Re: 87 5KCSTQ Odometer/Temp guage repair

[brettd@tiac.net (Brett Dikeman)]

>Odometer are actually synchro-receivers.  The Bentley gives complete
>procedures through removal - the only comment I have here is to pick up a few
>of the plastic dudes that hold the horn pad on before you start - they tend
>to break during removal.
Tell me about it! How expensive are they?  They must be cheap,
although-with Audi...

>I bent the needle assembly on my temp guage, not paying attention - bent it
>back, and it failed to work.  After looking in the junkyard and finding the
>earlier Audis have a different face/needle I decided to tear it down.  The
>linkage had popped free of the bimettalic spring (original problem), and in
>bending it back I had twisted it.  I simply put it back and retwisted it back
>into alignment (hooray - VDO makes something virtually impossible to break).
> Downside - If you see the construction/simplicity of this thing you'll
>realize the accuracy sucks (easy to see why there's no numbers on the guage
>face!).

Dave,
have you been experiencing the problem with the temp. gauge working/not
working randomly?  I though the problem was with the connector(one day
after arriving at my destination, I wiggled the temp sensor's connector
back+forth, and the needle climbed up to its normal position.  Lasted about
30 min. of driving and stopped working.  I did notice that it would spring
to life if the weather was warm and I was stopped on a major road after
driving 50-60 mph., fan would cycle and all of the sudden, boing! Up goes
the gauge to halfway.  Start moving again, and the temp goes down very
quickly from the airflow, and later gauge drops dead to its off position.
I'm thinking of taking it over to the dealer or to a local shop that
services Audis and having them replace the connector+temp sender.  I'm
worried that the other temp sensors in the unit will fail or might not be
working+bad things might happen.  Replacing the connector is probably the
answer, though, and I could install it myself unless there's something I'm
not aware of...  Can you get the connector by itself through Audi?  How
much $$$ for it? (Dealer is nearby+it's worth it to just go over and get
one if it's cheap.  The connector is badly damaged and mucked up by
tape+silicone sealant gunk in an effort to seal out dirt.) I seem to
remember senders being about $25, and someone had one, but Iforgot
who...you know who you are! Please write, sorry, lost mail long time ago :(

Any suggestions/opinions?
Brett
'87 5kCST