# Help with '86 5000s for someone who doesnt know cars.



## Graphixaddict (Jan 12, 2005)

Well, my parents bought a me a '86 Audi 5000s off a friend of theirs, it has 130k miles but seems to drive nice no problems so far, from what i heard the drivetrain was replaced 15,000 miles ago along with something else important, but i forget what. Im just curious what kind of things i could do to the car to fix it up or give it some more power or something, honestly i have no clue what im talking about and i know i already sound like a fool. But besides that, two of the door handles dont work, and the heat hasnt been getting very hot to fast, its not bad when its like 35-40 degrees but around 20 degrees it takes forever to warm up, i thought someone said something about a summer and winter heating setting, any ideas? And the beeping sound doesnt ever go away if you dont buckle your seatbelt, i guess thats a good thing but it gets kinda irritating sometimes. thanks
Brendan


----------



## Graphixaddict (Jan 12, 2005)

*Re: Help with '86 5000s for someone who doesnt know cars. (Graphixaddict)*

oh, and any ideas for what i could do for audio, nothing to expensive just maybe some better speakrs, subs and head.


----------



## Twistedaudi (Jan 6, 2005)

*Re: Help with '86 5000s for someone who doesnt know cars. (Graphixaddict)*

There's a ton of potential of a lot of things out there, but before your start on the never-ending path of modifying, think a couple things through first.
(1) Honestly, if you don't know anything about cars, modifying these tempermental bastards can be a bad thing to do. Run kindly, stock, these things will last you forever. They'll run strong modified, too... but obviously more problems arrive when the motor's making 2X the boost it was designed to.
(2) Find out now if its an Automatic, or a non-turbo car. If either is the case, I highly recommend backing away from modifications. I've been here before the car in my sig (link below) is a turbo-automatic. Whether or not its worthwhile is something left to the driver, to me it was... but there's no doubt you're opening a HUGE can of worms with a modified AT
(3) Ready to start? It may have beeen a type but the subject says your have a 5000S ... eg... its non-turbo. The options for modifications on non-turbo cars are much more limited. There's been talk of putting turbo-car cams into NA cars, exhaust, a K&N filter... but to be honest, your car is big and slow (just like all of ours) Modifying it isn't going to get you any more then 20 horsepower (and that's being liberal) 
As for Audio:
Audio's another story... all are created pretty much equal. There's a bunch of things you can do. My 5k has Alpine Type R Components. (5 & 1/4's in the doors and 6 x 9's in the rear) You will be able to go to any audio store and tell them you want speakers to fit and they'll tell you what's available.
I can tell you that after having done component speakers, I wouldn't highly recommend them. They sound awesome, don't get me wrong. but they have a number of hitches. First, they're much more expensive... which turns many people off right away. second, you NEED an amplifier. 
If you're going to do the audio system, I'd highly Recommend something along the lines of the Alpine Type S Speakers. My friend has them in his integra, sounds very good, uber loud, much cheaper all around solution.
When doing the audio, you may also need to run new wires to the speakers. Audi, in their infinite wisdom (bastards) gave pretty much every speaker its own amplifier, which wouldn't work with my headunit no matter what i tried... just be forwarned you may need to do somethnig along those lines...
Goodluck. Sorry to write so much


----------



## Graphixaddict (Jan 12, 2005)

*Re: Help with '86 5000s for someone who doesnt know cars. (Twistedaudi)*

hey twisted, great response thank you, it was everything i was looking for. So it is AT so i guess ill stay away from performance mods which is fine, i noticed the picture of your car at the bottom of your sig, how much would a new paint job cost, right from the start i said this car needs to be repainted cause it is the yellow/gold with black trim and i really like how yours looks all black. thanks again for the info.
Brendan
also, what would it entail to fix the door handles, and what about the heating question. any ideas? 


_Modified by Graphixaddict at 10:40 AM 1-12-2005_


----------



## Twistedaudi (Jan 6, 2005)

*Re: Help with '86 5000s for someone who doesnt know cars. (Graphixaddict)*

Hey man 
I agree with you not really performance tuning the thing. Its fun as hell, but gets really expensive.
Lets see, doorhandles.
Doorhandles are difficult to diagnose because there are a number of things that can go wrong. First, I assume the whole outer part is intact. (eg. the piece you "pull" on is still there) I only say that because its a hugely common problems for the handles on 5k's to snap right off. (already has happened to me X 3) 
With that out of the picture, what I'd recommend is taking the doorpanel off. Its not a real big deal, some screws and bolts holding it on. (FYI, there's a screw behind the inner doorhandle, you need to pry open the little plastic tab... and also pry open there center "handle" you would grab if you were going to close the door on the inside)
With the panel off, look to make sure that the two rods are properly on the doorhandles. This may be your problem. The opening system isn't terribly complicated, so you should be able to look and see if there's any obvious problems.
Heat problems
Heat problems are a bit more complex, as there's a number of things that may go wrong. You say it does eventually get heat, which is good. I think the most important thing to check is the blower motor. When you put the settings on high you should hear (and feel) the blower blowing much harder then when its on low (or off for that matter) If you can't its *PROBABLY* the blower motor... which as I understand it, can be a bit of a challenge to replace, though i've never done one myself.
Paint
Thanks for the compliments on my paint. The paint in the picture of mine is just a straight black. I've done it over now, and its now a VW color, "Black Magic" really nice color. I did all mine in the body shop, and we did a lot of work to make it a nice job. I'm quite satisfied with it.
I'll tell you right now, if you're looking for paint, and you're on a budget, MAACO is the best place to go. You're going to hear about how MAACO has "cheap" and "bad" paint, and I'm pretty much in disagreement. The truely don't spend as much time & Effort (usually) as we do in the body shop, but for what they charge (much less then we do) the paint tends to come out quite good. You should go to your local MAACO and check them out, see the pricing, etc... Its the cheapest, and honestly, most efficient route.

Goddamn I talk a lot!


----------



## Graphixaddict (Jan 12, 2005)

*Re: Help with '86 5000s for someone who doesnt know cars. (Twistedaudi)*

thanks ill take a look at the door handles tommarro, the blower doesnt seem to be the problem it blows air out fine, both at the low and high setting. it just seems that if its to cold ot it takes FOREVER to warm up.


----------



## Graphixaddict (Jan 12, 2005)

*Re: Help with '86 5000s for someone who doesnt know cars. (Graphixaddict)*

ok on furtyher inspection of the door handles, the two that are brokes. the passenger side front handle works on the inside and the outside is functioning but what i noticed is happening is that on the locking mechanism the little "latch" that both hold the lock closed and open to release the latch when you pull the outside handle it isnt going far enough down to allow the latch to open, sometimes it will barely go far enough so like say every 10 or 12 times you squeeze it it might open once. im assuming this is due to a cable or something that has stretched over the years. any ideas how to fix this? (i tried to remove the panel of the door but i didnt get very far lol, im not sure how it comes off, i found two screws one on the top left of on the top right but that doesnt seem to do it) as for the other handle the bracket or peice that hold the thick part of the handle flush to the door seems to have snapped, and i think a cable might be disconnected as well, possibly a job for epoxy? any help would be appreciated, thanks
Brendan


----------



## yawdi (Jan 28, 2005)

*Re: Help with '86 5000s for someone who doesnt know cars. (Graphixaddict)*

epoxy wont work. I've tried.
And dont go driving looking for new ones. Thats how a Caravan got the better of my 5ks.


----------

