Re: More 4000q questions

[steveb@falcon.kla.com (Steven Buchholz)]

> Yet more miscellaneous questions, hope you don't mind.  First, I am under
> the impression that the 4kq had front disc/rear drum brakes, at least for a
> while.  Is this true and what year (if ever) did the 4kq line get 4 wheel
> discs?  How about the brake power booster, is it vacuum or hydraulically
> actuated?  Did the 4kq ever get ABS or airbags? 

Nope, since the quattro was implemented by installing a copy of the front 
suspension in the back it always had 4-wheel discs.  The FWD 4ks had rear 
drums.  4ks never had ABS.

The 4k's brake booster is vacuum operated.  AAMOF there is an auxiliary 
vacuum pump that is driven by the cam and provides another possible source 
of ticking noise from the engine ... lifters and exhaust leaks were not 
enough.  

The 4k's swan song was in 1987, I think Audi started using airbags in the 
USA in 1989.  No airbags [Yea!]
> 
> How about the clutch, is it hydraulically or cable activated?

Hydraulic
> 
> What years/trim lines had the 4 cylinder engines, and how are these on
> power/reliablilty?

All 4kq's had 5-cylinder engines ... I  think the general impressions of 
the engine are that the power is somewhat anemic, but they are quite 
robust.  I find the performance of the stock engine/gearing to be suffic-
iently "peppy" to be fun to drive.
> 
> Are most common jobs on these cars easy with regular tools, or does one
> need to invest in a smorgasbord of specialty tools?
> 
I think there was a thread a while back on tools, you may want to check 
the archives.  In general a metric tool set (including hex keys) should 
do the trick for most things.  Cam belt/water pump replacement is most 
easily accomplished with a VW 2084, and it is good to have a SunPRO CP7678
(from memory ... probably wrong) multimeter.  I also have a fuel pressure 
gauge to allow troubleshooting of some FI problems.  I am just learning 
about the 4kq for myself, but the overall simplicity as compared with the 
5k should make it a simple to maintain automobile.  My experience with my
old Audi Fox was such ...

HTH!
Steve Buchholz
s_buchho@kla.com
San Jose, CA (USA)