Audi 80 Mk II - Audi 80 TDi electronics - Raudi

I have an Audi 80 TDi estate on about 250K in good all round condition, 650 miles on a full tank. The following symptoms apply;

1. Engine over revs when changing up a gear, followed by a drop in revs for a moment in the new gear. Or to put it another way, on changing up you lift off the accelerator for a moment as the clutch goes in, but instead of the revs dropping, they surge, followed by a drop of revs as the clutch is let out. This happens pretty much all the time but there are good days and bad days.

2. The electric windows work intermittently: I changed the relay when they stopped working altogether, this cured things for a while but now its intermittent again.

3. Sometimes the indicators stop working. Sometimes I can cure this by switching off the engine, counting to 20 and starting up again. Other days they'll just work again when the mood takes them.

4. Triggered, I think, by a hot day with the car parked with all windows closed almost everything can stop working; windows, sunroof, indicators, guages, etc. A few days ago the car would start and the hazards worked, but that was it. All self fixing after a while !

As I cannot afford fancy diagnostics I would very much appreciate replies from anyone with similar experiences.

Regards to all

Audi 80 Mk II - Audi 80 TDi electronics - SteveLee

Does the car burn oil? Perhaps your are sucking some engine oil past the valve stem seals or piston rings? Check the breather pipes, again high crankcase pressure may be forcing engine oil to where it shouldn't be. Lubricate the "throttle" (I know I know!) cable,

As for the electrics, who knows, it's an old car, get a can of contact cleaner and dismantle, clean up every and reconnect every connector you can get to reasonably easily. I'm not sure if the car has a multiplex wiring system, if it has it's worth checking the alternator for a failing diode pack, this will cause noise on the network and hosts of spurious problems. The easiest way to do this is fully charge your battery, disconnect the alternator (a simple plug on the rear) and go for a drive - no electrical problems while the alternator is disconnected then that's the cause. A friend of mine replaced a failing (changing gear at random) automatic gearbox costing thousands - it turned out to be his alternator causing voltage spikes which upset the 'box's ECU...

Audi 80 Mk II - Audi 80 TDi electronics - Raudi

Thanks for your prompt reply, I'll make a start this weekend following your excellent advice and let you know the outcome.

Cheers