[V8] Timing belt change - follow up

Sat Sep 15 16:01:15 PDT 2012

That's the knock sensor that Scott mentioned in his last email to you. 

FYI , that sensor has a torque spec of 11-18ft lbs, certainly not enough to crack the housing
Allan

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 15, 2012, at 6:44 PM, John Bysinger <doog at bysinger.net> wrote:

> What sensor is underneath the drivers side header?  orange plug under the
> engine cover on the right side of the intake, routed by the front and
> timing belt cover and near the power steering pump?  The cable to that one,
> rubber wire coating is completely disintegrated and the plastic casing
> around the sensor is crumbing.
> 
> -John
> 
> On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 9:23 PM, Scott Justusson <qshipq at aol.com> wrote:
> 
>> The problem with rpm codes, is they can be triggered *from* the
>> intermittent stalling, not the cause of it.  Some have been known to put
>> some cold water on those sensors to see if anything changes.  This sounds
>> like a MAF symptom to me, are you sure that connector is secure?  Another
>> issue I've seen with the older v8's is an intermittent grounded knock
>> sensor causing a full max retard of the timing tables.  That DS one goes
>> into a bracket on the side of the valve cover, and I've seen many that were
>> grounded against the headers. Also, take a look at night, arcing wires and
>> cracked distributor caps many times can send you down much more complicated
>> paths than necessary.
>> 
>> HTH
>> 
>> Scott J
>> 91 v8 Auto 3.6
>> 92 v8 Auto 4.2 ABT Chipped
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: John Bysinger <doog at bysinger.net>
>> To: V8 <v8 at audifans.com>
>> Sent: Fri, Sep 14, 2012 10:46 pm
>> Subject: Re: [V8] Timing belt change - follow up
>> 
>> Ok, after some help from fellow listers, I was able to rebuild the
>> passenger side distributor.  I completely re-wired the connector to the
>> hall sensor, and was able to bench test it with a DC 4.5V source.  I
>> thought I may have assembled the ring on the cam side incorrectly, but
>> again, thanks to you guys I was able to confirm I got that ring in properly.
>> 
>> But it's still throwing a 2111 and stumbling over ~2500 RPMs in neutral,
>> and completely gutless and stalling when in gear.  Just to confirm, I did
>> as SJM's ECU page said and reset the memory by pulling the appropriate
>> fuse, and trying again, same code.  I pulled the drivers side cover on the
>> timing belt to see if there was any odd movement going on w/ the
>> tensioner/dampener when it got to those RPMs.  No odd movement there
>> either.  According to the SJM site 2111 indicates an RPM sensor failure,
>> but I just replaced both of the sensors under the driver's dizzy earlier
>> this year, barely 500 miles ago.  I rechecked their harness plugs, both
>> were secure.  I also inspected the connectors, wiring and hoses that run on
>> top of the engine, no real visible issues that I can tell visually.
>> 
>> I'm really at a loss as to where to look next.  I have time this weekend to
>> tinker with it, I'm hoping I can get it figured out before the Seattle fall
>> rain gets here.
>> 
>> Any tips/suggestions at this point would be very helpful.  I do have 'an
>> audi guy' who has a shop 15 miles from here I could take it to, but right
>> now driving it isn't possible with the stumbling, I'm trying to avoid the
>> cost of getting it there if I can.  I blew my Audi budget on the timing
>> belt and PS hoses.
>> 
>> -John
>> '90 V8Q
>> 
>> On Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 8:42 PM, John Bysinger <doog at bysinger.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> Well I got the timing belt completed, thanks for the recommendation to use
>>> BlauParts, their kit and tool rental made it nearly a breeze.  The kit was
>>> amazingly complete with seals, pulleys, fluids etc.  I also replaced the
>>> fan and oil pump bearings, because like everyone else said, I was in there,
>>> might as well.
>>> 
>>> I used this for reference while I was doing the work, proved very helpful:
>>> 
>>> http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/enginemechanical/A8timingbeltreplacement.pdf
>>> 
>>> It was nearly the same, just different Dizzy setup on the back of the
>>> heads.
>>> 
>>> I also got my leaky power steering fixed while in there, thanks again
>>> spokanehose, that was the third hose I've had them done, worked great.
>>> 
>>> But there's always something....
>>> 
>>> I ended up having to trim about 1.5" off the end of the drivers side of
>>> the top radiator hose, hose clamp pinched through it causing a leak.  Glad
>>> it was there and not elsewhere in the hose so I didn't have to replace it.
>>> But the one remaining issue I'm having is keeping me from getting it back
>>> on the road. It's only throwing one code: 2111.  Which based on a search of
>>> the list archives is likely the crank position sensor.  Strange.  I just
>>> replaced it and it's partner about 3 months before the water pump gave out,
>>> so I'm pretty sure the sensor is still fine.  Behavior is it starts and
>>> idles just fine, slowly increase the RPMs and around 3k it starts to act
>>> like it's skipping or stumbling.  When trying to drive, similar behavior,
>>> idles along just fine, try to give it some throttle and it'll stumble and
>>> sometimes stall.
>>> 
>>> I tried peaking under the dizzy to see if maybe the plugs had come loose
>>> while I was putting the cam lock plates on/off but they look plugged in ok.
>>> I haven't tried re-seating them just yet since there's quite a bit of
>>> engine bits in the way there and I was losing sunlight.  Thought I would
>>> see if anyone had any suggestions for something to check besides those two
>>> sensors hidden behind the drivers side header.
>>> 
>>> Only other noteworthy item is on the passenger dizzy there's a sensor that
>>> the plug socket had crumbled a bit, I cleaned it up and made a clamp of
>>> sorts to hold it in place, could that be my issue?
>>> 
>>> -John
>>> john at bysinger.net
>>> '90 V8Q
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -- john at bysinger.net
>> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> john at bysinger.net
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