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RE: 1989 90Q 2.3E update (LONG)
Tom, I bet the loud lifters and the lack of oil are directly related. If
you're still interested, and it's still there, go back and have the
dealer put in oil up to the mark, and see if the loud lifters quiet
down. The ISV (if there is one) is a funny looking mechanism attached to
the inboard side of the air filter assembly. It shouldn't have much
affect on the motor at steady-state idle, rather it makes sure the
transition to or from idle is acceptably smooth. Mine was gunked up, I
pulled the wire connector and re-plugged it in, life is good. Just
needed a little love. Sounds like this car was neglected, and collected
a good case of hanger rash. What else was neglected? Tires, obviously,
and 230hp is only available in the S2/S4 turbo 20v, not in any 90 that
I'm aware of. Well, except when a used car salesman is describing it.
I'm surprised he quoted *only* 230hp. Sure would be fun if it's in OK
shape. Will the sales slime let you take it to an independent shop for
inspection? Yes=do so and bargain based on what is found, no=walk away.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ian Duff, 1990 Coupe quattro 20v, Red/Black
quattro Owners Club member P877
Home: New Bedford, MA, USA
Work: Charter Systems, Inc., West Newton, MA, USA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>----------
>From: tnas@dtpdirect.nl[SMTP:tnas@dtpdirect.nl]
>Sent: Friday, 11 October, 1996 05:17 AM
>To: quattro@coimbra.ans.net
>Subject: 1989 90Q 2.3E update (LONG)
>
>Hi all,
>
>Firstly I'd like to thank all list members for their hints, enabling me
>to
>make a thorough check-up of this car. Once more the list came to the
>rescue. I love it!
>
>On arrival yesterday after work I went to visit the dealer who
>advertised
>two cars, an '89 and a '90, both 90Qs. It appeared that he'd already
>sold
>one.
>The remaining car turned out to be the ultimate: a 1989 90Q 2.3E 20V!
>According to the dealer (shifty looking character) it was imported from
>Germany, and would be sold with a new registration number and a year's
>warranty. (Valid only if he's still in business in a year's time, I
>guess).
>The car was metallic black (beautiful colour) with a black interior,
>making
>it very dark inside. The paint was still gleaming, two deep and ugly
>scratches on the front wing (fender) and there were small dents all
>over
>the car as if it had been in a hailstorm.
>I asked the guy to open the bonnet (hood). The 20V engine looked a bit
>dusty, but the undershield on these cars does keep the engine bay
>clean. On
>pulling the dipstick, the oil level was way below minimum and looking
>very
>grubby. Hmmm...
>The guy wanted to close the hood and be done with it, but I asked him
>to
>start up the engine. It started readily enough, but sounded like
>someone
>hacksawing a giant redwood. Do these euro 20Vs have ISVs, anyone?
>Beside
>that, the lifters were shot. It sounded like the number 51 bus in the
>morning. No way was I going to buy a performance car that sounded like
>this... The previous owner had kept the original aero-look wheels, but
>replaced the 195 tyres by 215s. This looked stupid (apart from being
>dangerous). Besides, all four tyres were down to the last .5mm of their
>tread. This car looked like it had been seriously neglected... What
>with no
>oil in the engine and four bald tyres (in the rain!) I wasn't even
>going
>to test drive it. Besides that I checked the rear discs: one was
>heavily
>scored, and there was lots of play on the rear 'steering rods' (thanks
>Tadeusz Gladczenko). Guess these were shot as well.
>The guy claimed it had the A7 engine instead of the usual A3, giving
>230bhp? Any comments? I looked it up at home, and couldn't find any 20V
>with more than 170bhp. Cr*p?
>
>While driving home I settled in behind a beautiful silver A8, put a
>Clannad
>CD in the stereo and turned the volume to deafening, to make some
>mental
>notes of the pros and cons. Please, ladies and gents, your comments on
>my
>findings?
>
>Pros
>Stealth- a car for taking to customers without being ashamed of
>yourself
>Very quick and safe (quattro)
>Beautiful colour IMHO
>Still a nice shape in my eyes, butch and solid-looking
>Sports interior in great shape, didn't smell of smoke, upholstery like
>new
>Factory sports suspension
>Nice factory -aero- alloys
>Lots of toys: c/locking, a/c, elec. mirrors, trip comp, ABS
>No visible accident damage
>Low mileage (116K km=72K miles)
>Reasonable price (16K Dfl= $7K), about Dfl 6K cheaper than next Q in
>the
>country)
>
>Cons
>No oil whatsoever (????)
>Rough idle $$
>Lifters shot $$$
>small dents everywhere
>4 completely bald tyres (the guy was gonna replace these before the
>sale)
>horrible stick-on graphics (hard to remove)
>damaged alloys from stick-on balancing lead, one center cap missing
>no elec. windows
>German imported car, will always be worth less than original Dutch car
>Speeding tickets, crippling insurance without $$$ alarm, fuel
>consumption
>
>The guy would only give $4.5K for my gleaming, undamaged 1988 80, which
>I
>think a joke. He wouldn't budge on that though. Gave me the usual cr*p
>(If
>you don't buy it now, someone might beat you to it! Yeah, so what?)
>Well, listers, how about some advice? Do the absence of engine oil, the
>rough idle and the bald tyres spell serious neglect? I didn't drive it,
>should I have?
>
>The nearest Q in the country is a 1989 Coupe Q (which I think is even
>more
>beautiful and fun to drive) which costs about Dfl 6K more. Too
>expensive by
>far. I'm going to look at some more non-Q 90s today. Pity about this
>one,
>I'd love a real Q!
>
>I await your comments!
>
>Tom
>1988 80 1.8S (for now)
>
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
>
> Tom W. Nas, graphic design tnas@dtpdirect.nl
> DTP Direct bv Voice +31 (55) 5 790 799
> Apeldoorn, the Netherlands Fax +31 (55) 5 790 125
>
> I think animal testing is a terrible idea;
> they get all nervous and give the wrong answers.
> --'A Bit of Fry and Laurie'
>
>
>