Re: TQC Breaking up

[Robert Houk - SMCC Bos Desktop Hardware <rdh@UrQ.East.Sun.COM>]

       I am soliciting any and all ideas in an effort to keep my remaining
   hair in my head! 
      Just finished buttoning up my 81 TQC from fresh pistons, rings gaskets
   et al.  I am experiencing intermittant losses of power that don't SEEM to
   be RPM or boost specific.  It is very hit or miss.  sometimes in any gear I
   can rev straight towards redline no problems, other times it will loose
   power usually between 3200 and 4k. (this is with boost pressures set less
   than 10 PSI.  The injectors are all clean and flow properly, upstream fuel
   delivery system seems OK.  Cap rotor and distributer all check out.   I
   have double checked all previously disconnected wires and grounds and can't
   seem to find any discontinuities.  Caveat this did not happen before I took
   it all apart and I don't seem to have any extra pieces!  (since I didn't
   think it needed new pistons until I got into it, the Audi deities have been
   sacrificed to!) 
     Ideas, like experiences or explosives? 

A coupla things (other than "Drink Heavily"), monitor the voltage from the
O2 sensor, and/or monitor the duty cycle of the frequency valve (does an
'81 even have these things??? What is your ECU --- MAC-02, or ???). An-
other thing to look at would be the air temp sensor input -- if the ECU
thinks you're overhot, it'll retard the ignition a lot (although I don't
know if it'd retard it *that* much; eventually it'll shut down your en-
gine, @4000rpm). You should see from 70mv (yes, that's 0.070 volts) at
"idle/no load/normal air temp, to less than 140mv at full boost (this
also assumes the MAC-02...dunno 'bout earlier models). 

This should at least give you some idea what the ECU thinks is going on
with the engine. 

That intermittent sounds like electrical gremlins to me (e.g., flakey
grounds, etc.). 

					-RDH