Re: V8 or not to V8

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

> >it is conceivable that the only thing that needs to be changed is an eprom
> >but you won't find the dealer carrying that.  the smallest unit that you
> >can get is the entire control unit.. about $900.
> 
> Oh no?! Did the factory recall the old chips/control 
>unit and install new ones, or was it a switch in the middle of the model yeah

the control unit in my car signalled a fault one day.  (the whole PRND321
display lit up).  just needed to be rebooted (i.e. engine off-on) and
i took the car in.  this was during the days when audi would replace
stuff at the drop of a hat.  i guess they were doing field development..
:)

so in went a new control unit.  the dealers had no idea that the
programming was radically different from the original.  it had
the exact same part number.

i would guess that cars 91 onwards would have the new software, but
i'll have to check my receipts to see when that was done.

> Whats the word... Ouch! I assume that having to rebuild your
>transmission is not a common thing! Am I correct? If so, there is _no_
>way I would buy one.. 

i meant replace the tranny with a rebuilt one.  someone else mentioned
that you can get the tranny rebuilt for $2.5K.. still pretty hefty.
you still need the 10-12 hours of labor to unhook it and put it back.
it was a nasty job from what the mechanic told me.

the tranny should be pretty lasting if it did not suffer seal failure.
this same tranny was designed to handle the power and torque of the
bmw 750i.  (i think some of the 100's also had this problem) i had my
tranny replaced (under warranty, of course) because the seal where it
meets the front diff failed and the different lubricants mixed.  the
tranny itself didn't fail at all, but like i said those days they
replaced stuff at the drop of a hat.

>Would having the UFO brakes kill me? Are they almost certain to warp?

i haven't followed closely the discussion on UFO brakes since my
car doesn't have them anymore.  the originals warped for no good
reason.  i don't know what the current situation is.



eliot