Mysterious Brake Problem ('86 5KS)

[Joe Garibaldi <joegari@cdc.hp.com>]

Greeting to the Audi Internet Community,

I have been a faithful, albeit passive, member of this list for
well over a year now.  OK, I'll admit it, I've been lurking!!!
However, that's all in the past and now I am about to summon the
immense power that the AUDI mailing list represents.

Let me start by stating that the problem that my car (1986 5KS)
has does not appear to be a very common one given the apparent
scarcity of discussion on this topic.  The problem can be best
described as "dragging brakes".  In the last year, I have seen
only one mention that seemed similar to my experience and that
involved brakes which were dragging so badly that eventually
the car would not move.  In that particular case, the person
that I corresponded with told me that the brake master cylinder
had been the culprit.

Let me be a bit more specific.  The brakes that are dragging
in my case are the front two.  Until I realized what was going
on, I thought the car just needed a tuneup or something due to
its apparent lack of power.  Upon starting out, the car moves
along OK without unwanted braking.  However, after only a few
applications of the brake, the drag starts to become noticeable.
I can temporarily affect the undesired application of the front
brakes by sort of "popping" the brake pedal but, as you can well
imagine, this is a PITA, not to mention that it's not too safe
either.

Does the combined knowledge of the AUDI intelligentsia have a
consensus opinion on this problem?  I would very much appreciate
any and all info regarding similar experiences.

TIA,

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Joe A. Garibaldi                    Phone:  (415) 857-5124
Hewlett Packard Co.                   Fax:  (415) 852-3744
ICBD/California Design Center
MS 6L-D
1501 Page Mill Rd.                  Email:  joegari@cdc.hp.com
Palo Alto, CA  94304-1126

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