89 100 ECU fixed and vendor praise..Long

["Dave C." <conner@cfm.ohio-state.edu>]

I'm copying this to the List because it may help others and because I want
to take the opportunity to praise two vendors who provided excellent service
that went above and beyond the call of duty.  These two vendors are Ned
Ritchie (Intended Acceleration) and VW Parts, Inc (1-800-VW-PARTS), both on
the archives vendor list.

Bryan,
Sorry for the delay in responding...I was on my way out of town when I got
this and couldn't access my e-mail for the rest of the week.
How did your experiment with repairing the connector on your 1989 80's Fuel
Injection ECU turn out?  Hopefully it solved your problem and now you'll
live happily ever after...Don't you wish?  
I hope it worked but my hunch is it didn't.

Your problem is different from what I experienced, but sounds similar in
that it is stubborn and nearly impossible to diagnose.

Mine problem w/ an 89 100 was also intermittent, flakey, etc.  The dealer
eventually traced it to a faulty computer.  
They wanted $750 to install a new computer, but offered to install a used
one for $300.

I shopped around and found a used one for $185 which I bought from VW PArts,
Inc, in Fleischman's NY, 1-800-VW-PARTS (1-800-897-2787)
I would highly recommend them...read on to find out why.  They are on the
archives vendor list. 

Initially they sold me a computer with a slightly different part number than
my original.  It was from a newer car and they assured me it would work.  It
did...for a while.  It fixed the temperature related problem and the car ran
much better.  BUT, problems developed later and the replacement computer
could not display fault codes which caused lots of trouble.  DON'T replace
yours with anything but the identical same part number unless you are sure
about what you are doing.  AUDI has a TSB, number 91-02, on this subject
which states that both computers in these cars must be matched up.  It
covers a variety of models over a couple of years around 1989.  YES... there
are two computers, a fuel injection ECU and an ignition ECU.  In fact, the
TSB states that some cars had them mismatched at the factory! This, coupled
with the info about a bad batch of circuit boards ending up in cars of this
vintage, leaves the potential for some very challenging trouble shooting.
The info about bad circuit boards I learned from Ned Ritchie.  I called him
to discuss my problems when my replacement ECU started acting up.  The rumor
is that substandard circuit boards were used in some Audi parts, Audi knows
it but has never acknowledged any responsibility for it. I was about at my
wits end, and couldn't afford to keep buying ECU's not knowing why my second
one was now on the fritz.  

I'm very grateful to Ned for taking time to discuss my problems with me,
especially since it was obvious there would be nothing in it for him...this
being a non-turbo car and not something he gets paid to work on.  
Anyway, for some reason, my replacement ECU went bad about a year after
installing it.  The car wouldn't run at all sometimes, other times it would
seem almost normal.  No capability to display fault codes, because of
mismatched ECU's.  What to do?  After finding the TSB, and talking to Ned, I
start shopping for another ECU.  First, I call VW PARTS, Inc. and explain my
problem to them...the replacement ECU no longer works.  They said they had
one that was an exact match for my original and exchanged it for me AT NO
CHARGE!  I nearly fell over because this was about a year later and I'm used
to the disclaimer "electrical parts not returnable".  The happy end of this
story is that the latest ECU fixed all my problems and the car runs better
than it ever did before, now on a par with my 87 5KS which has always run
great and been comparatively trouble-free.

Hope this is some help.  
DC
David Conner  Columbus, OH 
'87 5KS,  '89 100E, '86 4KCSQ