The Project Pad

I've been locking-out the crank bolt using a breaker bar and pipe against the cement to keep her from turning over... If I can borrow an electric impact I'll try that. For now I'll just try to use Loctite Freeze & Release, otherwise heat until she glows.

The head was sent off to fix an entrapped exhaust manifold stud. Otherwise as it was before being removed.

Do you have a crank lock tool by chance?
what I've done in a pinch, lock the crank with the timing belt still tight, and then loosen the bolt. the belt stops it all from moving.
bam. done.

I just had to replace the same seal on my CQ. :frustrated:

I have a giant screwdriver that i wrap some electrical tape on, and brace with the cam gear and the side of the head. An extra set of hands would be helpful so you dont strip the bolt.

Can't believe how tight the cam bolt was on there... snapped a 1/2" breaker bar!!

I came this_close to buying another car for daily duties. Just as I was at my lowest point, my friend Mike comes in and restores my faith in my little euro slut with a gentle nudge... :slap: Always helps to have friends with Audis who can lend a hand.

As for the no heat issue, I think it was a big air-lock in the system. The coolant warning light comes on in the cluster and there's plenty of heat now. I'll just top off the fluid and cross that issue off the list; and also look into a new heater core and blower motor for a swap down the road.

:bump: :bump:




So, on this latest gig, I'm working nights. Shutdown, 12/2... 10s+ clean shave with 19:30 ready to start time.

Last evening, I'm making lunch before work at 14:20 and I get a photo from a friend whom I met off our humble forum who'd been browsing a local junk yard.



B4 90 fwd v6, dark blue and in decent shape, mostly intact.

I go to work with this bug in my brain and compile a "viable" list of things to pull after work... or, first thing in the morning.

You'd think after a solid year of pulling wrenches and troubleshooting I'd know by now how unrealistic my goals were in practical terms. One choice n00b mistake I made whilst packing tools was to leave out the BJ puller. (edit: TRE puller... my bad)

Went to work and made a list.

I'd listed things like:

.... brake master & vac booster
.... heater core & blower
.... hood, latch & core support bracket
.... front fender(s)
.... passenger tie rod & end
.... PS pump & return hose

Near the end of my shift, they tell me there's the choice of working a 12. Well... I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth so I agree to pocket the 2 hours of double time and meal allowance.

Added an ad hoc greasy spoon breaky with coffee and hit the wreckers.

Had a bit of help at the end from my aforementioned friend Sterling, username: ballaudi, and I went home at 1300h.



While I didn't manage to pull all the parts I'd intended, I did snag some decent extras and there is now access to make a good go at things again.

After I recoup(e)...

Was a great haul, too bad that jerk broke your 3/8 th's ratchet.... Cant help some people... Why would you come to the wrecker without tools? Can't wait till you get her back from the alignment so you can take me for a rip. PS That front brace will work awesome for my FMIC, get rid of that crappy stamped part.

Yeah buddy, I'll bring you those parts when (if) I finally get some days off. Then we'll go for a rip

New problem arises.

Car pulls to the left pretty bad. Thought at first that they didn't centre the steering wheel after alignment because it takes about 25-30 degrees to the right to keep straight. I swapped my old wheel for a nice 3 spoke jobby this morning and no change.

Doesn't totally recentre the wheel after a corner, either.

I can take a pic of the alignment printout after work.

Ideas? Suggestions? Comments?

As promised...

So I've had the car going for a few tanks of gas and have been treated to a fairly well running ride.

One thing I notice is there seems to be a hesitation or slight misfire from 3k-4k rpm at partial or full throttle. After 5k rpm it really rips though, I'm totally grinning from the 034 injectors.

Pulled a car length on my buddy in a '96 Mustang from a dig up to the top of third gear when we were out hooning last week.

Then I decide it's time to finally fix my broken window regulator, and in the process manage to short out or otherwise witness the failure of my starter. To make things worse, the window still won't actuate. Tried a pair of different switches, so it's not that. Could be the motor, not quite sure yet. Any tips or suggestions are appreciated.

Now the car won't start? Try the bump start where you push the car and start it in 2nd gear

It's all good I push started it to get home when a used replacement starter left me stranded. Just replaced that with another courtesy of a friend Adam (ads) and it seemed to get me to work fine. Let you know in about 10h how this turns out haha.

Still no passenger window though; where do I look for the relay (or otherwise)?

I have never replaced a window reg on these cars, or had to tshoot it. I would check 20v.org or the Bentley. I can send you the Bentley on PDF if needed. PM me your email if you want it on PDF

Thanks mang! I keep my Bible in the car (beside my tool kit and coveralls haha) but am balls at reading wiring diagrams.

Maybe point me toward the right page? I looked with a friend and found bupkis.

I can check it out this wk, don't have the pages memorized quite yet lol

Get on it! Haha

But no really... Damn thing happened again with the second starter in a row.

I love my little euro slut but with episodes like this she really tries my patience.

Thanks to mhorsfield for the pdf of the service manual and supplementary documents. Definitely handy already!



So today it's sunny and almost hot out, was joking with my dad that the car probably fixed itself by now. He laughs, and whadda ya know? She fired right up!

What I do know is when it's hot outside or the engine is warm she cranks over no problem. When cold, like say overnight, all I get is click click... nothing.

Is it possible there's a bad ground connection somewhere that swells with the heat and creates a complete circuit, but not when cold and the metal contracts?

I have a supplementary ground solution in the works already but want to fix this issue for sure before I go ahead.

Okay, fun continues!

Was running some errands and driving nicely, when out of nowhere the idiot lights come up on the dash.



Figured that it'd go away after a restart, but no luck.

Then I noticed that they would disappear with revs over 4,600 rpm, but not with the clutch depressed. Hmm.

Couple days later, I was on my way to the airport and started losing power, with occasional misfires. Battery light comes on in the dash, with the voltage rapidly dropping on the interior gauge.

I figured I'd be okay as long as I took things easy and didn't shut off the ignition... NOPE! Was able to pull the car off the road, in between a merge lane and the right lane, on the ring road... just before rush hour.

Called my good buddy Mike when I found the battery had 10.5v via my multimeter, and he suggested to follow the wiring harness backwards from the alternator.

Found this:


I must have tensioned the belt too much when I adjusted it a few days prior.

Some random guy was nice enough to stop and check on me, even offer a ride to get parts! But I had a friend on the way so I thanked him and he went on with his day.

Stealer had no belts in stock, and the supplier they referred me to was closing in about 15 minutes. Balls!

Went home to grab my old one from the rebuild and drove back to fit... found it was the old PS pump belt. Blast!

Luckily, the local Canadian Tire had one in stock.

Once the replacement was fitted she fired right up with a boost. Checked the Bentley and found my intuition was backwards, proper sequence is:

Good battery positive
Bad battery positive
Good battery negative
Bad battery negative

And reverse order to remove.

Went to get my day underway this yesterday and wouldn't you know it... the battery light rears her ugly head again and the interior gauge shows rapidly dropping voltage. Luckily I was only three blocks from home so I turned around and barely made it into the driveway. Check for belt... still there, and tension seems fine (2mm deflection, as per Bentley spec).

Did some searching on here on the 'geek that lead me to pull the voltage regulator for a look at the brushes.





Went to Southrape the local stealership for a chat with mullet man Dan the parts guy, and he confirmed that there's nothing left on the brushes. Best cost he could come up with was about a hundred bucks, and (of course!) I am finding them online for around 1/4 the cost.

Also, found this adjustable voltage regulator, seems pretty nifty (props to Austin/yodasfro for the link). Any thoughts?
http://www.davebarton.com/AdjustableVoltage.html

I've procured a replacement from a friend off his spare Coupé GT alternator. Makes sense to try before I go forking over cash and waiting on international shipping.



Installed that bad boy and she fired right up (after a boost). Free parts rule! :thanks: to ballaudi (Sterling) for the hook-up!

Car now pulls more smoothly than before! Idle is even improved. :-)

sweet fix dude, good write up! :woowoo:

Glad I could help, no Audi Support in Edmonton.... ps there is a red 2wd 90 in west end, got my 5 window distributor and a few other bits from it. has the brake booster etc. still on it, good aux. rad and hoses, alternator starter etc. I also think there is about to be another B3 90 going in, not sure if it is Quattro or 20v but it looks like a pretty mint car, was in employees only area couldn't go look.

turbonut20V wrote:sweet fix dude, good write up! :woowoo:

Thanks, hopefully it helps someone along the way.

ballaudi wrote:Glad I could help, no Audi Support in Edmonton.... ps there is a red 2wd 90 in west end, got my 5 window distributor and a few other bits from it. has the brake booster etc. still on it, good aux. rad and hoses, alternator starter etc. I also think there is about to be another B3 90 going in, not sure if it is Quattro or 20v but it looks like a pretty mint car, was in employees only area couldn't go look.

Hey Sterling, glad to hear you got that sorted out! I'll likely be away at work too long to grab those but if she's still available when I get back I'll hit it for sure. You should grab the vac assist parts for your car, and while you're in there the fenders and hood core support if it's a B4 for yours truly.














Update! :woowoo: :woowoo:

Bought a parts car over the weekend. Source was a local euro car forum (same one I bought my other Cq off of). The guy had it for sale for a while and had no takers, I suspect due to the colour and/or the low oil pressure issue. (~2bar max) The price was right and the build is same as mine so I can use every part on mine... hello subframes and strut uprights!

LOL! Why would I want to make it look worse? If you wanted a B4 Coupe you should have just bought one! Maybe run an automatic V6 while you are at it, those are fun! BAHAHAHHAHAHAHH!

I'm going to come and steal all of your axles and rear end off that car The Speedlines look pretty good.

B4 coupé? Importing from Europe is pricy man...

Subframes are spoken for broski. That's my project for my upcoming week off.

Yeah I'm just yanking your chain on that stuff, I might just see if I can source a rear subframe and housings from force 5, Why would a coupe come without a rear sway bar????? or just continue on with my front 4000q sway bar to my coupes rear. I cant remember where I saw someone do it on here but I think I may have to shorten it and run spherical ends to fit right. I cut apart a front subframe from a GT to get the concessions for the sway bar and I pulled the sway bar years ago.

I think the cheapest/easiest would be the 4kq front to the rear. To fab up a couple brackets will be easy peasy since we have OEM reference on my cars from which to take measurements.

PS... Change your signature already, it's annoying to see img code and no pic haha

I dont know what it is but I am kind of tempted to find a coupe gt to build lol! Use that body kit I have been sitting on forever.