[V8] re: Investing in the 1993 V8 Quattro...

[Roger M. Woodbury]

The oil leaks around the head gasket may or may not have anything to do with
the head gaskets.  I would be very careful about checking for a lot of stuff
elsewhere before deciding that the head gaskets are leaking.

My search for an oil leak began last winter.  The car went to the hospital
where both the wrench and I thought the leak was the oil pressure sensor.

In the end, it turned out to be a journal plug in the end of one of the two
huge oil journals in the right side cylinder head.  It had looked a bit like
it might have been out once before, so we ended up replacing all of them.
However, in order to do it, we had both heads removed twice, in search of
the mysterious oil leak.

The first time the heads were off, we thought that one corner of the
headgasket mgiht look a bit peaked, and thought that maybe it had been a
faulty gasket that finally gave way at 90,000 miles.  Nope.  Nor was it any
of the camshaft seals that can't be seen or examined while the engine is
running.  In the end, EVERY gasket and rubber gizzie that even looked like
it might be feeling the 90,000 miles of service was replaced, including
water pump, timing belt, hydraulic pump (it was weeping some already).  The
wrench ended up deciding to complete the job "off the clock", and the last
twenty four or more hours of labor weren't even charged.  The total bill was
around $4,000, a lot of which was OEM parts.

Now, the car is right as rain.  Or maybe, RIGHT even IN the rain.  Anyway,
it was a big job, because the oil leak wasn't what  or where we logically
thought it might be.

Your Bose speakers are dying.  Mine died a long time ago, and I have yet to
decide what to do about them.  The Audi factory recall does NOT apply to
either 1992, 1993, or 1994 V8's.  Audi has told me that they will address
speaker issues in those cars on a case by case basis, but the later V8
speaker woes are NOT automatically included.  I have not decided to take the
car the hundred miles to the dealer, have them remove the speakers for the
Audi rep to take to Audi heaven, with the risk that I may have to pay for
sucky Bose stuff in the end anyway.

Now, having said that, I am without a solution to the radio issue in my car,
and am not sure what I will do....in the end, probably take the car to the
dealer.

My check engine light used to come on every once in a while.  I haven't seen
it for a long time, and think it might be a confused oxygen sensor.  It also
seemed to have something to do with the grade and kind of fuel that I use,
although I have not been able to tell which grade or brand makes a
difference, and think it may have nothing to do with that at all.

In my case, since the "check engine" light appears only once in a blue moon
and then goes out, I chose to ignore it.  When it comes on and stays, I will
mess with it.

On the road from the store home, there is a beautifully banked "S" turn.  It
is mid way across an open field where the narrow, rural two lane road makes
a charming ride in the morning and evening.  I can see the other side of the
"S" and quite a distance beyond in both directions, so when it is absolutely
clear of traffic, I nail the throttle, clipping the opposite corners.  The
roadway is banked so that the V8 can just hunker down on its supension, and
flow through the "S"....my car is "right" right now, and when I take that
route it makes everything that I have put into the car worth every cent.

Roger