Audi 80 Cabrio, fixer upper

[suityou01]

I just bought an Audi 80 Cabrio, 2.3E 10V. It needs a lot of work.

I just did all the under the bonnet stuff, filters, plugs, belts, water pump, stat, leads. Got her running ok.

Current list of important stuff to sort :

Judder on steering wheel when light breaking.
Occasional flat spots throughout the rev range. When it works it goes like hot snot, when it doesn't it's sluggish or intermittent power throughout the rev range.
Windows don't work.
Weaving at idle.

Other less urgent stuff :

Previous owner did a poor vinyl wrap. Either need a new wrap or respray. Advice here would be appreciated.
Boot gas struts flat.
Rear light cluster fills up like a goldfish bowl after a rain shower.

She is a 1993 (K) in silver and sounds absolutely fantastic. Any taunts of her being a hairdressers car melt away when you hear her voice.

[zollaf]

judder, that can be a disc or bushes. best bet is to remove the wishbones and the front subframe, fit new bushes in the frame and new arms or just the bushes, but new arms are easier. windows could be the relay under the dash with dry joints. remove and resolder. boot struts are just 2 new struts. most factors, gsf etc or main dealer, not expensive. rear lights, thats the seals gone where they seal onto the body. remove the 6 screws holding them in, 2 are hidden down the sides, pull them out and either fit new proper seals or a good layer of something like sikaflex. i did mine with sikaflex and they no longer leak. get the vinyl off and see what you have after a good polish.
hairdressers drive bmw z3's. lady diana drove an audi. you're in with royalty mate

[Sam]

Best advice here is to look in the Audi 80 section (clicky click), we have one member with an exceedingly pointy head, Zollaf, who loves his 80s (Audi and no doubt music).

[...]

As above though, get on over to the 80 section and see what Mr Pointy Head has to say.

See!

[suityou01]

I wondered if it was bushes. Had an <cough>sierra</cough> a few years back and fitted all RS bushes. Is there an equivalent for my little lady?

Hesitant to take the vinyl off until the weather's better as the previous owner told me he sanded her down and took her to a spray shop demanding a cheap respray as he had done all the hard work. I sheet you not. I was going to walk away from the sale there and then but I felt like I was leaving behind an abused pet or something and paid him up and drove her home.

Sad how attached you get to cars, innit?

[zollaf]

bushes, you can get poly buses for the arms but i wouldn't bother, they are not good bits of kit. gsf sell them for a few quid each. the subframe bushes will need pressing out and i would just fit new arms with new balljoints for about 40 quid a side from febi or moog. if you undo the subframe bushes and the balljoints from the hub, you can drop the complete frame then take the arms off later. easy job, 15 minutes when practiced.

[suityou01]

See!

[suityou01]

Got her in the garage first thing. Judder is from brake discs apparently, given the choice of putting up with it or changing the pads and discs. Apparently she is quote road worthy.

So the next thing on the list is the electric windows.Nothing, zip nada. Dead. And bluddy dangerous first thing in the morning when they steam up on the way to work.

So I did a search on here first. Couldn't find a relevant thread.

The Haynes manual says to check the thermal cutout for faults. It doesn't tell you where the bluddy thing is though. Just says to check the wiring diagrams for location. Yep it is located on the wiring diagram, but no mention of where it is on the car.

Secondly I am told to check the relay. Again, where?? I can see lots of relays in the fuse box. No indication on the inside of the fuse cover.

There is also a long red fuse in the front of the fuse board that says "Moteur/Motor". Is this what I am looking for?

Thanks in advance.

[micheal balbrig]

The relay may be situated over your knee area. Remove panel It is about double the size of normal relay.
When you do replace discs ensure you clean off all burrs and sand all traces of rust off the hub mating surface or the new ones will cause same problem in short time.

[suityou01]

The relay may be situated over your knee area. Remove panel It is about double the size of normal relay.
When you do replace discs ensure you clean off all burrs and sand all traces of rust off the hub mating surface or the new ones will cause same problem in short time.

Thank you so much. I will do this.

And would you know where the thermal cutout is?

[micheal balbrig]

When you remove the plastic panel to access relay you may see two aluminium type units about one square inch by quarter inch.
I expect these are the thermal units. It is more likely to be a relay problem. My info. is based on 80 tdi but may be similar to yours