[V8] Gas mileage isse. Also, hubs, diesel etc.

[NIck Miller]

     Alrighty.. So I put up a short (long) list of codes earlier in the
week, and I still have yet to act much on it, but I'm just sort of trying to
'bench diagnose' the issue before I throw every part I can at it.   I
usually figure throwing parts at the problem is still cheaper than going and
paying 100/hr it will be for labor, as only the Audi dealer around here
would even touch the thing anyway.  Fargo is nothing but domestic as far as
the car market goes.

   So, my question is what all can cause our vehicle to get terrible gas
mileage assuming you aren't in sport mode with the go pedal floored all the
time.  Consider the range of 10-12mpg.   I think the only things I know of
are O2 sensor, and the sensor in the passenger side head?  Maybe clogged/bad
cats, and etc?  Hall sender?  Anything anyone has experienced would be
nice.   I was also thinking a flow chart in the how-to would be nice for
those of us like me trying to (still!) bring a V8 back from the (near!)
dead.

      And also, I took on a job for my uncle's friend the other day.  His
son has a lovely '91 Audi 100 with a 2.3 non-t that won't start.  It is an
auto fwd, and hardly worth a ton, but he loves it.  The car will throw fuel
at the motor but will not spark.  The dizzy seems to spin.  Only about
120k.  My first thought is the timing belt skipped, and I bet this could be
it, though the belt does look good as far as the teeth go.  it seems old
though.  I didn't get time to set it at TDC and align the dizzy and check
the cam, but I'll get to that.  Any ideas on that car would help a ton.  The
forums aren't giving me much...

        On that note!  This guy is about 60, as old as  my uncle, lives in
the middle of nowhere 3 miles out of town with no neighbor within 5 miles...
and has a shed/garage/barn full of cool metal.  Lo and behold, I was talking
to him and out of the corner of my eye I see an old jetta front end... no...
wait..  rabbit?  noo.... wait.  Rabbit truck?  "Is it a diesel?" I ask.
"yep, you bet.  had the car for 20 years or so now.  used to get half way
across the country and not even spend 50 bucks on gas"   So, that blew me
away.  he said he hasn't sparked it up in 10 years, though.  Shame.  But
god, its pristine. Like it came right out of a magazine ad from the early
80s.   Crazy.  he's also got a 3rd gen F-body and an older Supra from 86 or
87 or something, and a few other weird cars I don't care as much about..

    Also, I did my rear wheel bearing/hubs today, took some pics, and will
throw together a write-up on MG maybe and also on the KB here.  So, look
forward to it, hooray.  And, I also have found a nice source for the
bearings for our alternator (thanks to Mr. P. Cole from the list)  In
Minneappolis, and you will be looking at about $30.00+S&H for them.  Guy
seems really nice, they do alternators and starters in house, and the
bearings are correct for the application.  I'll get the name/number at a
later date, sorry for not having it on hand..

     Oh, another crazy thought!   I've been thinking recently with all the
ignition/fuel issues I've had since the car came to me, that it would be so
much easier if the car had Megasquirt.   Just plug in the laptop, look at
A/F, test the injectors, make sure the map line is plugged in, and that's
about it... no need to worry about dizzy's, wires, o2 sensors... and you get
a bit of efficiency out of it all too.   I've gone as far as to start
looking at the pinout of the ECU and figure out what sort of wires I'd need
to run to the MS box and how I would make it run in parallel with the OEM
ECU.  I dunno how promising this would be as I don't know what ancillaries
the OE ecu controls that a Megasquirt box won't control, and also setting up
a cam angle sensor on one of the dizzy's may prove to be a pain, but I think
It would be a viable option down the road, if I think about keeping her long
term.  Ugh.  Wouldn't it be nice, however, if everything just worked,
instead?

~Nick