my new ur-q - needs help of course.

[c a l i b a n <caliban@sharon.net>]

	this will be a long post, but it should be interesting and
	get the mechanical juices flowing.  i'd definately 
	appreciate it if some o fthe more mechanically inclined
	ur-q owners could read all the way thru - it's long, 
	but so was my journey...

	i bought an 82 urq this weekend, see it at
	http://caliban.sf.ca.us/img/audi/ur-q

	a great way to get to know your new car is to immediately 
	drive it 1300+ miles in 40 hours.  fortunately, the seats
	are pretty comfy.  unfortunately i had to limp the last
	150 miles home.  perhaps the collective genius here on 
	this list can offer me some suggestions.

	when i first got it i noted that it was a bitch to start.
	i can chalk this up to "not knowing the car"; it took me
	a couple weeks to get my rz to crank on the first kick.
	after letting it warm up, i note an odd, quiet buzz when
	i rev up and cluth out, and this only lasts the travel of
	the cluth or so.  starting up it runs kind of rough but
	once it gets going it goes fine. well, it did, anyway.

	the first problem i noticed came when i really punched
	it, this was sometime saturday (i did the pickup friday,
	in denver, and drove it back to sf thru salt lake city.
	when i run it up into 5k rpm and then shift quick and
	drop the clutch out, the whole thing jerks and shakes
	violently.  a second or so, clutch in, decellerating, 
	and i can let slip the clutch and all is well.  a few
	weeks reading this list makes me think it's some kind
	of emission control dohickey?  even if it isn't, i think
	the bigger problems might be related... read on... 

	highway 70 thru utah and it's really smooth.  goot boost
	pressure, drives great (with really minor complaints: 
	slow windows, wind noise from the sunroof not seating
	perfectly, very slight pull to the left, a decent little
	rotten hole in the bottom of the mufffler, etc - the kind
	of stuff i expected.  noticed that there was a consistant, 
	tiny pair of "notches" in the power response of the car:
	one at about 3500 and one at about 3800.  it feels like 
	tiny tiny blip in the power, just for a split second.
	then it's smooth again.  nothing noteworthy on the turbo
	boost gague.

	today, sunday, by the time i got to reno to stop for gas, 
	i blew it.  pulled off the freeway, right into a unocal
	station, and turned off the engine out of habit - no cool
	down time.  i tried to start it up again and got the 
	temperature idiot light (damn i wanna add a proper gague!)
	and it took about 15 minutes of cooling before it would 
	turn over again.  i took it easy for a bit and then lunged 
	into the sierras.  coming down the west side of the 
	sierras was a total blast!  until...

	i was pretty much at rocklin - and finally at a lower 
	altitude than the car has probably ever been operated
	(i dunno if that is relavent) and those same notches
	that i noted at 3500 and 3800 were everywhere.  i could
	still go, but i had no power; the boost gague however
	responded to my foot on the accelrator as if nothing was
	wrong.  basically, the engine response was very "bumpy"
	and jittery, like fuel or spark response was retarded
	somehow. i chilled out for a while and worried in the
	slower lanes, but i could keep up a good 65-70 mph
	(i crossed utah without dipping below 80, generally
	at 85-100 most of the way.)  after about 10 miles or
	so, maybe 15, it went away but i took it easy for a 
	while anyway.  west of sacto, traffic came to a standstill,
	and when i stopped my idle was rough and low - it 
	usually idles at 850-900 or so, but it was rough and 
	i was scared of stalling and getting stuck in traffic
	(also of having it not have a chance to cool down)
	so i played with the accelerator to keep it running.
	when traffic got going a few minutes later, i was having 
	worse response problems - though none of this is the
	massive shudder i mentioned first, from high-shifting
	around 5000rpm.  similar but much smaller, though at
	this point i was having a hard time getting to 65mph.
	i pulled off to another unocal station - the previous
	owner had mentioned something like this *just* happening
	but the mechanic who tuned it up thursday (prestige,
	in denver) said that when he put gas in it went away.
	as one would expect, gas diddn't help, and after a
	decent cooldown (a few minutes i let it run as i went
	to the bathroom and stuff) it stalled and the idiot
	light told me for 15 minutes that it was too hot to 
	start, and of course wouldn't let me try.

	eventually it got better again, another 10 or 15 miles 
	later.  this "getting better" is felt as a lengthening
	of time between spurts of power, until the spurts go
	away.  and like i said, none of this registers on the
	boost gague.  then it happened again.  a few miles into
	it i clutched in and gave it a quick punch to 5200rpm 
	or so and this seemed to clear it.  the last 20 miles
	or so this tricked worked somewhat reliably, though it 
	was hell on sf surface streets tring to keep the engine
	from stalling yet still stop at lights and make left
	turns and stuff.  it stalled immediately when i pulled
	into my driveway, me cussing and pounding the steering
	wheel as i imagined the first turbocharger i have ever
	owned cooking in its own juices.

	i paid $6k for this, and another $500 to fly out and
	drive it back.  the body is pristine, it's virtually
	rust free, interior is great, had 109k miles on it
	with an engine rebuild (a good story behind that, 
	actually, for another time) at 60k and a turbo rebuild
	at 45k, when the PO bought it in 86 - the original 
	owner cooked it not heating up and cooling down 
	properly.  there aren't really any performance enhancements
	at all, except that it was very nicely repainted last 
	year because of hailstorm damage - it was garaged since
	86.  i won't be totally shocked if, based on my huge
	ramblings, y'all say i've been had.  but i do have a
	couple thousand still in my auto-loan budget for the
	repairs i thouhgt i might just need, though i was 
	hoping this would go for snow tires (the p6 pirelli's
	are at the end of their usefulness) and a ski rack 
	and of course the excessive registration charges.

	anyway, i'd *definatly* appreciate any tips i can get
	as to what could be wrong, even if (after reading this 
	tome) all you can do is blurt out an incomplete sentence.
	in the end i will probably take it to m&m or 2bennet
	(got the numbers, anyone?) for a full checkup and
	repair so i can start fresh.  some sage words from the
	list will probably calm me a little now, though.

	thanks in advance, friends.


--
 yamaha rz350 - suzuki ts250 -  chaotic good
 http://caliban.sf.ca.us/
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