Hello all,

Any input or help would be great.

Have an 89 S4....which drover perfectly for quite a while....changed the motor mounts and it then had warm start issues (whould not catch idle unless gas was applied at time of start up).

So took alot the last 3 weeks to change out some things....new hose and gasket on oil filler neck...replaced the FPR (not dampers), new thermostat, new cooler tanks on radiator, replaced fan shroud, 1 knock sensor....

Put it all back together and no start. Replaced the battery (as it was completely dead)...and the car tries to turnover.....but fails to reach 600+ RPM....and just dies out.

Where do I start? Relays looks good (replaced some too)...but I think this is a fuel issue...?

Any ideas?

KEN

 

to add....

the car tries to turn over....will cough for about 8-10 seconds..and right when it would about to turnover it shudders and dies. The RPM never jumos up liek it used to..hovers around 500-600 and dies from there. Ther is also a smell of gas after the attmepted starts....

Ken

 

Late of course so true words of wisdom will follow tomorrow, but first step is to retrace COMPLETELY everything you have done to the car, starting with the MM replacement- were there WYAIT's that might have caused this? What connections did you touch, esp sensors? There seem to be missing spaces between "Have an 89 S4....which drover perfectly for quite a while" and "Replaced the battery (as it was completely dead)...". Worth going back over the sequence of repairs with a fine-tooth comb, methinks.

 

Well...for ab out 2 years and 14K miles...there have been no issues with starting, etc...drove they way it should with no issues.

The motor mounts sagged and some hot air was coming through the console/channel...so the MM were changed by a shop. Thats when the warm start issues started.....and all the work started.

I was aiming to only change the AC belt (looking ratty), the knock sensor (wire was warped) ...all the other work was 'stuff' discovered along the way...

As this was ongoing for 3 weeks, the battery drained...I though I disconnected the negative strap early on...but I guess not.

 

If you spray some starter fluid does it catch?

Remember:

Air
Fuel
Compression
Spark

 

never tried started fluid. Where do I spay it?

What are the symtoms of a bad FPR? That the one piece that I changed on the fuel line...trying to take it ou tnow...it is full of gas ....not sure about the vacumm line...

Might try to get another FPR or put the old one back to see if that helps.

KEN

 

why was the FPR changed? did it get bent when the MMs were done?
from your post it sounds like you may have a failed computer .
This could have been triggered from someone trying to jump start the car due to dead battery and thus the spike killed the computer.
Also the crank position sensor may be a possibility if the computers are good,

Usually if you do an intake RnR the CPS and ISV and TPS and Both knock sensors and the hall sensor should be replaced

 

are you referring to the fuel inj. brain?

KEN

 

Not sure if they did. Once I was getting no warm starts...I was told that the FPR could be a cause of it....and yes, because they could have been damaged during the MM change.

 

if the car is hard to start warm then pull the vacuum lines off of the dampers and smell them for gas any gas smell indicates a leaking damper or FPR

 

Thanks Mrmerlin

I will try that tonight....or might wait till i get this car running.

I tried this before (as per a previous thread)..and didn't smell gas then...but...who knows.

Do i try this for all 3 vacumm tubes? off the FPR and both dampers?

KEN

 

+1 on a jump start killing the brain. Classic 928 LH killer.

 

Thanks for the info...

Is there a way to test the brain?

KEN

 

Send it to someone, like John Speake, to do bench testing. Typically they'll send you a known good one to test on your car while bench/car testing yours. If your's turns out to be OK, you pay shipping and labor for the testing. A new LH ain't cheap.

 

Or swap your brains into another known running car from a local