Questions and Answers
Audi 90 CS Questions
Q. I recently bought this vehicle and it had no service records. I took it to a couple of mechanics and have asked what they thought needed to be done if anything? I have several responses: Get the timing belt/water pump replaced. Tune up (which I did).
And also, I was told both the front axles needed to be replaced and that the boots are busted; left lower ball joint has some play.
I want this vehicle to last but am unsure of what needs to be done here. I have driven it about 200 miles and the only things I've noticed are:
1) A slight chirping noise while accelerating (it occurs just after shifting into 2/3 gear, usually while accelerating between 30-40 mph.
2) The emission control system has come on twice (once while idling in a traffic jam for about 7 minutes)I had the vehicle in sport mode and after resuming driving and taking it out of sport mode the EMS light switched off. It came on again while driving down the highway around 50 mph the heat was on high. I backed down on the heat and it switched off after several minutes. It now comes on occasionally and usually goes off after driving for a while.
1993 Audi 90 CS
V-6
Automatic
98,300
Fuel Injection
ABS
P/S, A/C, Cruise Control
Rack and pinion.Any advice or words of wisdom are appreciated.
Thank you,
CarsonA. If you have no record of the timing belt being replaced, replace it. Audi does not specify a certain replacement interval, but 60,000 miles is the average interval for replacement. And since this is an interference engine, if the belt breaks while the engine is running, it will cause serious engine damage. Since it is only a few bucks more for the water pump when you do a timing belt, it is a good idea to have it replaced as well.
As for the axles, if the boots are torn, they need to be replaced. You have two options, replace the boots or replace the axles with rebuilt axles. Personally, I go for the rebuilt axles. It is usually more cost effective. The noise could be coming from the dry axle joints since the boots serve to hold the grease in.
The EMS light is telling you the computer is detecting a fault in the system. What you need to do is access the codes from the computer and see what it is. You can find a DTC chart in the Troubleshooting section of this site. That will tell you where the problem is.
Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA
