Re: need help quick

[Brett Dikeman <brett@pdikeman.ne.mediaone.net>]

Well, I guess the rain could have gotten somewhere it shouldn't have, 
but that's kinda rare.

Did you hit a big puddle?  We've had reports of cars swimming 
gigantic puddles ok; one lister drove his V8q through a huge flooded 
underpass...had some problems because some water got into a few 
sensors, causing some rough running, but otherwise was OK after a day.

Did you recently(ie, when it was raining) fill up?  I've heard 
several cases of water in the gas when it was raining hard.

You also may find that if it was water in the engine compartment, the 
heat of the engine will have baked it away, certainly by now.

I'm tempted to point towards bad fuel.  Most mechanics, Audi or non, 
can handle bleeding a fuel system and emptying the tank(and of 
course, first, testing the gas that comes out to see if it's bad.)

Aside from water getting into the engine compartment, or fuel 
system...there are about 10,000 different items that could have 
failed, and it's hard, with the limited info you have, guess at what 
the problem could be exactly.

I would recommend sleeping on it, and seeing what it does tomorrow. 
If you have a garage and you can get it into the garage, keep it 
there and keep the garage warm and dry(if you have a dehumidifier, 
that might help greatly.)

Start arranging alternate transportation possibilities...roommates, 
SO's, friends, bus, etc.  Then, start looking around the engine 
compartment.  Look for:
-hoses that are damaged, loose, etc.  Check braided hoses for soft 
spots, particularly around edges and hot areas
-any loose or frayed wires
-any loose connectors

etc...anything that looks out of place.  Concentrate on intake system 
areas.  Consider yourself fortunate that you don't have a 
turbocharged engine.

Perhaps a 80-series owner with a Bently manual can contribute some 
instructions on dumping codes from the ECU if possible...if you can, 
that might be a HUGE help.

Hope this helps somewhat,
Brett

At 11:20 PM -0400 4/9/99, ARTHUR, KEITH wrote:
>Hi everyone,
>I own a 1989 Audi 80.  It has been running perfectly until tonight. 
>I was driving down the highway when the car stopped responding to my 
>throttle imputs.  It would only accelerate when i floored the 
>peddle, so i could only drive at full throttle. It wouldn't respond 
>to any slight movement of the peddle.   if i let off the gas all the 
>was when i am going to stop the rpms would drop all the way down and 
>the only way to keep it from cutting off is to floor it(very 
>frustrating).  the car cut off as i was entering my drive way.  I am 
>have a three hour drive back to school on sunday and need it fixed 
>before then!!!  It was raining very hard while during the drive.
>please help
>thanks
>keith

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Brett Dikeman
brett@pdikeman.ne.mediaone.net
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