A man who can - and he did

["Ian J Haseltine" <Jim_Haseltine@classic.msn.com>]

I have just completed a 400 mile round trip in my quattro (York - Norwich 
-York). As the car had only covered 60 miles since I replaced the head, I was 
a little bit wary and I took a more comprehensive tool kit than I would 
normally do (only semi-legendry Phil, dont worry :-)). On the way down, the 
car performed better than I have ever known, gone was the 4000rpm misfire and 
it pulled through to the limiter so well that at one point I passed a string 
of over 15 vehicles in one go (on the A17 just east of Sutton Bridge).

It was the same story today on the way back until I was about 10 miles south 
of Lincoln on the A15. I had to slow and change down because of a coach, as I 
put the clutch in the engine died and I had a dash full of warning lights, I 
dropped the clutch and it restarted but seemed to be running roughly. A few 
miles later, l had to stop for some traffic lights and that was it, luckily I 
was able to park the car fairly tidily at the kerb. It would restart and run 
for a split second before stopping again. In the next 45 minutes I checked 
everything that I could think of, hoses for air leaks, the state of the plugs 
(a new set fitted yesterday) and had found nothing. During this time the 
starter motor also started playing up, only engaging once every 5 - 10 
attempts. When my 6 year old daughter started complaining I gave up and phoned 
the RAC, thinking that it was a fuel problem. 
When the guy turned up (20 mins) he found the fault almost straight away, I 
had missed (!) that because incorrect clips had been fitted, the dome over the 
air flow sensor had lifted. We tightened it up and things were ok for a while 
until I stopped for a meal when it happened again. The quattro is now in my 
garage with the dome held in place by electrical tape (my tool kit), cellotape 
(service station) and a couple of feet of tank tape provided by a team of 
Escort Cosworth rally drivers who were eating in the same place.

Guess what tomorrows jobs are going to be.

Jim Haseltine
88 Ur quattro