a roaring sound 
> that doesn't seem to change with the clutch engaged or disengaged, nor does 
> it seem to change when turning.  The car has 123K and is shod with 225/50/16 
> Dunlop SP8000's, which although they've got decent tread, look a little old. 
> I'm wondering if they're the root of the problem, or it could be wheel 
> bearings or even a propshaft or diff issue.  I hope it's not the latter. 

I would jack the car up and try spinning each wheel by hand, you can 
also listen with a stethoscope in order to diagnose a wheel bearing, 
could just be tires though,  I ran kumho 712's for a long time and they 
made the car sound like it had 4 bad wheel bearings.  I've been running 
falken grb fk451's and have been very happy with them on the stock rims.

> The rears had 35psi and fronts 30psi when I bought it, and I drove it from 
> San Diego to Greensboro NC this week like that.  I let the rears out down to 
> 32psi, and the issue "seems" to not be as noticable, especially at highway 
> speeds.  I guess I need to drive the car a little more an see what speeds it 
> might be happening, and also if it matters if the car/fluids are cold or 
> warm.

These cars seem to like higher tire pressures, otherwise I get very 
uneven wear, I run 40 all the way around cold, and my wear patterns have 
evened out alot.

> Lastly, there's an intermittent check engine light, comes on pretty 
> randomly, but mostly on acceleration.  The p.o. said he pulled the codes and 
> it was coming up for the ISV.  I haven't experienced any idle problems 
> whatsoever.  I don't notice any change in the way the car's running when it 
> comes on.  I'll find some time this week to pull them myself and find out if 
> anything different is coming up.

Hard to say until you check it yourself.



> That's it for now.  I'm sure I'll come across more things, but at this point 
> I'm enjoying the car immensely.
> 

Congrats, maybe you'll get that A4 sold soon...

Andrew

> Cheers.
> Wylie Bean
> TheRingmeister at triad.rr.com
> 90 Cq (started the whole sickness)
> 99.5 A4 Avant 1.8T (for sale)
> 01 allroad quattro (wife's)
> 92 UrS4 
> 
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