Well I have a new vehicle which is highly likely to become a project car, although right now I just need to get it running cleanly while I consider my options for this car and my existing 5KTQ project.

I picked up a 1990 V8 this weekend and have ti back at my shop now. The car is in awesome shape, and I think I could get a sticker on it without doing anything to it at all.

It does have one issue in that it wont rev past 2500rpm, but my guess is that its a sensor glitch somewhere. First thing I need to do is get hold of some Bentley manuals so I can chase that issue down.

So here's my current thinking which is changing daily.....

Step 1) Fix the rev glitch
Step 2) Get it on the road and run it a bit to see how it behaves.
Step 3) 5KTQ - finish the front suspension arm build and the underside so I can get it back rolling, at which point I will likely sell it on and move onto the V8.
Step 4) Suspension (as per the test build on the 5K)
Step 5) Brakes - Big Reds
Step 6) V8TT
Step 7) Once its all tested out as is on the street I will strip the shell, cage and fuel cell it for the track.

Here is the main gallery page (its running slow for some reason)

http://gallery.mac.com/haydntaylor#1003 ... &view=grid

And some pics from the site.

1) Collecting it


2) Rear 3/4


3) Front 3/4


4) Engine


5) Interior


6) Phone


7) Underside


[/img]

:lol:
Someones new to V8's

Nice. Whats the color code on that?? Looks kinda like Largo.
& must be a later build 90 with the Connely Leather.

In the pic of the engine looks like on the coolant res theres a wire connector undone..Speed sensor wiring..or brake pad sensore wire..is the brake pad sensore light on the IC??
Allso the brake fluid res isn't the rite one..theres not supposed to be that hose running from the round res to up along the frame rail on the d-side..whats that
Not reving past 2,500RPM maybe the 02 sensor, or WOT switch.

But hey I can swing by your place saturday instead of you swingging by my place to get that d-side strut housing.
Let me know & I'll come over & pic the car apart for you as far as problems that I see.

Funny you should say that as I was thinking as I was typing the message 'You know I have never heard of Bentleys for the V8, I wonder if they exist?'

So I am guessing they dont?....Let the retarded questions begin then

What documentation is out there to help me track potential electrical problems with the V8?

H

I got the manuals for the V8 .

Theres 4 hard cover Audi manuals & one ringed paper version for updated wiring.

To be honest I have only had about an hour to look at the car so far so I cant really answer many of your questions.

The color I think is Lago Blue, it looks the same as my old avant but I havent checked the paint code yet.

The Brake reservoir is actually a wire not a pipe, I think its for the aftermarket alarm.

The unplugged wire I will check tonight, there are no lights on the IC though. How the hell do I get the codes out of this thing? (Start of the retarded questions), Does Scott have anything on his site on the V8's? or anyone else?

My first guess for the rev to 2500 issue was O2 sensor or busted/clogged CAT, I had a very similar issue on my 5K when I melted the cat. Although this sounds more like an electrical/fuel cutout than a physical block. Speed sensor would have the same effect maybe....hmmmm

You would be more than welcome to come up to the 'woods' of NH this weekend, its a bit of a hike though as I suspect Ill be close to you picking up the other stuff. Ill let you know how close I will be this Saturday.

Cheers

H

http://www.cs.usm.maine.edu/~stuart/v8/ ... trical.zip

Will get you some crappy arse electrical diagrams, definitely not as nice as many other bentley diagrams I've used, but they'll work.

?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/AUDI-REP ... enameZWDVW

Those cd manuals on ebay are copies of the Mitchell Automotive Repair series..They are OK for the money but are not that easy to use, particularly in the wiring diagram area...

To get the codes you need to hook up the check engine light connector behind the center console. Rite behind the radio. There are two connectors on ether side of the carpeted side pieces. The connectors are electrical taped to the wiring looms on eather side. 2 single wire Black connectors. &
yes Scotts got a how to pull codes on his site.

& yes 02 sensor or cat is clogged.

Let me know whats up for sat. I could allso come up someother time to go through the car with you. & I'm not opposed to letting you borrow my manuals to copy them. or I've seen a few on e-bay FS. Expect to pay $100-$150'ish.

Whats the timing belt situation??

Wait...so the check engine light is not connected from the factory? is that right...thats mad if it is....

Thats rite. When you turn the key do you see the check engine symbol in the center IC? If not it needs to be hooked up.

Awesome - perfect - Thankyou

Wow - im boggled

Ill check tonight and hook it up if needs be.

H

OK so I spent a few more hours tonight than anticipated pulling codes. Lets just say you know its gonna be one of those evenings when you pull the hood release and nothing happens!!!!

3 hours later I had the hood open . For thos of you that have been through this before, and I had the problem on my 5K, it friggin sucks!!!

Anyway when I finally got the hood open I checked a couple of things and all looked good. Ron teh cable you saw is another part of teh alarm system, its a fuse to the +ve jumper post.

When I pulled the codes I got the following;

1) 2-1-1-1 = RPM snsor (makes sense)
2) 2-2-3-1 = ISV

So now my quetion is (as I dont have books), where is the RPM sensor on this thing, please tell me its not the one behind a heat shield behind the drivers side downpipe... I am sure it is. If anyone can let me know which one it is as there appears to be 3 sensors there. Also can anyone tell me where the other end of the wire comes out and can I test it there. If I can test it what should I be reading?

Do the RPM sensors on these go bad? I had one go bad, actually 2 on my 5K. I also had a 20VT break off a flywheel pin once.

Also does anyone know what sort of readings I should get from teh O2 sensor?

Cheers

H

Your Astro needs rear airbags...Or a different hitch setup. Or both.

Ah - In that shot I did not have the load leveler bars hooked up. but you are correct airbags would help a lot. They are on the project list, bout page 10 I think

H

Yah rite page 10..now that you got the v8 better push that back to page 20'ish

Works better with the load levelers attached (and a slightly lighter load)

[image deleted as it was MASSIVE]

It's still sunk down WAY more than Dad's '98 with 'bags. Granted, I think the 4WD version is lower to begin with, and it definitely weighs more.

Also looks like you could stand to load your cars a couple feet back more. May as well try to get them more over the top of your trailer axles and remove some of the weight off of the trailer tongue. Or, try moving your weight dist chains one more link.

BTW, we had the 'bags installed in maybe 45min. They require an external air source, so it was greatly simplified.

Anyhoo, greatly interested in where the V8q project heads!

OK so today I planed ongetting a few jobs done, A) Swap out RPM sensors in teh V8 to cure the rev issue, then put the new rear suspension in the TQA, then get the MIata put back into street mode

What actually hapened was I remembered somethign I had forgotten....Aude development engineers are sadists .

Swithcing the sensors was not actully too bad, the worst part was getting the damned plugs to plug back in. Didnt solve my not revving past 2.5k issue though...hmmmmm.. so what next? I blinked the codes again, and did all the output tests as well.

The RPM sensor still read as bad, the ISV also read bad. All the motor outputs were fine except for the ISV was a bit odd. Closer inspection revealed that there was no plug inside the boot on the ISV, someone had taken the insides of the plug and badly hacked them on. So I put a new plug on it (the joy of having lots of spare parts), and ran teh test again, still sounded a bit flakey so I pulled it off. It was gummed up so a good celan and it seems fine now. put it back on and fired up again - still wouldnt rev. When I pull the plug off the ISV and rev the car it stutters badly at 2.5K but will rev roughly up past there. Put the pug back on and its stuck at 2.5K again - so definatley part of the issue there somewhere. I flashed the codes again after clearing the memory and this time got the same codes plus a few more.

RMP sensor, ISV, Knock 1 and O2 sensor.

So I thought I would replace the O2, It was tough to get out and when I pulled it the threads were mashed in teh bung - doh. Fired it up again just to check and it still wont rev. Figured maybe the cats are blocked and I would have to pull the x-pipe anyway to fix the bung so 3 hours later i got the thing off what sort of retarded engineer would put bolts where you cant get anythign on them...an Audi one. Anyway, X-Pipe is off now and Damn those V8's are loud with just the manifolds ....... Still wont rev though so its not the cats.

So heres teh question - what are the chances of the used sensors I borrowed form mark being bad and being the root cause of my rev problem? I have a known good pair in my 5K motor that I pulled out but it was too late to swap them in tonight.

Could it be the O2?

I pulled all the plugs and they look OK, a bit black but nothing oily or anything odd.

Any pointers or Ideas form all you V8 experts would be appreciated.

Ill get the xpipe fixed this week and a new O2 to rule that out.

H

you should check the wiring diagrams to see if those sensors that are reading on the fault codes have a bad ground? There's a chance they all use the same grounding point which might be bad.

what about the sensors being flipped? I guess that would cause a no-start...

Yeah thats what I thought, not tried yet though. I replaced both of mine with 2 of yours figuring it was a good test, no change so I am thinking its not actually the rpm sensor. What does the RPM sensor read? a pin or teeth?

One evening this week I will probably try with my 2 from the 10VT just to be sure

H