[V8] ... reality check

Fri Dec 19 12:10:24 PST 2014

Guys,

C-mon! We all know what a money pit the Audi brand is overall, but we knew
that going into this venture, or at least we should have known it! Anyone
who buys/bought an Audi brand new is either ignorant of this fact, or just
has more money than they know what to do with. On the flip side of that
coin, at least if you buy one new you have warranty coverage to hold you
over till the real shi! hits the fan. LOL!

Anyway, even with being able to do ALL your own repairs the V8 is still a
money pit! In spite of this though, my 5-speed is still one of the best
cars (for the overall driving experience) I have ever driven/owned. I say
this from the vantage point of having spent better than 30 years driving
company cars as a road-warrior for all of the following manufacturers:
Ford, Honda, BMW, Peugeot, Toyota, VW/Audi, & Mercedes Benz, as well as
having driven a few exotics in my day also. I do not mention this to
impress anyone, but instead to impress upon you that my previously stated
opinion (and opinions are like rear-ends - everybody has one), comes from a
fairly wide breadth of automotive driving experience.

I am a gear-head through and through! I've spent my life as an automotive
field service engineer and instructor, which is what I am once again
happily doing for a living. So my statement regarding my love for the V8
involves serviceability as well. The new vehicles with their communications
links are an absolute nightmare! Like PCs, when they work right, they're
great, but when they start having conflicts, all hell breaks loose! Also,
all the crazy crap the engineers are designing into these control systems,
is based upon their imaginations, and while in one way that's good, on the
other hand when they don't build in adequate and easily accessible
diagnostics, we're screwed! MANY issues today get fixed with control unit
reflashes, and many times the reflash changes things they don't even tell
us about, sometimes with negative connotations. The V8 preempted all of
this nonsense, and that's a good thing. Not that the V8 is an easy vehicle
to service, because overall in some ways it too is a real PITA, but with
respect to bang for the buck, this baby still does it for me. It's
comfortable, handles great, has acceptable power (barely), is stylish for
it's era, and is a very nice vehicle to drive! But you already know that,
right?

Anyway, It's really a shame that certain parts are NLA, but realistically
no manufacturer can continue to produce parts for every model they have
ever offered. Sad but true. That's where we need to be creative.

In spite of all the BS, I still love the V8, and will hang onto mine most
likely until I no longer draw breath.

Now, with that said, I am in the process of selling my 5-speed (Just
waiting for the buyer to pay it off). This decision is not by choice, but
unfortunately due to having fallen on some very hard financial times, I
have lost a place to keep the car, and no longer have a place to work on
anything, except for laying in the street, which I can only do for fair
weather emergencies. And, I NEVER like to pay other folks to repair my
vehicles, because all I do is get aggravated due to the inferior work
quality that abounds these days.

So, off goes the 5-speed. I do still have a 92 V8 with a lot of nice parts
on it, and I have found a place to stash the car, albeit outside - Urgh!
Originally I obtained the 92 as a running car needing some TLC which was to
be a donor in order to do a 4.2 swap on my 5-speed sedan. I even obtained a
known good German 4.2 manual trans engine ECU from the mother land so I
could execute a proper unbastardized 4.2 swap when done, but that plan
changed and I left the 92 intact.

So, the V8 love affair goes on, and the plan morphed as follows:

Other than an all-on street racer, (which a V8 can be made into with an
unlimited bankroll ala the DTM genre), I've always preferred wagons as an
all around cruiser. I also like having vehicles that are different, so no
Tauruses, Camrys, A4s and the like for this guy. No, I'm planning to find a
nice 91 Avant, and then use my 92 V8 as a donor to make a really nice,
almost nobody else has one, 4.2L, Automatic, yes, you heard that right,
Automatic (all Avants of the time were sticks) V8 Avant, with the V8 sheet
metal and so on.
It jazzes me even more, that the car was never offered that way, so that
makes it even more appealing to me. Once the swap is done, then "Hot
Rodding" will begin. Things like custom Fuel Management, forced induction
and so on, not to go overboard, but just enough to be sure to keep the
"Ricers" and "Fart-Can" Muffler crew in the rear view, generating a big
belly laugh as I blow by them with a sleeper "Wagon", no less! Kind of a
Euro-Sleeper that's fun to drive and very sure-footed, thanks Quattro!

Well, guys, thanks for indulging in my ramblings, but the core gear-heads
among us must hang in there with our V8s. Please stop scrapping decent
vehicles (the young man that's buying my 5-speed is an enthusiast who, as
we speak is going to work as a trainee tech at a VW/Audi dealer, and he
made room for the two parts cars that came with the deal).

For God's sake, we need to find someone with acreage so we can start an
Audi U-Pull It parts supply co-op with those old girls - anything's better
than relegating these babies to the scrapper!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

On Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 1:53 PM, Ricky Joshi <rickyjoshi01 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I guess I'm not sure why a perfect V8 interior would be sold to a
> junkyard.  I'm a buyer for black leather front and rears for $1000.  Just
> saying.
>
> On Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 12:46 PM, Ingo Rautenberg <
> ingo.rautenberg at gmail.com
> > wrote:
> >
> > 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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-- 
*Thanks,*

*ProfessorGT*