tanya_charbury

Hi guys, I`m about to start doing something peculiar on this forum. It's logical but not intuitively so. I feel obligated to explain myself.

Essentially, I'm starting an informal matchmaking thing focused on these D2 A8 cars. I`m *not* selling mine here, nor anyone else`s.

I come across super-cheap D2 A8 cars on Craigslist for sale for maybe $1,000 and often less. These and the equivalent C5 A6 4.2 V8 cars are the cars that I buy, perhaps with the brakes so bad the wheel won`t even rotate any more, or bright red transmission fluid, or totally mismatched, stripped, missing or overtightened transmission pan bolts, or the engine speed sensor wires having been cut and reconnected the wrong way, or the engine speed sensor having been removed and reinstalled with the spacer missing so it hits the flywheel, or the outer tie rod end so loose that the car does a slalom even while I hold the steering wheel steady, or only one large bolt is still present, to hold the sub-frame in position. My black D2 A8 came with a transmission additive so caustic it ate the paint away from the inside of the transmission oil pan ... my silver D2 A8 came with a fan bearing so bad that the fan blades hit and destroyed the coolant hose. These are all actual examples from the cars I bought. It'd be really nice if these cars didn't end up in the hands of people who let the local service station mechanic do things like this.

I have a friend who has 37 cats. I understand why she rescues them. The same mindset inspires me to rescue Audi C5 A6 4.2 V8 and Audi D2 A8 cars. I've bought eight of these A6 cars and four A8 cars. I should stop buying them. But, you don't have to.

If we don`t buy these cars, they end up at Pick N Pull and there`s something almost sacrilegious about the whole thing. It bothers me.

However, I`m no altruist. I do intend that there is a "win" in here for me too, because I own and manage a used parts company (Old Car Life Extension Systems, Inc.) that's a paid vendor on this site, and although I have yet to earn my first dollar on Audis, perhaps if I point you to steal-of-a-deal D2 A8 cars going cheap, you might well also consider buying the used parts from my OCLES company especially if I point out what the almost-dead Audi needs and whether or not I have that part for sale and on hand (better yet if it's the transmission). If you're not interested then please ignore the thread like any other thread on here, that you find irrelevant or dumb.

So, if in this thread you see me pointing out used D2 A8 4.2 V8 cars for sale in the greater American West, on the "go get 'em" premise, now you know why. Within reason, I might let you temporarily use my parking lot as a staging area, plus a friend of mine has a F-350 truck he might rent out for towing, etc. So you don't HAVE to be local so as to buy a D2 A8 out West. Within reason, I`m happy to help since the more D2 A8 cars remain on the road and the more helpful I am, the more likely you are to buy used parts from my company.

tanya_charbury

Okay, here's the first such car for sale, NOT by me or my company or anyone I know, as described above. This is not my car. I have never seen it. I don't intend to buy this A8. I already have four of them. I have not interacted with the seller. Craiglist rules are clear as to me contacting him and offering used parts for sale: "do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers." Not much wiggle room, there: "Verboten."

But $600 for a complete 2001 D2 A8 Quattro sounds like a good deal to me. I could be wrong. All the seller wrote is: "Runs and drives, needs work, not registered call or text " Maybe this seller is legit. Maybe not. I don't know.

If the car needs a used part (even if it's the transmission) then my company does sell used parts for these cars. The used transmissions come with a renewed-by-the-ZF-distributor pressure regulator in the valve body, and it's in a running car that you can drive to test it. This is NOT as good as rebuild transmission. I'm aiming to be mid-way in price and quality between used-but-dubious and rebuilt.

So please go look at Craigslist for the Sacramento area, find the listing and buy the car, and then (if viable) buy the used parts from my OCLES company, which is a paid-up formal vendor on this forum.

If you need a place to stage the Audi until you figure out what to do with it, maybe you can use my shop parking lot. It's in the greater Reno area. We can probably work something out.

If the listing is gone, you waited too long. :-) But I plan to post more, as they appear.

~Tanya

Jack88

Does this one belong here? They claim it's in great shape, and only asking $1000. At that price, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a skeleton or two in its closet, but still would be worth a look.
https://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/6129843916.html

tanya_charbury

[QUOTE=Jack88;24972072]Does this one belong here? They claim it's in
great shape, and only asking $1000. At that price, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a skeleton or two in its closet, but still would be worth a look.]

If you mean, is this consistent with the spirit of why I started this thread? Emphatically yes, and thank you. I love that you posted a picture and the price so when the Craigslist ad falls away, readers of the thread can still know what you were trying to convey.

Whoever buys this Baltimore A8, I would strongly suggest preemptively replacing the pressure regulator in the front lower valve body housing with a renewed unit from Eriksson Industries, the ZF distributor, before the clutch A drum blows out. With that done, and a transmission service (filter, gasket, fluid) you might be out $500 but would have huge peace of mind because (even though I'm generalizing) the most likely cause of failure as the car and as to the transmission will have been addressed. Next, the timing belt and a slush fund for speeding fines, and you're good to go.

~Tanya

tanya_charbury

Okay, here's an almost-too-nice-to-fit-the-profile but worthy-seeming car for sale, NOT by me or my company or anyone I know, as described above. This is not my car. I have never seen it. I don't intend to buy this A8. I already have four of them. I have not interacted with the seller. Caveat Emptor.

If you buy it PLEASE install the renewed-by-the-ZF-distributor pressure regulator in the valve body, so the transmission doesn't have a pressure spike that blows out the clutch "A" drum. I'm happy to have my OCLES company sell you other used parts than the transmission.

On that subject: that little silver trim piece that seems to be missing before the rear wheel arch: I have one for sale.

So please go look at Craigslist for the SF Bay area, find the listing and buy the car, and then (if viable) buy the used parts from my OCLES company, which is a paid-up formal vendor on this forum.

If you need a place to stage the Audi until you figure out what to do with it, maybe you can use my shop parking lot. It's in the greater Reno area. We can probably work something out.

If the listing is gone, you waited too long. :-) But I plan to post more, as they appear. The seller said:

"Selling my A8 Audi Quattro all wheel drive car has heated seats sun block curtains very luxury for its year car has great power Ac blows cold registration good clean title in hand 190k call for more information "

ELEVENS

For Sale posts are not allowed in the forums. Moving to the Classifieds section. Viewers will be redirected for a 1 week period.

tanya_charbury

Hello, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize I was coloring outside the lines. I'd understood the rule to mean "don't sell your own cars here."

DriverS8

Tanya - a great idea to start this thread. I will definitely be on the look - out for posts reagrding a D2 S8.....

With respect to preventing transmission failures due to the pressure valve regulator - can you share with the thread what the typical symptoms are? I have a bad feeling I may need one.....

Thanks again for starting the thread - looking forward to seeing what pops up.


[QUOTE=tanya_charbury;24972079]

tanya_charbury

Thank you so much for the encouragement.


About a month ago, I saw a Craiglist ad for a nice S6 being advertised in San Rafael for less than $2,000 for this reason. Sadly, at the time I did not have the money. I have not yet seen an S8 going cheap due to a bad transmission, but mathematically, it's probably just a matter of time.

The sad news as to the hydraulic pressure valve regulator is that as soon as you notice any symptoms it's already too late to prevent structural damage to that transmission. As one specialist described the sequence of events to me: it's essentially an instant, catastrophic failure. Until it happens, everything is structurally fine and no symptoms are apparent. After it happens, something is structurally damaged and the symptoms are apparent.

As I understand things, the pressure regulator essentially consists of an aluminum bore (tunnel) in the front lower valve housing. Inside this, an aluminum piston slides in and out. Automotive engines develop a sort of ridge at the top of the cylinder because the piston rings wear out the lower section of the cylinder engine by scraping against the walls over many years of use. The internal wear pattern in this aluminum housing is said to be similar, according to someone who sees and renews many of these. At some point, the ridge prevents free movement of the piston in the pressure regulator and thus it cannot prevent the pressure spike from passing into the internals of the transmission with the first casualty being the clutch “A” drum. Its plates are kept in thanks to a snap ring near the top of the drum. The snap ring is held in place by a groove in the body of the drum. The drum is nicely up to the job unless a massive pressure spike comes along and essentially rips the drum part at the snap ring groove. Initially some had thought that the drum should be beefed up but that's almost like building a stronger sandcastle for when the tide comes in. There's not a lot can realistically be done to resist this pressure spike.


So I'm afraid that I have no good news as to the situation if you are already seeing symptoms of failure (slippage in the first 4 gears). I'm sorry …

Ok22

Cool thread and good idea Tanya.
Here's one that's been on CL for about two weeks. It does not list any specific problems. Looks to have some minor scratch and dent and under 200K miles. Northwest Arkansas area:
https://fayar.craigslist.org/cto/6150230862.html