GenXGamer

Ok, I've been reading from the sidelines for several months now. Purchased a 92 Audi 100, in relatively good condition ie: no accidents great frame body and engine runs, for our Son's first car. After months of researching on this and other Audi sites, I believe I found why the car idles rough, windows work from time to time, difficult braking.

Braking issue was due to leaky/bad vacuum hoses that have been repaired.

Windows are still under investigation, have replaced both fuses/CB and is still intermittent.

Rough idle existed for some time now, original owner tried solving the issue by focusing on the hydraulic lifters...
After reading through several hundred postings I think I may have stumbled onto the problem and am unsure how to correct it. It would appear that some time in the car's past, that somebody may have attempted to replace the timing belt without the tool. Because when you look at the Cam Lobes, they aren't in alignment with one another. In other words, the Alignment Tool holds the Cams parallel to the ground, in line with one another with either the Large Holes pointing in or out from the center of the car, so either the large holes will both be pointing in or out. Now what I mean by out of Alignment, when in Alignment both lobes will pointing to 9 and 3 o'clock respectively. When one lobe is at 9 and 3 the other is slightly advanced/retarded pointing at say 9:30 and 3:30. Not enough to damage the Cams or Piston heads thankfully, just enough to mess up the timing.

Am wondering if it's as easy as I think it would be to just pull it back into proper alignment, with one another, go ahead use the tool, change out the timing belt, replace anything else worth changing just because I'm already in there might as well, pulleys, water pump(just because all of what I've been reading lately) and anything else others might be willing to suggest that I take care of while I'm at it.

handsofftheaudi

That sounds like a similar issue I had, correction am having with my 94 100 CS wagon 2.8. I checked my timing belt just to see what shape it was in and found the water pump pulley had play in it. So I got all the necessary tools and started the job and soon found that the dumb@#$ that did the belt last had the crank like 2 teeth off. Anyways if you're still on this job and looking for advice or have questions on the 2.8 reply back and I'll tell ya what I know. The timing job is pretty simple if you have the proper order of operations.

groovepuppy

On your window comment, I've had a few switches intermittent on my 93 and it's just old dirty contacts. Pull the switches for the window and hit them with contact cleaner, not wd40.

ncoupe

About the intermittent windows operation: If cleaning the switch contacts does not do the trick, check the wiring harness at the point it enters the door. It is protected by a rubber boot, but the repeated flexing/bending of the wires may have caused the insulation to wear out and you may be getting occasional shorts from the wire touching the metal of the door.

About the timing belt being off: This is a likely cause for the rough idle. When I changed the timing belt the first time (at 78k) I used the tool, but did not pull the two cam sprockets from their shafts (the former are press fit into the cone-shaped end of the latter). I think the alignment was thus a fraction of a tooth off. When I did the second change at 135k, I did it right, by pulling the sprockets off the shafts, installing the belt adjusting tension, and then pressing them back into the shafts. The engine runs smoother than ever before.

GenXGamer

Thank you very much Gentlemen for your comments and very helpful advice. Sorry for the delayed response, my Son's part of this project was to keep an eye out for any advice that may have come our way via this post. Kids these days... Never the less, I am very grateful for your help.

I will try the contact cleaner today and have already inspected every other aspect of the wiring runs to the motors where they enter the doors. The wiring still looks in good condition and have been soo flustered with the windows, it never occurred to me to clean the contacts.

As far as the Rough Idle. I've purchased Bentley's CD ROM for this vehicle, but unfortunately don't have a Windows format old enough to read it. So, I'm having a difficult time locating the appropriate replacement parts and information to make informed purchases in regards to repairs.

Thanks to this website, I believe I have the proper order of replacing the timing belt, just don't have what I need to do it....Alignment Tool and Set Screw for the Shaft.

I'm hoping I won't have to repress the Cams. I don't believe the owner before me possessed the mental wherewithal to have misaligned those, even though I do know he did work on the lifters.