1990 100 Backfired, yipes! what do I do?
Thread Starter
New Member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
1990 100 Backfired, yipes! what do I do?
I'm not so much of a car person, though my big brother was and before I went off to college. He set me up with his 1990 Audi Quattro. He used to be always working on it as a project car, but now that it's at college with me and he's all the way home I've been taking it to the shop. I just had the brake system replaced for winter, when I was driving it back from the shop the headlights went out, the battery died and then the car backfired and quit running- over the course of several miles. (I coasted to driveway, got jumped and got the car home safely).
I'm not sure what I should do. My dad says it's the fan belt maybe... but I do not want to sink a ton of loot into this beast that was a hand me down. Might it be just a small issue, like the fan belt slipping? Is this model in rough shape these days? Any ideas what's up and what I should do for my vehicle? Thanks
I'm not sure what I should do. My dad says it's the fan belt maybe... but I do not want to sink a ton of loot into this beast that was a hand me down. Might it be just a small issue, like the fan belt slipping? Is this model in rough shape these days? Any ideas what's up and what I should do for my vehicle? Thanks
AudiWorld Super User
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 5,485
Likes: 1
If you have a fan belt you don't have a 5000/100/200/V8...
It's an electric fan.
The fact that you managed to get boosted and make it home means you do have a gremlin of the intermittent variety I think. The fact that you backfired may have been causd by the ECU having a sagging voltage rail as the car died. I'd check the wiring to the Alternator and Battery. Sometimes they rot inside the case where you can't see it from the outside.
Also, the fan will somnetimes start to fail and draw too much current. I'm not sure but a 1990 100 may have a fuse there already to prevent a harness meltdown. If not... put one in.
You have one of the most reliable Quattro vehicles. They aren't much for power but if you start to wrench yourself you will enjoy the car for quite some time to come IMHO.
The ignition switches also fail out. Usually detected by trouble starting.
Other than those general guesses you'll need to start troubleshooting. Get yer bro on the phone! :-)
The fact that you managed to get boosted and make it home means you do have a gremlin of the intermittent variety I think. The fact that you backfired may have been causd by the ECU having a sagging voltage rail as the car died. I'd check the wiring to the Alternator and Battery. Sometimes they rot inside the case where you can't see it from the outside.
Also, the fan will somnetimes start to fail and draw too much current. I'm not sure but a 1990 100 may have a fuse there already to prevent a harness meltdown. If not... put one in.
You have one of the most reliable Quattro vehicles. They aren't much for power but if you start to wrench yourself you will enjoy the car for quite some time to come IMHO.
The ignition switches also fail out. Usually detected by trouble starting.
Other than those general guesses you'll need to start troubleshooting. Get yer bro on the phone! :-)
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
madgoose
Audi A3 / S3 / RS 3
2
Nov 3, 2008 02:20 AM
2000s4biturbo::Uli
S4 / RS4 (B5 Platform) Discussion
4
Oct 21, 2005 07:31 PM
CoffeeMan
Audi 4000 / Coupe GT Discussion
2
Oct 16, 2003 04:22 AM
