'88 90 q muffler gurgles and clutch master cyl

[Andrei Kogan <abk@phy.duke.edu>]

Friends,

I just noticed that when idling, the car sounds a little funny at the
exaust tip. The sound of the exaust is, well, gurgling, not a typical
smooth flow. It is NOT a sound of a leaky exaust, the gentleman in the
muffler shop claims that the engine doesn't run well  but he doesn't know
what the problem is. I also noticed that the exaust gas feels warmer than
in my other Audi (4cyl 4000) and I don't get any condensation droplets in
the q, whereis in a 4000 I do. The idle is stable, at about 900 rpm. The
audi mechanic who was helping us check the car before purchse says the car
runs just fine and doesn't need a tuneup. Anybody knows what's up with that?

Also, the clutch master cylinder failed 3 days after I bought the car, and
cost $277 to replace ( I didn't do the work). Is this a common failure
(1988, 160,000 miles?) Could it have been caused by not flushing the
hydraulic system for a long time?  Does it suggest that perhaps I should
expect the slave to fail too?

90 owners, please comment.

Many thanks, Andrei