Re: '90 V8Q: A few odds and ends...

["Randall C. Markarian" <asenna@accessus.net>]

Chris King wrote:
> 
> Well, after owning my V8 for almost two months now, I am very happy with it.
> But I do have a few questions for y'all, so here goes:
> 
> 1)  Is the sunroof switch supposed to light up, because mine does not.  It
> works fine, it just isn't illuminated.  Same thing goes for the power mirror
> control on the driver's door.  Neither the 4-way pad or the R and L buttons
> light up, but they work fine.  Are these also supposed to light up?
>

I think that this is an Audi problem, because I have seen it happent in my V8 
and my family's Audis.  It is only an annoyance and I just ignore it.  
Recently the lighting for my transmission selector on the console went out.  
It could be worse.

 
> 2)  My A/C is starting to act a little funky.  Naturally this comes during a
> week when it has been in the 90's.  Anyways, what happens is sometimes the
> system won't come on after I turn the car off and start it again.  Sometimes
> switching into "Econ" for a few secs and then into "Auto" will trick it into
> turning on, but it doesn't always work.  I have noticed that the outside
> temp led blinks for about 60 secs. whenever I first start the car.  The air
> pressure doesn't seem too great during this time, but as soon as the light
> stops blinking, I can hear the flaps in the dash creak and groan and the air
> starts coming out much better.  Could this be the infamous programmer
> telling me he needs some attention?

Mine also occasionally does goofy things, but for the most part it works fine.  
Although I wish that the velocity of air was greater.

> 
> 3)  The A/C system also needs some freon, but I was wondering what other
> service should I have performed to get my A/C working optimally before the
> real heat gets here this summer.  I don't know if the previous owner ever
> had any A/C work done, so are there any filters or anything that need to be
> cleaned/renewed?

Nothing too special that I am aware of.

> 
> 4)  I too have noticed the surging at highway speeds that some of you have
> mentioned.  Most said a new oxygen sensor solved this problem.  Well, mine
> was replaced not quite 30k ago by the dealer, so would it need to be
> replaced already?  Do these things really wear out that quick?

I was very skeptical that this would work, but it did!  Look around to get the 
Ox sensor for ~$120.  The dealer charged one hour labor to install it, which 
really irritated me.

> 
> 5)  The "miles until out of gas" feature on my MFA is very erratic.
> Sometimes it will have what appears to be a correct guesstimate, but if I
> turn off the ignition for a while and then start her back up, it will have
> usually a real low number.  Say for instance I have half a tank of gas, it
> will say I can only go 80 miles, which obviously is incorrect.  This really
> is not that important, but if it is a quick fix I guess I will have it done.

Totally innacurate gauge!  As far as I know Audi discontinued this in the trip 
computers a couple of years later because of this.

> 
> 6)  And last but not least, what kind of fuel mileage do most of you get
> with these cars?  I get about 275-315 miles out of a full tank of 93 octane
> gas.  This is all with city driving, stop and go traffic, etc.  The MFA
> computer states that I am getting about 17.7-18.0 MPG.  How does this
> compare with everyone else?  Maybe my mileage would improve with a new OXS?

I get between 300 and 325 per tank with aggresive driving.  I have gotten more 
but only on highway trips.

Randall C. Markarian

1990 V8 Quattro
1996 Merc E320 (coming soon)