"new" '84 5000S (message length alert)

[Lowell Lamb <lamb@macs.oandm.uiuc.edu>]

Hello everyone.

I-I-Is it s-s-s-afe t-to p-p-p-p... post here?

Ok. Here's the story, and I'm sticking to it.
Any Joe Fridays only interested in the facts can skip to 
my lou.  Oops, I mean they can skip to the end.

Went to a car auction last Saturday, was going to "just look" to
see what a couple older MBenz's were going to go for.  After 
driving 40 miles to the wrong auction house, we came back to 
town and went to the right one about 2 miles from my house.
So when we arrive 2 hours after it had started, they're just
putting the MB back in the lot.  Bid's didn't make it to the
reserve, which was way over my budget anyway.  Skipping over
some of the story to the interesting part, while walking
in to the arena, I notice an Audi in the lot.  "Two or Three
thousand" I thinks to myself and don't even break stride or
give it a second glance.  Not 4 cars after I sit down, they
drive this thing in to sell...

Auctioneer: "We got this here Audi.  Ride and Drive.  What'l 
ya give me for this thing?  $400?"

The only sound was my jaw hitting the floor.

He finally got the bidding started at 2 or 3 hundred and I'm
sitting there wondering what the hell could be so wrong with
the car and wishing I'd taken more than a .01 second look at
it.  All I knew was from 40 feet away the passenger side and 
rear panels looked fine and my girlfriend was about to break 
one of my ribs from elbowing me in the side.  A few seconds
later I was $700 dollars poorer and an 1984 Audi richer.

The ride and drive showed power steering gone (low/no fluid)
and something wrong with the power boost on the brakes.  
Well, assuming it had power brakes since I noticed it didn't
have the big booster diaphram.  Putting some fluid in cured
the power steering.  I then experienced my first Audi miracle.
The brakes started working!!!  ;)

- - -
Ok, here's the facts.

The good news is it rides and drives great, probably better
than anything I've owned before.  Electric seats work.  
Comfort control system seems to work.  Cruise control
worked when I finally (accidently?) pushed the buttons
the way it wanted.  

The bad news is it rides and drives great, except several
various functions aren't...       

Amazingly, there seems to be a leak out of the steering rack.  
(I'm getting hip to the problem.)

Drivers elec window only one functioning.  Switches seem 
generally ok and have power, so I guess 3 motors gone.

Elec sunroof doesn't move.  Switch activates motor.
Motor goes one way a few turns and stops.  Goes the other
way a few turns and "ratchets" a few times and stops.
My guess is a bad cable or messed rails or something.
Maybe gears are ripped.

Temp and fuel guages work, but no idiot lights.  Even when
first turning on ignition.  

After sitting a while, auto tranny doesn't want to shift up
for a few miles, especially balky on 2nd-3rd shift.  Works
ok after it "warms up" a few miles.  Fluid level right on.
Don't know yet about final drive level.

Front passenger door outside lever doesn't open the door.
My handy Haynes book makes it look fixable.  Is it?

If I have the auto locking door stuff it don't work.  If I
don't have the auto locking door stuff there's some other
reason the driver's door won't lock.


This missive is too long already so I'll leave my more specific
questions to other posts.  Thanks to anyone who cares to 
respond to any particular item already mentioned.  Please
take care to delete out any of my unneccessary verbage in 
any response to the list.  I'm sure nobody wants to be amused
twice at my adlement.

Even with the problems, it's still the best by far $700 dollar
car I've ever bought.   


:)
Lowell
Lamb@macs.oandm.uiuc.edu