Rogviler

Wow, a year already? Been tinkering with this off and on, but still not much luck. It does rev better now, and I could probably drive it if I wanted. But it runs rich and the idle hunts. Unplugging the ISV causes it to stop hunting but idle really low. It still stumbles if you really floor it. It feels exactly like a vacuum leak, but I've gone over it and replaced just about every hose, the injector seals, even the intake manifold gasket.

Then I was looking at a way old thread of mine back from when I was still driving it and it was having the same issue, but only for a few seconds after its first start. I had forgotten about that. So now I'm looking into the O2 sensor and will probably just go ahead and replace the distributor cap and rotor, as they have some burning going on. I love working on my other Audi because it has CIS basic, no ECU or anything other than spark (bulletproof Crane ignition) and fuel (pretty much tunes like a carb) to deal with. Then you have these cars which think they're smarter than you but there's no way to plug in a computer and have the car tell you what's wrong like a newer vehicle. So the tinkering continues...

-Rog

Rogviler

LOL, the idle was fixed when I realized the idle screw was cranked all the way in... Now I just need to figure out why it misses a bit, especially at higher RPM. I'm very tempted to go to a Crane ignition like I put on my other car. The nice thing is it basically uses a light that shines through holes in a wheel attached to the distributor shaft, so it shouldn't be too difficult to make a custom wheel that would work for a 5-cylinder. But that cured all the problems on my 4-cylinder.

I have driven it a bit, even went to Target and parked in the spot I used when I worked there (and last drove the car regularly) 10 years ago.



-Rog

Rogviler

Some nonsense things, just to make myself feel like I'm accomplishing something while I faff about with the ignition problem...

I noticed that the sunroof no longer opened very well, so as a test I sprayed WD-40 on the rails and then it really shot open. I recommend doing this as a test just to see if it's just gunky or if it's something else. Since WD-40 isn't a good permanent fix I cleaned the rails and lubricated them. I'm going to try gear oil and see how that does.

Random image of it that shows nothing but I'm posting it because pictures:



Another thing is the trunk seal. Mine has always leaked. Here's a picture of the cross-section for reference:



And here's a random one on eBay that I'm going to try:



-Rog

Rogviler

My gas gauge read completely empty, even after I dumped some more gas in the tank. Turned out to be that the sending unit was so crusty that it wasn't making electrical contact where the float arm meets the housing. Took it apart and got it all clean so now it works. If you have a rusty tank you'll probably want to do the same.

-Rog

Rogviler

I had modded my side markers years ago and one of the splice connectors was loose now and it wasn't working. So today's small project was soldering the connections. Also, the mod is splicing the side marker's GROUND wire into the front turn signals so they function as both marker lights as well as turn signals. On these cars it's the black wire on the turn signal side and it'll be brown for ground on the side markers, although I used blue to extend the wire.



I'll double check which wire it is on the facelift cars, but I think it's the same. Splicing the side marker grounds into the turn signals works on just about any car as well.

-Rog

Rogviler

A failed attempt at restoring some of the plastic trim... I tried some undercoating stuff that's pretty awesome and would have worked great but it's too hard to get the right texture. The stuff just blasts out and some areas end up too smooth, some perfect, and some with a sandy texture.



So I sanded it down and I'll just spray it with some satin black. I should mention that in my youth I had painted it all yellow, and then later some pieces got covered with some marine vinyl that turned out not to be as UV resistant as advertised, so they needed some work.

Also figured out why some of my doors weren't opening, which is because of the door strikers not having their plastic bushings. For now I'm using the shrink tubing trick, but I'll be getting new ones, along with new door handles, such as the Chinese ones are.



-Rog

Rogviler

I have successfully opened all of the doors!



I can't even remember the last time I had all of them open. New door strikers on the way. We'll see what the quality is like.

I know, the speaker holes. They just did not put good places for good speakers in older cars. I may just shore up those holes and use them again. They worked fine, other than not being very secure.

Taking it to the drive-in this weekend.

-Rog

Rogviler

Made it to the drive-in. Based on the flyers and tickets I found in the car when I cleaned it out, the last time I took it was six years ago. And really I haven't been there much since. It rained the whole time but it felt great to be back.



I don't want to jinx it, but I think the really bad hesitation is gone. What I think it was is a leak at the fuel filter that I never fixed. I tightened it properly and so far no more leak. But we'll see once it gets warm, which is when it was most obvious. I'm also trying some Techron. I know Chris Fix "debunked" it, but he was testing it as a cylinder cleaner, which it's not even designed to be. Everything I've read says it's the best fuel system cleaner though. Six years of gunk? We'll see.

-Rog

Rogviler

I decided to see if my grille was repairable. I noticed some cracks starting to form over the last couple years, so I figured it was about falling apart. But just a few cracks that I think I can fix easily. Not bad considering it's about 10 years old, I knew almost nothing about making that sort of thing, and I didn't have the money to do it the way I wanted.



I forgot that I had painted it red first, then saw it didn't match well enough (before I discovered Rustoleum Sunrise Red, a perfect match for Tornado), and then used Plasti Dip. I thought I used bedliner, so it makes sense now that it started to fail. Not bad though, I have to say. Trying to get it patched so I can use the weekend to sand and paint it.

Also, the Techron seems to have done its job. It's really been running great.

-Rog

Rogviler

Well bugger, I'm having a harder time than I thought in finding new door striker pins.

These are the ones I got:



The part number is 357837034, which seems to be one of those "it fits a Volkswagen so it therefore fits an Audi" but it doesn't. Literally every online catalog lists them as being for pretty much any VAG car of the 80s, including the genuine Audi parts site. I wish the EPC site was still around so I could at least get the right part number.

These ones are just a little too short so the latch hangs up on the flared part at the end. I may see if they can be ground down or something. But they also seem a bit too skinny, like the ones on my B1 which does use VW strikers (they may in fact fit it).

This is so silly, it's not like it's a fancy assembly like on the later cars or a Mercedes. I might try to make my own. It's not much more than an M12x1.0 bolt with a smooth part for the latch to grab. Hmm...

-Rog