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(WTB: 3a from Audi 80) - Now ABA vs. 3A



Comments within...

Quoting Mark <mardak@cogeco.ca>:

> David, we're talking about problems COMPARING an ABA vs a 3A.  I don't
> doubt that there's problems that come up from time to time with ANY
> engine.  I don't dispute the fact that you've seen problems with the
> ABA.  This is your experience.  But what's your experience with the 3A?
> What we're talking about here is a direct comparison between two engines
> - one of which is relatively rare.  You may consider the ABA "soft", but
> against what?  What I'm trying to prevent here is someone deciding to go
> with the 3A because they heard that the ABA's have ring problems.  ANY
> engine will have "X" number of failures due to the odd defective part.
> That is expected with any manufactured item.  The "misinformation" I'm
> referring to is that you're recommending the 3A over the ABA because
> you've seen ring failures on the ABA.  That's all fine and good, but you
> probably haven't seen the same thing with 3As simply because very few
> actually come into the shop for service!!!
> 
Agreed...  It is not fair to say of two choices, A has this failure, so 
therefore by B...  That was a fallacy on my part (now that I understand I have 
made one)...  I am sorry...  

> I believe your opinion is based on simply the higher number of ABA's
> that come in your shop rather than the actual percentage of ring
> failures on both of these engines...
> 
> That's all I'm trying to say here.  And as for the "misinformation"
> comment - that's exactly what I believe WAS contained in your post.  The
> question remains - does the ABA have a higher ring failure rate than the
> 3A on a per engine basis...  I don't know - that's the challenge to your
> comment that I brought up.  Recommending a 3A over an ABA with "skewed"
> statistics IS misinformed.  No?

Perhaps...  And although I know that I have been too sensitive in the past, 
perhaps I am being here as well.  It appeared to me that you were saying I was 
full of shit, -instead- of following through with the logic I presented...  In 
the long run, it does not matter, my reasoning was indeed skewed...

> 
> David, please don't take this disagreement personally.  You provide a
> great service to this list and provide many answers that only a parts
> guy at a VW dealer can help with.  My only beef is with statements like
> you made in that post.  The world is full of "misinformation", and this
> list is no exception.  Don't forget a lot of people take what they read
> on the list and take it as fact.  I just didn't want someone coming away
> from your post thinking that he should go out of his way to source a
> (probably) high mileage 3A and dump a bunch of cash into it to rebuild
> it rather than swap in a plentiful and cheap low mileage ABA.  That's
> it, that's all...
> 
Fair enough...  Once again, I don't hold onto our conflicts...  It just 
becomes more and more apparent that this medium is really poor at explaining 
things (from time to time)...  

Regards,
  David

> Mark.
> 75
> 80 S
> 81 S  2.0 ABA/JH/4K
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: David Utley [mailto:mr.utility@highstream.net]
> > Sent: April 7, 2004 3:44 PM
> > To: Mark
> > Cc: 'Dumitru Hociung'; 'Scirocco list'
> > Subject: RE: (WTB: 3a from Audi 80) - Now ABA vs. 3A
> > 
> > Comments within...
> > 
> > Quoting Mark <mardak@cogeco.ca>:
> > 
> > > Don't forget there are a zillion times more ABAs running around out
> > > there than 3As.  Does the ABA's rings have more problems per "X"
> number
> > > of units than the 3A, or is it just that you're seeing more problems
> > > with ABAs because there's a lot more out there...
> > >
> > Perhaps...  This would be interesting to see...
> > 
> > > I wouldn't doubt that the same manufacturer makes rings for all
> VW/Audi
> > > engines (mass produced ones anyways)...  Are the ABA rings
> manufactured
> > > in Mexico?
> > >
> > I doubt that...  They are more than likely sourced locally, but I do
> not
> > know
> > how to go about finding that out...
> > 
> > > The reason I ask is because I've NEVER heard that the ABA bottom end
> is
> > > anything less than bulletproof.  I just don't want to see someone go
> > > through considerable expense rebuilding a 3A rather than simply
> swapping
> > > in a low mileage ABA on that piece of unsubstantiated advice...
> > 
> > What?  What is 'unsubstantiated advice'?  Let me break it down
> further...
> > What is advice?  It is the best way to proceed with X, 'according to
> the
> > respondents' experience...  This is my experience, I have found the
> ABAs
> > to
> > be 'soft'.  So, how can -that- be unsubstantiated?  For clarification,
> > this is
> > my experience here at the dealership, and with tuning 'dubs around
> here...
> > 
> > I also
> > > just got off the phone with a friend who's the service manager at my
> > > local Volkswagen dealership, and he said there's ABSOLUTELY no
> "issue"
> > > with ring problems on the ABA...  Take that for what it's worth I
> guess,
> > > but before you start spreading misinformation you should back up
> your
> > > advice with some numbers...  As an "insider" could you get some info
> on
> > > how many ring failures these two engines have per 1000 units?
> > >
> > 
> > As I said, this has been my experience...  Just because I work here at
> a
> > dealership, I don't think you should automatically take my word for
> gold.
> > I
> > can only communicate what I have learned/experienced, and so far, I
> stand
> > by
> > both.
> > 
> > As for spreading mis-information, that really hurts me Mark...  Why in
> the
> > f*ck would I spread mis-info?  Because I work at a dealership, do I
> > therefore
> > have to offer a failure-rate from the facroty before my advice is
> pertient?
> > I
> > don't get it...  Please tell me where I mis-understood your intent, as
> I
> > hope
> > that is the case...
> > 
> > David
> > 
> > > Mark.
> > > 75
> > > 80 S
> > > 81 S  2.0 ABA/JH/4K
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
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> > >
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > David Utley
> > -----------
> > Cable Volkswagen
> > 405-470-3129
> > 1-800-522-6793
> > 
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>  
> 
> 



David Utley
-----------
Cable Volkswagen
405-470-3129
1-800-522-6793