Flying Frank

Okay thank you..... I appreciate the suggestion but thought there might just be folk who owned these old Audis around......I have just turned 80 so appreciate we are becoming a "rare breed" , as indeed is the car. Have owned newer Audis but have a fondness for the older models which , when working properly, are still delightful cars to own and drive. Sadly this model ( B4 platform ) is not covered by Haynes Manuals , although it does have similarities to the earlier B3 shape. Will soldier on in the hope that someone may know the answers to this particular puzzle. :-)

I've never been one to resist a bargain ( so i thought ), so when I saw an Audi 80 2.0E Estate for sale, jumped at it although the seller did sell as "spares or repair " The car was delivered to me as a non runner , having been SORN'd since 2017. What attracted me to the car was a very good MOT history and the fact that the car had had only one owner from six months in the cars life until 2025 .i.e. June 1994- April 2025 Bought unseen , but seller was chatty, explaining he had the car for the past year but partly due to lack of time and partly due to struggling to get the car to run , had decided to move it on. Hmmmm. It was only after the delivery driver explained to me that the seller was an AA mechanic did I get a sudden realisation that the car was probably going to be trouble as if he ( the AA man ) couldn't get it to run, then who could ? To summarise, the car is structurally pretty good for a 32 year old car. Usual wear to the drivers seat bolster, but headlining is intact, door cards pretty good, carpets ok. Exterior wise the Laser Red paint is suffering form VW/Audi fade and needs a good T cutting . Very small rust hole , 2 inch long on N/S front wing, otherwise the body is pretty solid. All doors open and close , locks work ( but no C/L at the moment ). Engine bay is very clean, but engine not working , which is where I ask for your guidance and advice. Please. The car would not crank, turn the ignition key and all the dash lights are there, but then to the start position.....nothing. No click from the starter solenoid What doesn't work.......obviously the engine, indicators, , fuel pump relay, interior courtesy lights, central locking. What does work,........ wipers, front and rear, side lights and head lights , head light flasher, dash panel light, aux instrument shows battery volts ok, So a detailed look at relays, fuses, and wiring over the past few days, plus the fitting of a new switch behind the ignition barrel has not resulted in getting the engine to turn , let alone fire. However , using a wire from the battery positive terminal to the LT part of the starter solenoid has allowed a cranking to occur, but so sign of a spark at the plugs . My underlying fear is that the car had an immobiliser fitted back in its youth, the type with a remote fob that one operates to access the car, it would unlock the C/L and allow all the non op bits mentioned above to come on line. The big question is......without the fob.....where would you suggest I start looking for the unit in the car which the fob would operate? I feel its going to be a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack, albeit it'll be a bit bigger than a needle for sure. Anyone with knowledge of these sort of things from way back in the 90's ??? It's a long shot I know, but the car really is just too good to break, but if I can't get it running, there seems little alternative options. Thanks for reading , all ideas worth considering.

Thanks for allowing me in to the Group, hope to contribute as well as benefit from members expertise. I'm a long term Audi owner , on and off since the early 1980s so have had "one or two" !!!