[V8] Selling? Feeling? 1990 V8q

[Scott Simmons]

Alrighty, ....

I think I'm done with the V8.  I don't think I can fit it into my budget 
any longer.  I'm thinking of picking up a Chevy for 6-8 months while I 
save for a newer A4.  I'm looking for $2,000 (FIRM) from listers.  If 
nobody takes it here, it'll probably go to the Craigs or the eBays and 
for a bit more.  If you want it delivered (see below for details) then 
I'll be putting new tires on it, alignment, and charging somewhere near 
$2,500.

*If you have any questions, please ask!  If you want any pictures, 
please ask!*  *I have nothing to hide* and am willing to take any 
obscure photos you'd like... as long as it's not too cold outside.  I 
have a bunch of pictures from the past year.  I do not have any from the 
last week or so due to the car looking like crap from all the rain and 
snow.  I can take some if you want.

 >> Assume that everything works as it should unless otherwise noted.  << 

The following is the maintenance record my ownership of the vehicle (13? 
14 months?) as best as I can recall.  I did a lot of little things to 
bring this car back to life from the previous owners "beater" mentality.

The car pulls strong and hard.  The shifting is smooth and works in all 
three modes.  It certainly feels like all 240 horsepower is reaching the 
wheels.  No stumbles or pops or backfires or anything.  As the saying 
goes, it runs like a striped-ass ape. 

I have no issue with how the car drives.  I would have no trouble 
delivering the car.  Right now I could draw the line as far East as St. 
Louis and West as Colorado.  If I adjust my work schedule I may be able 
to make arrangements for further locations. 

NO RUST.  Well, okay, a little bit of rust.  See "trouble spots" below 
for full detail.  It's surface rust on the tip-nose of the hood and the 
bottom corners of the back doors.  NO RUST on any suspension or 
underside piece (safe for the mufflers, see below).

NO OIL LEAKS.  NONE.  Pan is dry.  Back of engine is dry.  Heads are 
dry.  Oil pan never gave me trouble but the valve covers leaked and the 
distributors leaked.  FIXED.  NO ENGINE OIL LEAKS.

NO TRANSMISSION LEAKS.  NONE.

NO COOLANT LEAKS.  NONE.

NO differential fluid leaks!  The side of the rear diff is kinda gunky, 
but it's "dry gunk."  NO drops on the bottom of the case.

Pentosin leaks?  Yeah, a little.  I've added half a quart of fluid in a 
year.

I purchased this car with about nearly 125,000 miles on it.  I have the 
Carfax from before I purchased it.  Previous owner(s) lived in Colorado 
although car appears to have spent time in Illinois in 1993 (odo: 
13,000) before moving to Colorado in 1996 (odo: 50,000).

Carfax reports NO ACCIDENTS although the body indicates that someone 
must have bumped the car into something on occasion.  NO PANEL DENTS, NO 
BODY DAMAGE.  Only paint troubles.

I purchased my parts from three main sources:  Advance Auto Parts, 
AutohausAZ, or German Auto Connection.  Other parts came from 
dealerships, World Impex, or other V8 owners.


*Documented Work: (dates are of parts purchase receipts, generally put 
on within 3-5 days)*

11/13/06 - Rear brake pads replaced

12/03/06 - ATF fluid change, 4 quarts Mobil Synthetic ATF and 1 bottle 
Lubegard

01/09/07 - Oil Change, Mobil 1 0W40 synthetic, Valve Cover Gaskets 
replaced, ATF fluid change, 4 quarts Mobil Synthetic ATF and 1 bottle of 
Lubegard, Fuel Filter changed

01/24/07 - New battery, 700 CCA, Group Size 48, used factory vent hose

01/26/07 - New spark plugs, Autolite Double Platinums (APP103)

03/15/07 - (date of job, not parts purchase) Timing Belt replaced, 
including replacement of tensioner roller, idler rollers (2), derlin 
bushing, oil pump bearing and seal, thermostat, water pump, and 
serpentine belt.  Factory tools rented from Force 5.  Crank and 
camshafts were not leaking so seals were not replaced.  I purchased them 
and they are included in this sale.

03/31/07 - New starter purchased, put on in June

04/02/07 - New fuel pressure regulator, new hood lift support shocks

05/22/07 - Oil Change, Mobil 1 15W50 synthetic,

07/07/07 - New oxygen sensor, 4 wire upgrade

07/17/07 - Both rear calipers replaced, new rear brake hoses, new rear 
brake pads, brake fluid changed at all 4 wheels

07/19/07 - Replaced brake reservoir cap

08/17/07 - Both distributor caps replaced, both rotors replaced, new 
window switches

10/08/07 - Oil Change, Mobil 1 0W40 synthetic, new window switch

10/15/07 - Replaced distributor seals on both sides (green and blue 
seals) and heater pipe o-rings.


*
Undocumented and barely remembered work:*

Alternator appears to be fairly new.  The sticker on it is mostly 
clean.  Replaced before I bought it.

Radio upgraded to Gamma CC and 8 disc CD changer installed (Pioneer, I 
think, trunk mounted, no factory wires messed with as it broadcasts on 
89.7FM) before I bought the car.

I know there were 3 ATF fluid changes, so place one sometime at the end 
of December.  Filter has not been changed.

I had to run new washer fluid line when I first got the car. 

The heater valve had destroyed itself before I got the car and a 
previous owner had bypassed it with 3/4" heater hose.  I replaced the 
valve and ran new block-to-valve hose.  Replaced with ALL BRASS VAG 
heater valve.  I can't believe I don't have the receipt on that.  After 
that, the heater worked sehr gut.

Wiring in passenger door jamb redone. 

Replaced sunroof motor, reglued headliner panel, and greased sunroof tracks.

Removed dash pad to regrease interior temp sensor motor and diagnose 
cruise control fault (loose vacuum line).  Cruise control works fine 
now.  Guess I should've checked the pedal first, eh?

Replaced air intake temp sensor. 

Replaced Bose amps on rear speakers due to Stuka Divebomb Syndrome.

Replaced yellowing valve covers with silver ones.

Replaced yellowing oil cap with updated, black one.

Replaced cracked/fogged headlight lenses with clear, unbroken ones.

Replaced side marker lens assemblies.

Replaced all of the bulbs because some previous owner put in random 
1157's.  Just about every light bulb on the car has been replaced, save 
for the dash and console buttons.

Installed automatic transmission dipstick.

Replaced speed and reference sensors.  This was sometime during the summer.

Removed passenger seat, cleaned off old coke syrup stains (not mine, I 
swear!), cleaned out tons of crap underneath both front seats and the 
rear bench seat.

Fixed the dang arm rest phone.  Removed fuse for the time being.  I 
received an analog signal and service when I first got the car, but now 
all I get is fast-busy when trying to make a call.  Otherwise works as 
it should.

Replaced glove box handle assembly and glove box light.

Replaced floppy sun visors with ones that work as new.

Replaced misc. interior trim panel retainers/clips (d-pillar).

Replaced loose exterior trim panel retainer/clip (d pillar).

Narrowed down broken wire (within insulation) in brake pad warning lights.

Replaced a few dash vents that were broken/floppy.

New exhaust hangers here and there.

Installed jumper instead of fog light relay; fog lights now work without 
having headlights on.



*Included in the sale:*

Four volume factory repair manual, in four binders.

Spare parts from repairs including late model V8 sunroof motor, glove 
box, sun visors, old valve covers, headlight lens assemblies, the old 
serpentine belt was kept in the trunk, etc.  I'm a pack rat. 

Anything else that I've forgotten may go with it too.  Tool kit.  
Aluminum jimmy bars.  Stuff like that.



*Trouble spots: (generally in order of importance)*

The car has started to make an odd noise on cold mornings.  This started 
about three weeks ago.  I call it "bee in a can."  It goes away after 
about 5 minutes of driving.  I've isolated the noise to the bell 
housing.  Transmission does NOT slip and works fine in all gears.  No 
codes in ECM or TCM.  Fluid is still red and plenty of it in there.  
Does not smell burnt.

The body is average.  There's quite a few rock chips on the front, misc. 
scratches and small imperfects down the side and two large incidents of 
paint removal.  Only rust is on a few of the rock chips on the hood and 
some at the lower corners of the rear doors, surface only.  Where there 
are no troubles, though, it shines.  Always got a light coat of wax 
after every wash and water always beads up.  Some good loving with a 
medium cut polish could take out a lot of the issues.

The steering rack leaks.  It operates fine but the boot is ripped and it 
will leak.  Nothing ever hits the ground but it stains the Y-pipe a 
bit.  The power steering pump leaks too but I think I got it to stop.  
The leaks are so small I've only had to add fluid once in ten months.  I 
do not want to mess with a rack replacement.

Passenger front door lock linkage has broken.  Locks fine through use of 
the button on the door or driver's side.  Door functions perfectly 
otherwise.  Linkage broke soon after I purchased the car (winter 2006) 
and I never really got around to replacing it.

Rear door lock buttons seemed to be disengaged from locking mechanism.  
Methinks a previous owner disconnected these to prevent children 
passengers from locking/unlocking the doors.  Rear doors lock normally, 
the buttons just don't move up or down.  I can push and pull them fine, 
but no connection to the locking system.

Needs tires and front wheel alignment.  Tires could probably get through 
the spring.  The right front's outer edge has worn down more than the 
others due to the alignment but the rest of the tire is good and the 
other 3 are fine.  I'd be willing to do this before sale if delivery is 
requested.  Price would be adjusted, though.

The brake accumulator (bomb) is on its last leg.  The Brake light does 
NOT come on unless you stomp on the pedal quickly.  Brakes work fine and 
dandy.  Rebuilt units priced around $80.

Airbag light comes on.  I haven't tested yet (but plan on it, with 
VAGCOM) as to why.

The A/C compressor clutch is toast.  The magnetic coil works fine but 
the rubber on the front piece has disintegrated.  It doesn't cause a 
problem beyond the fact that the compressor won't turn when the clutch 
engages.  I've disconnected the compressor in the mean time.  I can turn 
the compressor by hand (the center bolt) so I'm fairly certain it's not 
locked up.  It may be cost prohibitive, though, to replace the clutch 
only.  I've priced replacement A/C compressors around $250.

The rear window switches are iffy.  They come and go.  Driver's side 
front switches and passenger's switch are brand new.  It never bothered 
me as I was never in the back seat.

The instrument cluster MAY have an iffy ground.  On occasion, the oil 
pressure gauge will read way past 5 bar for the first few minutes (more 
during warmer weather).  Opening the door would cause the needle to jump 
back down to 5.  All other gauges worked fine.  Sometimes, when turning 
off car, pressure gauge needle hesitates before heading to the nearest 
pole (0 bar or 5 bar).  If  it pegs at 5 bar with ignition off, I turn 
on ignition and it zips back down to 0.  I think it's a dirty ground but 
haven't had the inclination to fix it.  Gauge works fine during vehicle 
operation.

Both front seat heaters do not work.  I think the rear passenger's has a 
break as well, but wife says rear driver's works.  I have rigged the 
driver's front back heater to work by jumping some wires.  It is not a 
permanent change and can be undone without damage to vehicle wiring.  
All the relays click and switches work, but both front seats have open 
continuity on the butt element and I think I saw a burn mark on the 
passenger rear element.

The side mirrors have started to delaminate.  I stopped noticing after a 
month.

The small panel of the sunroof doesn't flip down when sunroof is 
closed.  The arms move back but they don't engage anything.  Not sure if 
something broke in the past?  Sunroof works PERFECTLY otherwise!  Up and 
down, back and forth.  No leaks.

I have disconnected the headlight wipers.  I did this immediately after 
purchasing the car due to one of them wiping way off of track.  They're 
seated in their park position.  I haven't felt the need to diagnose the 
fault.

Some interior light bulbs have burn out.  The passenger seat heat switch 
microbulb is toast as is the front cigarette lighter bulb.  That's it.

The interior carpets are typical of previous owners having children.  
Mild stains in the rear.

The grey leather interior is typical of its age.  The shift knob and 
steering wheel have turned dark and the driver's seat has begun to 
crack.  Passengers may have small fissures and rear bench has none.

Both mufflers have rust issues.  The front muffler has a small hole and 
the rear muffler is starting to flake.