Of intake manifolds and boulders ..

["Arun Rao" <rao%frisbee@frisbee.pixar.com>]

On Dec 22, 10:28pm, John Eickerman wrote:
> Yea, about my lovely ArrestMeRed '87 4000 CSQ, it turned 100,000
> miles yesterday, flying down I-5.  Oh, there must be some sort of
> timing clock in the car too, when you reach 100,000 miles, a belt
> starts to squeal.  I haven't had time to track this down yet.

	My '85 5000ST turned 100K yesterday also, on the way back
	from Las Vegas on the final leg of a 2,100 mile trip which
	took us to LA and Phoenix as well.

	Two events of note on this trip.  The first happened on I-10
	between LA and Phoenix.  Driving along merrily at 80 mph, I suddenly
	noticed a high-pitched whistle which seemed to vary with throttle
	position.  The car didn't skip a beat, so I checked it only after
	we stopped in Phoenix.  The idle-adjustment screw on the intake
	manifold was missing, and the engine was just sucking air through
	the hole.  Not having my manuals with me, I agonized for a bit and
	then stuck some masking tape on the hole.  Seems to work, but idle
	is really rough when the engine is warm.

	Has anyone seen such a thing happen?  I find it strange that an
	adjustment screw would completely work loose.  Also, how critical
	is the adjustment?

	The other (substantially worse) event happened a mile from Hoover
	Dam.  There was this big rock on the road : my friend driving his
	G20 in front of us swerved abruptly and managed to avoid it.  My
	wife tried to stop and avoid it, but the rock was still rolling and
	we went right over it.  My friend tells me the car actually bounced
	over the rock (none of the wheels went over the rock): I was sitting
	in the rear seat, and it sounded like the end of the car.  Fortunately,
	it sounded worse than it was: the worst thing the rock seems to
	have done is to squash (but not rupture) a tube on the underside.  I
	don't know yet what tube this is (probably some oil-delivery/return
	pipe), but there's no apparent effect that I can see.  I plan to have
	it looked at more carefully soon.  Hate to think what would have
	happened if it had been my Accord: at least the Audi has some
	reasonable ground-clearance.

	All-in-all, I was really quite happy  with the car.  It easily kept up
	with the fastest of traffic, even on steep upgrades, and we
	cruised almost continuously for 9-10 hours yesterday at 75-80 mph.
	Got about 24-25 mpg : not stellar, but the best I've got so far.

	A final side note: I saw two cars in the Arizona Republic which sounded
	like really good deals.  An '88 5000CST with 22K miles for
	$7,500 obo, and an '85 5000S with 55K for $2,950 obo. I was
	sorely tempted, but I have trouble enough justifying *one* Audi.

	-Arun