RE: 2wd quattro

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

> > Unless the 4000 quattro system is different than a 5000 (and it may well
> > be;  this is Audi after all), I'm thinking your example above was a car
> > that had the center diff locked _regardless_ of diff lock switch
> position.
> > 
> > 
> Correction.  Front diff was locked in the unlocked position...
> 
... actually you were more right the first time! (you have no way to lock
the front diff in any case)  Given that your vacuum system is working this
is a very easy thing to do ... just swap the vacuum lines at the actuator
(s'pose you could do it at the switch too) and remove the lock light for the
center diff, and voila you have an FWD quattro.  It would take a bit more
work to make the center diff always be locked (routing a vacuum line to the
correct side of the center diff actuator) that I would figure that most
people would simply swap the lines.  

In the past I thought that there really wasn't much value in testing the
diff locks as they are quite simple ... and simple to fix if there's a
problem.  The fact that locking the diffs can help you uncover things the
seller is trying to pull over on you (missing drive shafts or mismatched
FDRs in front and rear) makes it an easy and quite worthwhile test,
especially on an older car.  

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)