Re: distressed 84 4000S

[lmcstst@LMC.ericsson.se (Stamos Stamos)]

> My friend has an '84 4000S which has been experiencing difficulties.  
> Occasionally while cruising, and/or on startup, rich-black smoke pours
> out the exhaust and the car almost (occasionally) dies.  There is no
> reqularity to this problem, sometimes it occurs twice a week, sometimes 
> just twice a month. BUT, it has been going on for over 2 years and no 
> dealer has been able to figure it out!!  The car's maintenance schedule has
> been followed to a tee and it's a very well kept southern car.
> 
> Any ideas??
> 

Well I don't know what the problem is, as your car still runs, but
I can tell you about the two experiences I have had with
'rich-black smoke', in both cases the car (Audi 85 coup GT) died.

One was when the fuel pump failed in a 'high-pressure' mode.
It would over-pressurise the whole fuel system and the car would die.
Lots of smoke.

Second time I have seen smoke is when one of the two ground wires
that run through a black pipe along the air filter and connect to
the bolt on the aluminum intake that holds the pipe for CO2 readings.
This area right above the exhaust manifold, = lots of heat coupled
with inadequate protection causes the wire to fail at the connection 
with the bolt. In my case even though the wire was completely broken
it's weight was causing an intermittent connection, lots of smoke.


/Stamos