[V8] ... reality check

Fri Dec 19 10:46:41 PST 2014

Pat,

I'm very sorry to read of your travails. Both of mine had fully-functional
clusters. My original  5 speed V8 had a service file almost two inches
thick when I bought it 10? years ago. It had custom ground cams from
Germany, had its block replaced by Audi due to excessive oil consumption
and was a real hoot to drive. I have friends who can attest to four wheel
burnouts and the lopy rumble of a Boss Mustang sound. Alas, these cars do
require regular maintenance and a steady supply of cash. I loved that car
almost as much as my '84 Urquattro, but the resulting financial problems
from the economic collapse in 2008 and my mother's waning health made for a
perfect sh!tstorm and a
my realization that I needed to be very frugal with my money. So for the
time being I'm driving an E34 BMW 2.5 liter with 208k on the clock. It's
not pretty or fast, but it's reliable and light-footed and fun. And tire
wear is negligible. It's easy to replace items and well-thought-out in its
execution. Plus the parking brak uses brake shoes for the rear instead of
the spiral dual duty rear caliper piston that VAG should be ashamed of.
Parts are far less expensive and are readily available.  I'm sure I'll get
another Audi in the future. Don't despair. I figure I've put  400,00 miles
between all of my V8s.

Good luck.

Ingo

On Friday, December 19, 2014, patrick gillen <pat_gillen at msn.com> wrote:

> Merry XMAS to all from a struggling V8Q dissenter (sound like an AA
> meeting?):
>
> In all these V8's going to the crusher, is there a totally working
> cluster, original or with  re-soldered colored harness jacks? I need one,
> and if all jacks were not re-soldered, the lower the miles and the most
> laboratory-perfect-ambient-the car-operated-in the better.  441 919 035 P
> VDO 110.008.369/047.
>
> If not, after 16 yrs of fighting parts unavailability, I suggest we all
> cut the esoteric V8Q BS, rally together and CRUSH THEM ALL. It was a good
> car, but a never ending money and more importantly time sink is no longer a
> good car. When I bot mine 16 yrs ago from an elderly doctor-only driver who
> only drove it salt free garage to garage, his dealer service file was an 1
> inch thick at 100k miles. I added another inch of service file for another
> 70k except mine is mainly parts receipts and countless labor hours.
>
> I have been driving 50 yrs and the V8Q is plain and simple, an out of the
> box lemon. A lot of it's technology is transplanted from its brethren, how
> could it be so screwed up? Two inches of service file is not right for any
> vehicle under 200k that is used on the street, at least for the common ones
> I have owned. And all my problems are the same ones you had.
>
> My position now, which I first found laughable not too many months back,
> is supported by a nameless NW V8Q expert who really opened my eyes recently
> as I bought a HP hose from his shop as yet another part that can't be
> bought new. He got a wrecked V8Q exactly like mine on Thurs, I called him
> Friday out of frustration looking for a used hose and he said he was
> crushing it on Sunday. I said, whaaat? So stupidly, I wasted the better
> part of a day chasing a used +3000 psig hose before the crusher got it, all
> along wondering about my sanity on a used pressure hose.
>
> And I'd almost be happy to eat the last $1k in various parts I've spent
> while I can't still drive it out of the garage because some genius decided
> the defective cluster solder joints should also control something so simple
> as the radiator fan. Like y'all, I too sincerely appreciate most of the
> Audi engineering but some of it is beyond ridiculous and done without
> senior engineering oversight and I am done defending it.
>
> So let's crush all the V8's, the rare 5 speeds first. And if there is a
> '94 floating around somewhere, lets bonfire it in Pioneer Square; I will
> light it and take the heat. But first, let's deal on a cluster so I can get
> another 30k mi while rationalizing all my recent wasted labor and
> parts...until the next fiasco.
>
> Pat
> 1990 V8
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: V8 [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com <javascript:;>] On Behalf Of
> Allan Vega
> Sent: December 18, 2014 7:35 PM
> To: Ingo Rautenberg
> Cc: V8 Audi Fans
> Subject: Re: [V8] ... reality check
>
> (Closes eyes, and sticks fingered in ears) la la la la la la la can't hear
> what your saying la la la la la
>
>
>
> > On Dec 18, 2014, at 9:03 PM, Ingo Rautenberg <ingo.rautenberg at gmail.com
> <javascript:;>> wrote:
> >
> > I literally gave mine away last month to the local salvage yard. Both
> > 5 speeds :(  They both needed work: The one had a perfect interior and
> > the other had an almost-perfect totally rust-free exterior. Both
> > needed steering racks, one needed a fuel pump and the other had half
> > of the injector wires eaten through by a rodent (guessing a chipmunk or
> squirrel).
> > I just didn't have the time or space to work on them. Audi-less for
> > the first time in 28 years.
> >
> > Ingo
> >
> >> On Thu, Dec 18, 2014 at 8:35 PM, Steven B <urq222 at ymail.com
> <javascript:;>> wrote:
> >>
> >> Funny, I just came to the realization that one if not both of my cars
> >> will end up being donated for charitable tax purposes and end up in
> >> wrecking yards somewhere ...
> >> ... wow ...
> >> I'm pretty sure I found the pick-n-pull where Gerry's '91 5-speed
> >> wound up ... and almost had a chance to go out there to confirm my
> suspicions ...
> >> Steve Buchholz
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