new quattro and more beastly issues

[Dan Simoes <dans@ans.net>]

Briefly, I now own a second Audi (my third overall) which I 
picked up today from Walter Meares.  It's a 85 4kqs in...
Oceanic Blue :)  Only problem is that my wife has taken a liking
to it, so it looks like it's hers.  You know how that goes,
right Bob D?

My car made the trip to Boston just fine, except for two
problems.  One, simple, is that the alternator wire was
loose inside its terminal and lost contact, leaving me to
wonder what was going on.  Fortunately I had installed a
temporary voltmeter, so I caught it right away and fixed the
wire.

The other problem is weird and is dangerous as well.
At certain times, driving along with the lights on,
the lights will cut out along with the radio, pw switch lights,
and anything wired to come on with the ignition (ie dash lights,
parking lights stay on).  The radiator fan also cuts out (could
overheat) and the wipers don't work (bad in the rain!)

There is a common trick on VWs and some Audis that works like
this.  If you have forgotten your key but need to close your
power sunroof or windows, turn the lights on, and push the
"flash to pass" lever.  The powered accessory will magically work.
I'm not quite sure why, but it does.

I mention this because if I do the same thing when my car is
dead, all the power stuff kicks back on.  If I release, it
stops working.  Sometimes (usually) the power will come back
on its own.

I started to think today that it was the hi/lo combo switch, because
it happened a couple of times when I put  my highs on (euro H4 with
mild bulb and US spec high beams).  But then I noticed at home that
I could get everything to work if I a) shut the car off, b) shut
the lights off completely and c) turned the car back on.

There are two possibilities I can think of.  One is a bad combo
switch.  The other, more likely, is that something, maybe the
euro lights, is causing the load reduction relay to kick in.
What is the normal behavior for that relay anyway?  I'm not
sure.  

Anyway, more fun debugging my car as usual.  Too bad Chris Semple
too off this weekend, he could have had the pleasure of working on
it.  Oh well, soon :)

| Dan |
-- 
Dan Simoes			          dans@ans.net
ANS 				http://coimbra.ans.net/dans.html
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