Grrr. Audi gods shining and frowning?!?! (long)

[Todd Phenneger <phen9461@uidaho.edu>]

Dang it,
	Any help or ideas much appreciated on my latest problem.  The Saga
continues.  (the main content of the problem is in last 1/3 of message but
it all relates)
	The Audi gods are REALLy frustrating me.  First they bless me by
letting me get the Turbo 4kq running.  Then they curse it with
problems.  Which I fix.  great.  Now the last problem was traced to a
clogged fuel injector.  I was running to rich for a while due to a bad
warm up regulator and it fouled it up.  A bottle of techron fixed that
though.  Easy fix.  Audi gods shining again.  Then today my 4ktq
mysteriously started to run VERy hot.  Not overheating hot but way to hot
for this temperature.  (20-40 degrees from night to day)  About 3/4 up the
temp gauge.  On the freeway.  usually its about 1/3 to 1/2 MAX up the
gauge.  Esp with the 80 deg c  Thermostat that I had in there.  So I flush
the coolant system, pull thermostat to check it, and I find a small Pebble
in It!!!!!  What the H*#*...  I was super Anal about the motor int he
transplant but it seems when I pulled the radiator a pebble must have
gotten kicked in it or something.  It was wedged between the thermostat so
it couldn't close.  Thinking problem fixed I reassemble and fill with
50/50 mix.  Nope, still gets to hot.  I think, maybe the pebble knocked it
out of alignment so tis not opening all the way??  Pull it agian and boil
it.  Opens it fine.  Just to make sure I put in a new 87 degree unit that
I had (factory Wahler part just like the 80)  and head into town.  Still
overheats.  Well, gets to hot.  So I stop and do some shopping and dream
of owning the $160 Craftsman Multi Meter they had at Sears.  Oooooo, duty
Cycle, Freq Test, Transistor test (for my stereo side), and all the other
nice goodies a $160 multi meter should have.  In my wildest dreams.  I
cant even afford a new light switch for the 4kq.  
	So I continue on and pass the local pull-n-save yeard.  hmm, cars
getting hot again (takes about 10 minutes to get uncomfortably hot) so I
stop knowing there will be Nothing there worth buying for me.  Just
79" 5000's and Rabbits. :-)  Huhh, whats this.  A new in today 86' 4ks and
an 82'Coupe.   Hmmm, the Gods are shining on me again.  Hey, a good light
switch, looks like I can afford one afterall.  $1 aint bad.  And I got a
BUNCH of other stuff I needed for my car and friends including the oil
temp and press senders for the factory Audi Gauges (I'm currently
borrowing the aftermarket VDO units from the ur-q...  And an Oil press
sender for my friends Jetta off the 4ks.  cool.  Those arent cheap
new.  Even TPC wants like 450 for the press sender.  (or is that the temp
sender.  Anyhow, got that, new mirror joystick (electric), misc trim
pieces, more spare window switches to test and stockpile.  (many 4ks/5ks
int he family and friends arena. :-)  Some door handles.  New Spare tire
(mine got ruined as it wanst holding air right and I drove on it to get
home.  (disposable spare. ) :-)    Nifty Toolbox tray out of the trunk
that I decided needed to be used to store all my new goodies in and will
find a place at home for organizing stuff I'm sure. :-)  Msc trim pieces,
vacuum lines, vacuum pump for Power Door locks (in case mine fails like it
did in a friends car), all the fuses from fuse box, some light bulbs,
parking lights from 4k for friends car that needs them, Power Antennae
that works, and a few other small things.  All for cheap.  Really
cheap.  $1 for all the small misc stuff and great prices on the rest.  I
love that place when they get good stuf in. (rarely though that is)   The
only sad part was if I hadn't gone to sears I could have gotten some ATE
Powerdisc rotors in great shape for my friends Jetta, and some 4k wheels
for him to use as snows.  But oh well, I'm happy with what I got.  So
again, Audi gods shining on me.
	Now back to the problem.  Still getting hot.  Hasnt per say
overheated as it gets real hot and then stops rising.  One tie the
pressure in the hoses was REALLy high.  Could barely squeeze them.  So I
drain coolant AGAIN and check to make sure the WP impreller is still
spinning.  Crank car and water spouts out of block out the outlet int he
head.  Hmm, jam pump impeller with a screwdriver and with a wrench try to
turn engine oeve.r  Nope, impeller firmly connected so its not just free
spinnign but not moving water well enough.  So, WP and Thermostat both
brand new and working fine.  Radiator appears to be flowing fine as when I
pull the bottom hose water flows out very fast.  And the system is holding
pressure.  50/50 mix of coolant/water.  Radiator Fan working
fine.  Nothing blocking radiator.  What cold it be.  Turning heater onn
seems to effect the temp quite a bit is always warm.  so that tells me
that the coolant is at least flowing inside the block and through the
core.  To get to school, (Finals coming up and I HAD t get here) I jsut
pulle dout the Thermostat and ran without it.  (Had to get creative for a
sealing surface to keep water from leaking out) That really helped as now
the temp on the freeway was where it should be.  It started to creep up
once but then was fine.  90 miles.  Car seems to run fine.
	Observations, with thermostat in, car warms up normally, but
around the time it should open and allow warm coolant inot radiator and
cold into engine, the bottom radiator hose stays cold and it appears that
coolant isnt flowing through radiator.  I say this because of the hose
staying cold and the fan doesnt kick on.  it takes a long time for the fan
to kick on.  By then the engine is VERy warm, make that hot, and then it
stays that way never coming down.  
	Any ideas from anyone.  At this point I only see one possibility,
somehow the engine maybe has a slight leak in its BRAND new head Gasket
that is adding pressure to the cooling system int he engine and basically
locking it up.  But with NO thermostat and coolant always flowing it never
gets hot enough for this to be a problem as the pressure never builds up
because of the continuous coolant flow.  But with thermostat by the time
it opens enine is already heated up so much its locked up the coolant
flow.  The inconsistancy with my theory is that the heater core continues
to provide hot air so there must be hot air flowing over it at all
times.  So does that mean coolant flows through block jsut fine but not
the head???  I had the head re-surfaced and checked for straightness but I
spose the block could have a problem.  I'm REALLY hoping this isnt the
problem but I'm out of ideas.  
	Thanks for listening.  I'm VERY frustrated right now.  6-months
converting and I have a car that runs pretty well (most of the time) but
this worries me.  all the other little problems I knew were small and
could fix.  this I'm not sure of now.  Oh yea, Compression on ALL 5 cyl's
is within 2psi of each other.  slightly higher than stock, about 175psi
but I think the gauge might be off a bit and always read a bit high.  If
not, that means my compression is 8.5:1 which is .3 higher than stock.  I
guess that might have come from re-surfacing the head.  Not a big deal for
me, I pulls nice.
	Anyhow, thanks.  Any ideas welcome.  

	Todd Phenneger
	1983 ur-q / black / getting a MC
	1984 4000 Turbo quattro (Faster than your average 4kq)
	1987 4000 quattro / Saphire Metallic Blue/ Girlfriend's
	1996 A6q / Volcano / Dads Car
   *****1985 5kt / PARTING OUT!
  *	http://www.uidaho.edu/~phen9461/motorsports.htm