Coupe GT digital dash, Central VW/Audi, Dallas

[EKellock@aol.com]

I've had my 87 CGT since 10-91 and it now has over 105K.  I've heard about a
lot of
problems with the digie dash, but I've only ever had to replace the bulbs
that illuminate
the display panels from behind.  Probably because the Audi gods got me with
the
next item:

Apparently I had a broken post on my battery for a long time before the
battery
died.  Some time after getting a new battery, the car started to cut out very
badly 
but, of course, only intermittently.  I'm talking about total lack of
ignition for a few
seconds and then, BANG!  Horrendous backfire.  (Good thing the cat had
previously
been hollowed out.)  This would happen randomly and then go away but
eventually
got to the point that I could rely on getting around.  I finally took it to
Central VW/Audi
in Dallas ready for a thorough wallet cleaning.  Well I guess I got the
wallet cleaning
($400) but considering what had to be done I was glad to pay it.  It goes
like this:
The battery on the Coupe mounts at the firewall.  The battery with the broken
post
leaked battery acid down into the wiring harness which runs through the
firewall and
under the dash.  Where the acid collected inside the harness, it started
munching on
the wiring.  Of course they could not duplicate the problem at first, but I
got lucky.
They decided to check out the ECU which is up under the dash on the passenger
side.  Fortunately they had the car running when they began to disassemble
the under dash trim and in jostling things, the car stalled.  This eventually
led them to the problem which they fixed by digging into the harness and
rewiring the damaged wires ( what an ungodly job that must have been, upside
down under the dash).
The $400 was all labor... labor I was happy to have performed by someone
else!
They also replaced all the little lights that illuminate all the center
console panel
items, probably so they could check their work.  I didn't even know some of
them
existed since they were out when I bought the car.  All in all I was very
pleased with
the service they provided me.  The whole process only took one day.

Ed Kellock
Lansing, IA
87 5KCSTQ
87 CGT 2.3