Re: My 87 4000 CS quattro foes (too long)

["Wm. Josiah Erikson" <josiah@gsinet.net>]

Read down for answers... some at least.

BRIT4VWS@aol.com wrote:

>         I am a proud owner of my Audi.  I get compliments on it where ever or
> whenever I go.  On the surface everything is great.  It is a nice deep yet
> bright Tornado Red with an interior I have never seen in a junk yard or very
> few other Audi's on the street.  The car only has about 95,000 miles on it
> which makes it in the very low mile range.

If you have an '87 4KQ, then they have a unique interior that never came on any other
year or model, AFAIK. Cool interior, isn't it?

>
>         Underneath the car has a solid foundation and that is the only good thing I
> can say about it.
>         The problem list for this car is growing as I fix the problems.  I have seen
> most of them on the list but never quite hitting my car on the dot.  To start
> my car doesn't start well at all.  It hates to start when cold and still
> hesitates for a few seconds when warm.  Problem?  A vacuum leak.  WHERE?  In
> one of the 3 billion vacuum lines on this car or at the fuel injectors them
> selves.

Yes, these cars do have about ten million vacuum lines. Somebody mentioned using starting
fluid and spraying it on the vacuum lines. When the engine revs, then you know you've
found the leak. If it was me, I'd go easy with this method, but I suppose it evaporates
fast. Just don't smoke while you're doing it : )

> I thought I owned an Audi for some more quite than my Volkswagen.
> Doesn't seem we can achieve that either.  The fuel pump whines on this car
> like nothing else.  Everyone tells me to live with it or pay a fortune to have
> it fixed so I get used to it and the spedo starts whining away actually more
> like grinding.

The speedo thing could be your cable. And about the fuel pump, yes they often whine, but
have you changed your fuel filter lately? Sometimes they get noisy because the fuel
filter is a little blocked up and they're getting more resistance than they should.
Changing the fuel filter won't reverse the damage, but it will keep it from getting
worse.

>
>         Everyone loves the heated seats in my car especially when it is below 20
> outside.  Me I don't get one because the coil is broken everyone says.  Then
> why does it switch on when I scoot forward on the seat now it does not turn on
> at all.
>         The headlights on this car suck so badly that I can see about 5 feet down the
> road maybe 15 with the brights on.  If anyone has a good set of DOT
> headlights, meaning no rock chips, please let me know mine look like they have
> lived through 11 years of Colorado winters without breaking once but just
> getting pounded by all the rocks the put on the roads here.  I would buy
> Euro's but I can't afford them right now.

Are they aimed correctly? Are they full of condensation? Try aiming them if they're not
aimed correctly. Should be two phillips screws on different sides of the headlights...
look at them and it should be fairly obvious what they do. If you suspect that they're
not aimed correctly, then shine them on a wall at night and get a flashlight to see the
screws and fiddle around with them. This helped me enormously on my QSW.

>       Quattro power is awesome.  But I
> don't know if I can lock my front diff because I can switch it to lock and it
> never lights up.  One of you mentioned feeling different when this is locked
> and I don't feel any difference at all what could cause this?

If the center (not front- there is no front diff lock) diff lock is working, you will get
scrubbing and hopping when you turn at full lock on pavement. Maybe the vacuum leak that
is causing your car to start badly is the same vacuum leak that is keeping your center
diff lock from working. The diff locks are vacuum operated.

>
>         The A/C sucks in this car it takes forever to get the air cold and yes it is
> charged, on the opposite end the heat in the winter sucks just about the same.
> I am used to VW heat I suppose where I can drive to the end of the block and
> turn the heat on and it comes out hot so what happened on the Audi's?

It should work well enough. Thermostat? Blocked heater core?

>
>         There is a small coolant leak somewhere on the car but where I don't know
> because you can't see it going anywhere.  Head Gasket or is this normal.  And
> last my ass sits on the ground with only a full tank of gas.

Sometimes these cars lose coolant through some strange place. I dunno why. But you
shouldn't be LEAKING... as in leaving a puddle on the ground. And what do you mean
sitting on the ground? Your springs are sagging? That happens with old springs.

> This list will
> be amended to tomarrow I am sure as today I have fixed the sunroof the
> windshield washer and the power antenna and those things only went bad within
> the last two weeks.
>         I love my car enough to care for it and fix it and maintain it but this stuff
> is starting to get annoying and the spedo is now going to break I am sure as
> the needle is bouncing from 20-40 on a regular basis.

This sounds like your speedo cable. It's probably making the noise as well.

>
>         If anyone has any help for me please send it to me I need all I can get.
>

Good luck!
    -Josiah
    '84 GTI
    '86 Scirocco 8v
    '87 QSW
    http://www.gsinet.net/~josiah

>
> Brit
> 87 $$$$ $S quattro
> 88 $$tta
> 73 $$$tle