Re: Should I buy this 86 5kCS Q T?

[Aleksander Mierzwa <alex@matrix.pl>]

At 12:46 99-02-21 -0500, Robert J. Albrecht wrote:

>I have found an '86 5000CS Quattro Turbo with 58k miles

Which equals to 4.5k a year. The chances that this is the actual mileage
are extremely low, IMO.

>drive the car over the weekend. They are asking 4675. I find average
>book at 3700. Am I way off? 

Even here, in The Country Of Horrribly Expensive Used Cars(tm) (Poland) I
see them sell for less.

>Here's what I have found so far. Can you advise as to the seriousness of
>these items and what specific questions I should ask of the shop before
>we deal?
>
>1. Rack and pinion mechanism has a leak, says my local nonAudi grease
>monkey. Steering was sloppy when I first drove it before the shop beagn
>to work on it. Now it is tighter but there is creaking in steering
>column. Might be just plastic housing, or is it more serious? What
>should I ask for?

The leak will be getting worse fast, BTDT. The rack needs to be rebuilt,
which costs couple hundred of bucks, depending on whether the sleeve has to
be replaced as well.

>2. Leak at power steering pump.  What should I ask for? Related to r&p
>problem?

Same as with the rack: the leak will be getting worse quite fast and the
only way to fix this is to rebuild the pump. The seal kit costs only about
$15 and if you are mechanically inclined and have the Bentley manual, you
can do this yourself. Otherwise rebuilt pumps with core exchange cost about
$150.

>3. It has the electronic push button climate control and I'm not
>gertting a lot of heat. Core problem? Valve problem? Electronics
>problem? How do I know?

In the engine compartment, between the engine and the firewall you will
find a plastic gizmo with coolant hoses attached - this is the heater
valve. Let someone alternate between "HI" and "LO" settings on the climate
control head while you watch if the arm on the valve actully moves. It's
also possible that the motor that moves the temperature control flap has
stripped gears; it's hard to tell without dissasembilng things, though. The
climate control head has self-diagnosis capabilities: if it detects an
electric fault, it should warn you by blinking the "outside temp" light for
couple of seconds after starting the engine.

>4. On a cold start, there is a clicking sound when it begins to run. My
>4000Q doesn't make that sound with 170k miles, i don't think. Should I
>worry about that sound? It goes away after running a bit. What question
>do I ask the shop owner?

It's either the lifters or cracked/warped exhaust manifold. The two produce
very similar noise, and until you've heard both, they are difficult to tell
apart. Therefore, I strongly suggest you get an opinion of a second,
unrelated Audi specialist.  While the lifter noise is fairly normal, the
cracked/warped manifold means you are in for a "project".

>6. An intermittant failure of dash lights. They always light when I
>start the car but sometimes when I turn on the driving lights, the dash
>lights fail. Every third time or so.

Check the licence plate bulbs.

>And that's it. Body and interior is gorgeous. There have been two
>owners, one from 1986 to Dec 1997, and one from then until now. Car was
>first registered in Ithaca, NY. It's a pearlescent white -- any problems
>with that?

IMHO for that price you should expect a car in immaculate mechanical
condition... which this one apparently isn't.

>What have I not looked for? Oh, one more thing. In some American cars,
>turbos die young. What's the story with this Audi version?

>From 86 on, Audi used water cooled turbos which usually last the life of
the car.

Aleksander Mierzwa
Warsaw, Poland
mailto:alex@matrix.pl
87 Audi 5000CS turbo (mine)
88 Renault Medallion wagon (mom's)
91 mountain bike (just in case both cars broke at the same time :-)