Re: Little Audi Problems

[Elliott Potter <epotter@abraxis.com>]

Jason A Whyte wrote:
> 
> Being new to the quattro mailing list, I thought I'd ask a couple of
> questions regarding annoying and persistent problems with my car.  I
> currently own a '93 Audi 90CS sedan.  It's the fourth Audi I have owned
> so I am quite familiar with these cars.  Any experience/suggestions for
> the following:

Great to have you here, even if it's because of annoying and persistant
problems :)
 
> The cruise control does not work.  It did when I first purchased the car
> in '97, but began to fail intermittently shortly thereafter.  The dealer
> replaced the stalk switch which they thought was the culprit, but the
> system continued to fail more often until it now does not work at all.
> I used to be able to press the set button numerous times until it
> engaged, but when it did begin working it would disengage and
> essentially turn itself off while driving.  Seems to me that it is still
> an electrical problem of some sort, but I've had a difficult time
> trouble shooting it.
 
Could well be a vacuum problem (as someone has already suggested).  Try
this--if it's working, when you put it on it will 'suck' the gas pedal
down to wherever it needs to be--so essentially it's putting it's own
foot on the pedal.  Try to observe (though do keep one eye on the road)
if the pedal seems to let up gradually when the cruise control is on--if
so then you could have a vacuum problem.  If it lets up suddenly, you
probably have a different problem.

> Anyone familiar with trouble shooting the 93 model year automatic
> climate control system?  Mine worked excellent until it seemed to loose
> control of the air flaps.  The system no longer sends air to the dash
> defrost vent when asked to, nor does it close the recirculate flap on
> command.  I know climate control problems are very rare in late model
> Audis (ha, ha).  Again, I think this is an electrical problem with the
> system rather than a mechanical fault.  How do you even remove the
> system from the dash?  I can't find a way to access the screws or clips
> which hold it in place.
 
As Chris said, the first thing you should do here is dump the CC codes
(procedure on the 12v pages, http://www.itc.nu/12v ).  That will at
least tell you where to start looking.  To get the CC head out, pry off
the wood trim that's around it--it's very easy, so if you're putting in
a lot of effort then you're probably doing it wrong...it should just
slide right off.  Then there are 4 sizeable screws that hold it in
place.  If there's not enough wire to easily pull the unit out, open the
ashtray and try again--I'm not sure if that works for the CC head but it
works for the radio.

> This is the first automatic transmission I've had in an Audi and it
> performs the task well, but there is a delay between shifting into
> either drive or reverse and actual engagement.  This delay is about a
> second or two, but it is noticeable.  Is this a characteristic of the
> Audi transmission?  I've gotten used to it, but when ever I drive
> another automatic I notice how there is a almost automatic engagement
> when drive or reverse is selected.
 
This happens in mine as well--I keep trying to get the garage to look at
it and they never do.  I think that the delay seems to occur when
shifting in and out of reverse and first, no?  If you stomp on the gas
(i.e. to get out of an intersection), do you notice a 1-2 second delay? 
It seems to be about the same as the reverse gear delay.  It's a little
weird but I've pretty much gotten used to it; if you're careful and time
it right you'll never notice.
Anyway if I'm ever in town again I'm going to the garage to have a few
things checked out and I'll add this to the list :(

> That's it for now.  I'll probably think of others on during my drive
> home.  I just spent $400 for a thorough tune-up and replacing some
> control arm bushings.  The car drives better than new with 70,000 miles.
 
As Chris said, 60K mile service should include timing belt and water
pump--regardless of what the garage says.  Probably new spark plugs
shouldn't hurt (well, except in the wallet area) if they're older than
about 25K miles.

> Jason

HTH!
-- 
Elliott