Re: found a TQW

["Scott M." <scottmo@teleport.com>]

Dave,

> From: Lawson, Dave <dlawson@ball.com>
> Subject: found a TQW
>Two odd things I have noticed are the
> air bag and check engine light never show up. A friend
who has removed
> this type of instrument cluster says these lights are
stuck in their
> holes by some goo and they could have fallen back behind
the instrument
> cluster. 

Hopefully the non-functional air bag light is only a bad or
missing bulb and has not been intentionally removed to hid
a malfunctioning air bag system. The "check engine light"
is typically missing from these cars, either left out at
the factory or removed by a mechanic, my bulb was missing.
You can reach the "check engine light" bulb by pulling out
the instrument cluster part way and carefully reaching
around with your hand. I did not need to remove the
steering wheel. There should be three connectors underneath
the drivers side dash below the knee bar. These are used to
activate the ECU fault codes. Let me know if you want a
copy of the Audi training material "1989 Model Change
Information", it outlines the new fault code procedure and
has some details on new MC engine and on the changes that
occurred on the 200's. I permanently installed a push
button switch connected to the fault code connectors so I
can access the fault codes without having to crawl around
under the dash.

>The passenger seat heater switch does need a new LED. 

Radio Shack has these small light bulbs, BTDT (both
switches)  the procedure to dis-assemble the switch is in
the archives, pretty straight-forward. I may be able to dig
 up the post if you need it.

>The hyd pump does seem a bit moist around the X screws. 

You can reseal these pumps fairly easily for the cost of a
seal kit, around $25. Note: There is an O-ring underneath
the rear shaft support/pressure regulator assembly that is
not shown in the repair procedure. Get a drag link socket
from Sears and grind off the edges to use to remove those X
screws. A hand impact driver or a air driven impact works
well....

The valve cover
> gasket is leaking by the intake manifold, running down
the side of the
> block, onto the alternator bracket and onto the case of
the alternator.

Definitely replace the valve cover gasket, I recommend
using the factory one piece rubber version. If the gasket
is leaking, it is also likely sucking air (vacuum leak) as
well. The crankcase breather hose coming up from the side
of the block usually goes bad (mushy/split) as well as the
tee fitting at the Valve cover. Remove and check them out.
After ensuring that any vacuum leaks are taken care of, the
basic idle mixture setting should be checked and adjusted
if necessary. There may be an aluminum plug in the fuel
distributor housing that needs to be removed before you can
adjust the mixture.

The car needs 5-7 seconds of cranking
> before it starts, both hot and cold. 

Mine did this as well when I got it with 75K miles on it,
the previous owner had the injectors replaced at 35K along
with the fuel pump. I didn't think the injectors could be
bad again, but eventually after replacing the fuel pump
check valve and checking everything else out I replaced the
injectors. Started instantly when cold and was much quicker
starting when hot. The recommended replacement is the 0 437
502 043 which is the Viton (green high temp rubber) tipped 
type. These are the recommended replacement for just about
all the MC turbo engines. The real early MC engines use the
0 437 502 045. The 032 is likely an earlier version
(non-Viton?) that has been superseded. You should replace
the brass injector inserts in the cylinder head and the air
shroud cones/o-rings while you are in there.

HTH
Scott M.