Posted on 03/22/2015 10:32:48 PM PDT by nickcarraway
I owned a Audi A4 for seven years. I bought it as a two-year old car. From the first month....I had to add a quart of oil about every eight weeks. Never went higher or lower. Great car until the axle broke.
Looks like a straight-6.
What Audi model would that be, then? Can’t recall any Audi with a straight-6.
It’s what they call the VR-6 engine, a V6 with a very narrow V-angle, uses a single head. Very compact engine.
My dad used to say that you never needed to change the oil in your car, just the filter. And of course add oil to make up what you lost in the filter. He was the master mechanic foreman of a rebar still mill and worked with hydraulics all the time.
I had a 90 Chrysler/Plymouth Minivan. Loaded to the gills - wife wanted it. It had four transmissions in it even before it hit the no-warranty mark. It was so bad I got a letter from the manufacturer saying that the transmission was guaranteed for life - full replacement parts and labor.
I heard tell that they made some kind of transmission design change after 89 and the 90 was a disaster. Never got official word on it.
I bought a 1990 Plymouth Grand Voyager LE, the fully loaded van. I had three trannies replaced before the warranty ended and then had to pay for a full rebuild after. At 230,000 miles (2006) that transmission blew up so I gave it to my paper delivery guy who dropped a used one in it. The thing lasted him about three years before it died and went to the scrap yard. My 2005 Town & Country has worked well but in 2013 I inherited my parents 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan LE and last year, July, the transmission blew out at 104,000 miles. I had it rebuilt since my wife loves it (she adored my parents and it is tha Plum color) and all the rest of the mechanicals and body are perfect.
I hope that transmission sticks around but I wonder if it has some of the same issues as my old 1990.
One of my two old cars burned oil, so I replenished it with the used oil from my other car. :)
Mini-vans can be real horror stories; I believe they are underpowered unless you only drive them with three people in them. If you have six in it you know it isn’t right...
“Yes, I did once own an Audi back in 1975-80, biggest POS I ever owned. Unbelievable amount of stuff crapped out.”
I had one about that time too. Mine was a LS 100, had a four cylinder engine. What was unique about it, besides being junk, was that it sat north/south in the car. The only other front wheel drive car that I’m aware of with the engine positioned this way was the 60’s Olds Toronado. About the sludge; I lived in Texas at the time (still do) and the AC sucked, car had an undersized radiator which caused the car to run hot in the summer especially with AC on, especially when in town. I’m guessing that running hot all the time baked the oil in these cars. Anyway, I unloaded the POS pretty quick. Bought a 72 impala with 350. Great car, great engine. And, AC WORKED GREAT :) !
My Dad had a contractor that had had converted his WWll trucks to nat gas. The bodies were rusted hulks, but they ran like crazy. He pulled the dipstick on one to impress me. He hadn’t changed the oil in 100,000 miles, and it was so clean that it looked new.
But this guy was so cool! In the dead of Winter, he would throw a pool party. He would line his basement in thick visqueen, and fill it with water! Turned the stairs into a slide. What a blast!
So you're the bastard that sold that POS to me! I agree, I will never own a GERMAN car again.
I’m sometimes saddened to think of that inventiveness and curiosity that our parents had and taught to some of us but is being lost over time. Mrs. Dad’s father decided to turn his gas hot water heater into an electric one when it went bad. Worked for at least a dozen more years before it gave out - after he died or else he likely would’ve fixed it again. He bought a car that he let his daughter use when she turned 16, got it for $50. She used it for years, then her sister used it, finally he sold it for $75. Back then you could tinker with stuff and fix it or rig it to work. Now that is practically impossible.
filter may be a good idea
They also roll over like labrador retrievers.
DOHC, no less? A performance car.
A friend of mine used to sell Audi’s, Mercedes, BMW. and even Jaguars. He said NEVER buy a used Audi without a GOOD warranty. The cost of repairs is crippling. Same with BMW, but they were more reliable.
I bought a 2001 Chrysler 300m new that did the same thing. I went 7k miles between changes. I never had to add oil between changes and finally traded it in at 185k miles. Car ran great the whole time but the AC went out and it got sideswiped by a deer (wiped out most of the side of the car) four days after we cancelled our comprehensive.
And you absolutely need AC where we live. But due to the damage it just wasn’t worth soaking all that money into the AC.
They race minivans. They can’t be that slow, can they?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTKjNzaP2-s
Just like Saturday afternoon at the mall.
That way Audi could mate it with their TORSEN diff quattro 4WD system.
The smaller models with a transverse mounted engine have a HALDEX clutch in quattro trim - which isn't really 4WD at all.
Had an Army buddy that claimed he could that up by running transmission fluid as an oil substitute for a few days.
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