85 UR quattro

10 minute(s) of a 211 minute read

Finally got the car out now all the salt has washed off the roads. 

So, I drove all three of these today, not at the same time, and, after pondering over a cup of tea I think I have concluded that, at least on the street, I prefer to drive the Quattro!

Here're a couple pictures of the meet we took the cars too:

6-14-2013

The Quattro has been running like a champ so not much to report. That and the fact that I am currently obsessed with our 911 RallyCross project means that all I have are pictures. Still; PICTURES.

I have a Cars and Coffee thing tomorrow. Maybe something will break so I'll have more interesting posts next week.

Have a great weekend.

10-8-2013

Here's an excellent video Winding Road Magazine's Chris Amos made of our UR Quattro.

Unfortunately I think this was about the last time the car would idle. Doesn't seem to matter if it's cold or warm, just dies, but not all at once. It takes a few seconds then it will start right up again. I can keep it running with my foot but once I let off it splutters to a halt. I think this as been coming on all year. In the spring it would die when cold if left it running a few minutes to warm up. I tweaked the throttle stop screw as a temporary fix but I think it might be time to get greasy.

I took the plugs out and cleaned them but that didn't help.

I took the cold idle valve off the back of the head and sprayed some brake cleaner through it. Also tested it's operation with 12V. Closed up after about a minute. Put it back on but no different.

Took off the alien's head and checked the position of the air sensor plate. Seemed fine. Cleaned out what little dirt there was inside.

Pulled a couple of injectors, maybe three. At least one has a bad seal. Not replaced them yet. Is it easy? Could this cause bad idle?

I have been reading up on the K-Jetronic fuel injection. It seems quite straightforward but lots of vacuum hoses and other components. I'm thinking of just refurbishing the whole thing. That feels like a winter project so for now I'd just like to get it running some so I can drive it a few times before we run out of season. 

Any suggestions?

10-10-2013

After ordering some new (correct) spark plugs and injector seals I brought the car into the main shop and started a concerted poking around to try to figure out why it wont idle. You'd think this might have something to do with it. air temperature sensor.

I removed the throttle body and cleaned it out paying particular attention to the air bypass screw which I think allows it to idle.

I made some interesting observations:

There's a hole in the throttle plate.

The air bypass screw was fully closed

The arm that actuates the idle and full throttle micro switches was loose. Wouldn't operate the full throttle switch at all. I peened it firm with a small hammer.

Both switches appear to function as intended and are wired correctly.

I put it all back together but it didn't make any difference to the idle, even after backing out the air bypass screw a full turn

10-15-2013

I had a little time yesterday so I pulled the injectors with a view to installing new seals. Here is what I found:

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

I was surprised only #2 was really torn up though the rest look quite done. Of course the most alarming discovery was on #4 which is missing a tip! Looking at it it may have been off for some time but where is it and how long is any bodies guess. If it fell off into he intake port it can't be good right? Could it get past a valve into a cylinder. Out again and into the turbo? Pass right through without doing any harm?

I did install new seals and, perhaps foolishly started it up to see if they made a difference. I hoped it was safe based on how aged the area where the tip had been looked. It still didn't idle and I don't think it made any strange noises.

Next step?

10-21-2013

So I had another look at the odd injector over the weekend and it turns out to have the same part number as the other four: 0 437 502 041. All the pictures I find of it show an end cap (air shroud) so now I think I must have one floating around in my intake or stuck at the end of the inject insert. I don't think it's in the insert as that one injector has quite a lot of lateral play when inserted so is at least not locating in the cap.

So now I feel I should take the intake manifold off or the head or even the engine out. I f I take the engine out I could also fix a lot of leaks, replace engine mounts, clutch etc. Maybe I can even get it to idle again!

What do you think?

7-19-2014

Back from Europe and inspired to get the Quattro running again. 

Before I went away I had my Friend Werner look over the engine and we agreed the best course of action was to totally refurbish the CIS system as it has been messed with over the years, is not as Audi intended and looks to have some very dodgy vacuum lines. We thought the best approach was to remove the engine to do this as I also want to take the head off to find the bits of missing injector and replace the clutch. But first, and today I did a compressions test:

At least I now know the head is coming off. Hopefully the problem is with the valves on #1 as I have a refurbished head already. Just over 100,000 miles on the block so that should be OK.

I found specs online that suggest stock compression should be from 100-130psi so the rest of the cylinders look pretty good.

So here we go with the next big project. Hopefully it wont take too long as I'd like to drive the car this season. Here is the scope and issues I hope to resolve in the process:

*starting and idling issues

*Injector holder

*Coolant leak

*Boost issue

*Shifter link

*Alignment 

*Tune up

*cat joint leak

*engine mounts

*Drive line shunt

*clutch

*Belts

*Check timing

*Timing belt cover missing

*Cracked exhaust manifold?

*Oil Leaks

*Hot starting

*Plastic pipe broken engine bay

*spark plug wires wrong

*Fuel pipe orientation wrong

Wish me luck.

7-20-2014

And so it begins. Spent the afternoon draining fluids, removing the radiator and disconnecting about a thousand wires and vacuum hoses. Tomorrow I'll start disconnecting the same around the transmission.

Engine and transmission could be out Tuesday!

I don't know what it is about this car but I'm already missing two nuts, a bolt and the accelerator cable clip. When you drop Audi fasteners on the floor they make one sound then evaporate!

7-25-2014

Here goes......

and it's out.

That was tight. Going to be fun getting it back in. Wish I'd known this was still attached. Would have been a whole lot easier. DOH!

Right side engine mount fell apart.

SO next is remove sub-frame, split engine and box, Asses all the leaks, clean, remove head. That will be next week as I'm busy over the weekend.