Re: Power window blues

[Tony Lum <tlum@flash.net>]

At 02:12 PM 9/25/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Here's and interesting one for you audiphiles.
>
>I have a 1986 5ks with intermittent power window problems.
>
>When the car has been parked in hot weather, the drivers side window does
>not
>work. I hit the switch and hear the window relay in the dash pick up to
>"seal in" the down signal, but
>nothing happens.
>
>Once the interior cools down it starts working again.  I've replaced the
>power window relay,
>replaced switches, taken voltage readings, etc.  This has got me stumped.
>
>Could this be a bad ground which is affected by high temperature or
>something similar?
>
>Any ideas would be appreciated.
>
>
>P.S.- The information that I've seen from this group in just the last two
>days is encouraging ( I just joined yesterday)
>as I have been quite alone for the last seven years in trying to keep this
>1986 rolling along, but with 156K miles, I've done ok!
>You guys seem to be quite knowledgeable on these fine cars.
>
>Also,  does anyone have a "general" idea on how long one of these Audi's
>can reasonably expect to run? I mean is 250K to 300K out of the question
>for this car?   Just curious about your experiences.
> 

I had this same exact problem and it was driving me nuts.  Then one day it
stop working altogether, so I had to go in and fix it.  Applied power
directly to motor-still nothing, so I disassembled the motor and found out
that there's a built in circuit breaker in series with the motor winding
INSIDE the motor.  It was slowly going bad and finally just opened up.  So
I got a motor from a broken regulator in the junkyard (tested it to make
sure it worked) replaced it and the problem was solved.

As for your other question, it is quite reasonable for the engine, given
good care, to last 250-300K.  Many on this list have done so.  What wears
out is the steering rack (leaks), hydraulic pump (leaks), brake
accumulator, a.k.a. "the bomb" (dies) and the climate control system (blows
defrost only).  If you have auto tranny, be sure to have it serviced
routinely.  If you have a manual tranny, expect all the clutch stuff to
wear out every 100K or so.  This is all in addition to the numerous
electrical problems that will tend to drive most batty-but that's why
you're on the list.

HTH,

-Tony
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Tony Lum                                  1987 5000CS Turbo Quattro
Berkeley, California, U.S.A.                1985 4000CS Quattro
Audi Owner/Driver/Mechanic by Necessity ;^)   1980 5000S Sedan
                                               1987.5 Coupe GT
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