[V8] Congratulations! but....

[quattro]

I would check the wire harness going into the  right rear of the trunk 
hinge. This is a known area for broken wires and will cause the fuse for the 
cluster lights to keep blowing if shorted. This was a more common problem on 
the earlier type 44's. I have seen it  on two of my past 3 v8q's.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Roger M. Woodbury" <rmwoodbury at downeast.net>
To: <daves745t at optonline.net>
Cc: <v8 at audifans.com>
Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 7:25 AM
Subject: [V8] Congratulations! but....


> It sounds like you got a real virgin!.  Congratulations, BUT:  job one, do 
> be done RIGHT NOW, is to have the mechanic pull the timing belt covers off 
> and inspect the age and condition of the timing belt.  IF that  car has 
> 52,000 miles at fifteen years of age, then the timing  belt should have 
> been replaced twice, or is in serious need of it right now.  I think this 
> is especially so since the original owner was an elderly man who drove 
> very little.  But do this right now: best be save than sorry, and if the 
> belt breaks you will be VERY Very sorry.
>
> I doubt that the light problem is related to the license bulb lights. 
> Those might be a ground issue.  In fact, the entire lighting issue might 
> be related to a ground somewhere.  The car lived in Rhode Island all its 
> life? Well, it could have lived along the ocean in Rhode Island, and thus 
> the salt air has corroded a ground or two, and the lights are affected.
>
> You are lucky to know who did the servicing on the car, and I'll bet that 
> Inskip has service records for the car that they will give you copies of. 
> Some dealers maintain copies of ALL service records for some time for 
> regular customer cars and if you could get hold of these, you could build 
> a good history of the life of this car, therefore knowing what the 
> original owner actually had done to the car.  The car might not have given 
> him any trouble, but "trouble" to him, might have been something else to 
> someone else.  He might have taken the car in to the dealership, and 
> picked it up after the dealer rang the bell to the tune of two or three 
> grand, which he accepted as "normal" for his cars.
>
> I will be very intrested to read more as you sort this "new" car out.
>
> Roger
>
> Pentosin:  green, expensive, buy it at the auto parts store.  Here in my 
> town, NAPA Auto Parts sells it, which is where I bought it.  About eleven 
> bucks a quart if memory serves.
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