[V8] Ramblings

Tue Apr 17 06:31:21 PDT 2012

 Funny, I've been accused by several well known listers as being an old fart living in the past....  I work on cars for a living, they all break, and Audi is no exception to the Engine R&R rule, the factory calls for engine R&R on a B5 S4 turbo replacement.  Active Noise Control is our future, as cabin acoustics are not 'just' noise entry approaches, but cabin noise *control* strategies.  One can be amused that BMW put it in first, but Audi is just a model year behind.  And no automaker's engineering department considers it a gimmick, it's either here or on the way.

To the v10tdi, or any other 'service' rant, that's always an amusing topic.  I drive machines and enjoy them for what they do on the road, while on the road.  Any Audi owner that wants to enter into a 'service' record argument, just pick a model, the list is long on the known issues from A8/S8 transmissions, chain tensioner gaskets on 5v engines <all>,  k03 turbo failures by the pallet-load, even the v8 with it's unsolved crankcase ventilation problems.  At the end of the day, owning any car is the balance of the love>hate relationship.  The impressive part of the v10tdi IMO, was the ability to take a 3.6auto v8 at a stoplight with an urq on the trailer!   

Sorry to hear you couldn't figure out the 4.2 auto motronic adaptation to the 5speed, it's not that hard.  That said, I suggest for the price of that 'proper' ecu, you could have just bought the ABZ motor, which IMO/E is a better ABH.  I'm in the spec stages of a 5/6speed v8 track car build, and I see no reason to use the ABH engine, especially since a complete coil over plug ABZ with harness and ecu can be had for under a grand (see a_cq thread on MG, we used my truck to pick up that engine at the yard).  And none of the smokey exhaust from a poorly designed crankcase ventilation system.

Cheers

Scott J
91 v8 Auto 3.6
92 v8 Auto 4.2 ABT Chipped

-----Original Message-----
From: Professor GT gmail <CavalloGT at gmail.com>
To: V8 <V8 at audifans.com>
Sent: Mon, Apr 16, 2012 9:05 pm
Subject: [V8] Ramblings

OK. OK, I knew sooner or later I'd get sucked into the Vortex and have to add my 
2 cents on a few topics. That's what's so cool about this forum: we can not only 
pontificate on all sorts of things, but occasionally some good useful info comes 
out of it too.

K, first things first! Stereo (us old farts call it a stereo because we remember 
the days of "monoral" sound, that spews fake engine sounds! It's a car, not a 
friggin video game! Come on BMW you are stooping to Jap Car antics to attract 
more sales just for the sake of sales! Shame on you! Put the money into 
something better suited to give "drivers" what they are looking for, not fake 
BS! BMWs current model line up may be fantastic, but stooping to the level of 
"fake" sound to make "the experience" "ultimate" is pretty lame no matter how 
nice the car is. End of Rant 1

Next, VWs V10 TDI Touareg is an awesome ride, that is until you have to fix it! 
I spent just shy of 5 yrs as a VW factory geek, and was one of the "lucky" one 
who got to go the Wolfsburg & Slovakia, the locations of Engineering and the 
Touareg Assembly plant respectively, for 3 weeks before the US launch to learn 
as much about these vehicles as possible before they we thrust upon the 
unsuspecting US customer base!

The ONLY way to own one (V6, V8, or V10 TDI is on a lease, so you can give the 
POS back before the inevitable deluge of repairs needed has you remortgaging 
your house to pay for it!

Seriously, it is a nightmare in the making.
 Ready? 
The V6 thermostat needs replacement?
The V8 alternator needs replacement, or
The V10 TDI O2 sensor needs replacement?

You sitting down?

All three, per the FACTORY shop manual REQUIRE Engine R&R!

Are you kidding me? What idiot would engineer such a bunch of BS? Oh yea and the 
subframe attachment bolts were teRing out their threads upon assembly at the 
plant as there is only about 1/2 inch of thread engagement skid you try to pull 
up the subframe with them they strip, if the didn't in fact strip upon 
installation at the plant, or when the poor unsuspecting repair tech goes for 
it. Even better, the nuts are captured inside the frame rails, so the only 
viable repair is drilling them out, etc., etc., etc!

I know, they hired the same rectal engineer the designed the Ford F-series to 
require cab removal to do any involved word beyond the simplest of operations, 
and I was a"Ford Man", but not after that brain fart!

So, then there is the Audi V8!

All I can say is that back I'm the late 80s when I was a rep for BMW in the 
tri-state area I had an M5 as a demo for a while, and it was one of the nicest 
vehicles I had ever driven overall.

Fast forward to about four uears ago when i got my 91 V8 5-speed. The first  
time I got it out on the road I had a flash-back to the M5 bit it was even 
better than what I remembered thanks to the Quattro System and the nice tone of 
the V8 engine - Nothing beats the sound of a finely tuned Ho-Po V8!

Is it somewhat of a pain in the butt to work on? Yea, in some ways, but in this 
case it's a labor of love, because the car is so fine! With a strong 4.2 ready 
to swap in with a correct manual trans 4.2  Motronic Unit this car is gonna be 
fantastic! The fact that it does not have to be my daily driver will also help 
with "Stage Two" which will be twin Garrett TB04 Turbos with custom injection 
control. I will be fabricating my own stainless manifolds, and will have an 
absolute blast doing it. 
First priority is to get my automatic car's engine swap done (3.6 for 3.6) as 
this will be my daughter's first car! - spoiled brat! Hey hot chick with a hot 
car! It doesn't get much better than that!

Once that's done it's on to the 4.2 fun with my stick car!

Can't wait to get started, but moving very slowly as I'm recovering from a back 
injury which put me out of work for a month.

Ah, now I feel much better! Thanks for indulging my rants. 

OWDEE ON! 

Thanks,

ProfessorGT