[urq] New quattro

[Buchholz, Steven]

Welcome aboard Andrew ... it is always great to hear of new members to
the fold ... I hope you get to enjoy as many years with your car as I
have with mine!

I was going to do a comprehensive reply too ... but this time I read the
intervening posts and found most of the issues have been answered ...
this IS a great group of helpful folks!  I do have a couple of things
...

First, those "filters" Mike is talking about are actually check valves
... and that was the same idea I thought of when I read your post.
Several systems like the diff locks and recirc flap operate from vacuum,
which is obtained from the engine's intake manifold.  A turbocharged car
does not always provide vacuum at the IM, so there needs to be a check
valve.  You will tend to hear the noise at idle because that is when the
engine is producing vacuum and the valve opens.  My theory on the noise
is that the valve is opening and closing with the intake pulses.  My car
does the same thing ... I've never really confirmed my hypothesis ...
but I suspect if you replace the check valve you will still have the
noise.  Perhaps the valve has gotten a bit sticky over the years and
this makes them noisier, so it might actually help to replace it.
Fairly cheap experiment.  If you do decide to try, please post back
whether or not it works for you.  Recollection is a bit fuzzy, but I
think there are two check valves, one on the firewall, up high and
amidships and the other in the console behind the diff lock switch.
Even though you might think that you wouldn't hear the one under the
hood, the noise can actually get coupled through the vacuum lines into
the passenger compartment ... 

On the coolant temp gauge ... yes, it is odd that such a car has such
poor instrumentation!  My solution was to modify the diff lock panel on
the console to add one gauge on either side of the diff lock switch ...
I've got oil pressure and coolant temp.  I also fashioned an LED based
charging system monitor below the diff lock switch.  If you want to
relocate the diff lock switch you can get a standard 3-gauge panel from
a Coupe that will fit in the same location as the diff lock panel.  

Mirrors ... no, they do not fold, and you're likely to break something
if you try.  The mirrors are held in place by springs to reduce the
chances they will get damaged if they run into something, and deflect to
minimize the chance of injury if they hit someone ... 

Charging light flashing ... yes, this is an all to common situation on
these cars.  IMO, this car was built early in the transition to cars
that have a lot of electronic controls ... the fusebox in the urq is the
same one that my former Audi Fox used ... and there are some marginal
circuits and grounding problems ... the best place for a new owner to
start is with Robert Houk's website ... Robert has moved on I believe,
but his site has been preserved ... here's a link:

	http://www.audi-quattro.org/misc/rdh/

... give it a good read and you will go a long way toward making your
car a good, reliable daily driver capable vehicle.  Since I'm an EE, and
I owned my car for a few years before I found the quattro list, I've got
my own personal solutions for a few of these issues, but RDH does a
pretty thorough job ... 

As to the hard starting, there are a few possibilities, could be a fuel
system problem or perhaps an electrical problem getting a good +12
supply to the ECU.  The check valve on the fuel pump was mentioned
(although I'm not sure you need to drain the tank to replace it), rather
than shotgun it you might want to get a fuel pressure gauge (JC Whitney
has one for a fairly reasonable price).  As to the electrical supply to
the ECU, it might be the ignition switch.  

There are a couple recommended reference documents ... first is the
Bentley manual for the car and second is the "Introductory Service
Training (IST)" documents.  I understand the latter is no longer
available from Dyment.  You will also want to look for a DVM that is
able to read duty cycle.  Note that you don't need all this stuff right
away ... I'm just trying to let you know the sort of things to keep an
eye out for.  You might also want to see if there aren't any urq owners
in the area around where you live ... 

... so much for not doing a comprehensive reply, eh?!  ;-)

Good luck and welcome aboard!
Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA) 

> 
> Hi guys, I'm new to this list and also to the world of audis.  I just 
> bought an 83 Quattro Turbo from somebody in Buffalo, NY. It's a great 
> car, and I'm very happy with the decision, but I have some questions 
> that I can't seem to find the answers to.