Re: Spark plugs and gaps

[Randy McCall <randym@schiller.com>]

Stephane wrote:
I have had the car (86 5KTQ) for about a year and a half, it is
totally stock and I have put on about 20,000 km since purchased
(odometer reads 249000 km).  Dist cap, rotor, plug wires are all new.
Hunted down and killed a couple of vac leaks.  I have looked at each
plug and they are a nice even tan color and electrodes visually appear
in good shape, but I did not measure the plug gap (at the time I thought
it would be too much of a PITA).  I can hit 1.4 bar but there is a mild
missing under heavy load (read as WOT!!) which goes away at higher 
rpm......

I have a friend who bought an '89 200Q a few years ago that although 
chipped, it exhibited a similar "mild miss" on WOT as well.  Neither one of 
us up to speed on the Q-list at the time, and we could never chase down the 
miss in the 2 years he had the car.  In his case it was more pronounced, 
and most noticeable under pedal to the metal loads.  Lee was pretty good as 
a mech, with 20+ years experience in the airline industry, but no luck on 
tracking that particular problem down.  I have never had the same problem 
with either of my Type 44 TQ's, the '90 200Q 1.8bar, and the '88 5kCSTQ, 
but always wondered what was going on.  The dealer took a shot at 
diagnosing the problem (about a $300 swipe) with no luck either.  I suspect 
that the spark plugs are not a relevant cure, but worth doing for peace of 
mind.  If you are interested I can put you in touch with him to trade 
anecdotal info, or maybe this will prompt someone else's recollection of 
frequency valve problems, fuel distributor, or general widget malfunctions 
that might be the real problem(s).  In any case your problem sounds too 
close to his to ignore.

-Randy
'90 200TQ 1.8 bar, Euro's , 2pc EM, and a much better Audi education now!