DaraSue and 10907's excellent adventure

[DMC5180]

The black flap is the plastic radiator shroud. It's supposed to be up against the radiator tank. You should be able to flex it enough to get it around the A/C high pressure switch. It may require removing a few of the shroud bolts on that side.

Yes, the bolts should be shorter so that the threads are flush to the top side of the nut when tight.

You have the light weight hi-torque starter. The original starter had an extra wire coming out of the starter solenoid, it provided power the the ignition resistor by-pass circuit. The new upgraded starter does not have this extra lead. The factory engine harness used a single pin bullet connector that plugged into the OEM starter wire. Some folks will cut the end of the engine harness wire and replace it with a ring terminal. Then attach it to the starter with the small W/R wire at the solenoid. I prefer not to cut the harness connector off, but rather make a short 5 inch harness with a ring terminal on one end and male bullet connector on the other. Install the small lead with the W/R wire and plug the other end into the factory harness connector. The important thing is to get rid of the blue scotch lock wire tap. You will need to put some heat shrink over the spot on the W/R wire where the tap cut into the insulation.

Dennis

[DaraSue]

Waiting to get it back from the shop (cooling system flush & incorrect hose replacement, oil pressure sender replacement) so I can take another look at the stuff DMC5180 was talking about, but I had them do a compression check while it was in there, and the mechanic discovered that it had three different kinds of sparkplugs. Just... why? Are they that expensive? Is there some other reason somebody would replace them two at a time?

At least the compression check came back good...

[Lwanmtr]

Maybe they wanted different color plugs? lol. Really doesnt make sense why they wouldnt do all at one time.

[DMC5180]

the mechanic discovered that it had three different kinds of sparkplugs. Just... why? Are they that expensive? Is there some other reason somebody would replace them two at a time?...

Expensive? NO, just pure laziness.

The question is, do they all crossover to each other. I'm curious what brand plugs they are?


Dennis

[DaraSue]

Expensive? NO, just pure laziness.

The question is, do they all crossover to each other. I'm curious what brand plugs they are?

IMG_20160916_112659.jpg
Three different kinds of Bosch and two of the same Denso.

Some good news, I poked around some more and found that the fuel tank closing bolts are the short ones under where the lines run, just the longer ones at the front where they're not touching anything.

[DMC5180]

IMG_20160916_112659.jpg
Three different kinds of Bosch and two of the same Denso.

Some good news, I poked around some more and found that the fuel tank closing bolts are the short ones under where the lines run, just the longer ones at the front where they're not touching anything.

Wow, that's F'd up. They're not even the same thread depths. Get a fresh set of the correct plugs.

you can leave the long bolts if that's the case.

[DMCMW Dave]

IMG_20160916_112659.jpg
Three different kinds of Bosch and two of the same Denso.

Some good news, I poked around some more and found that the fuel tank closing bolts are the short ones under where the lines run, just the longer ones at the front where they're not touching anything.

I moved those when the car was here. Originally the two long ones were hitting the hoses. No charge!

[DMCMW Dave]

IMG_20160916_112659.jpg
Three different kinds of Bosch and two of the same Denso. .

Wow. We don't generally pull all the plugs when doing a checkout unless it needs a compression test. I'd certainly change them all, should be Bosch HR6DS for OEM.

[David T]

Wow. We don't generally pull all the plugs when doing a checkout unless it needs a compression test. I'd certainly change them all, should be Bosch HR6DS for OEM.

About the only reason I can think of for that kind of mix is someone wanted to change the plugs and the parts store couldn't put together a full set of 6 of the same type and talked the guy into buying them saying they are "all the same". This is just another reason why you want to patronize the D vendors and get the right parts to do a good job. Doing work and using the wrong parts is just a sign of sloppy work and when you see that you wonder what else is "screwed up". Sometimes you just can't get what you need when you need it but when you can, you get the right parts and you go back and put them in.

[DaraSue]

I moved those when the car was here. Originally the two long ones were hitting the hoses. No charge!

Thanks! You guys are the best!

Don't worry, everybody, I got a fresh set of spark plugs put in on Thurs. and the mechanic called DMCMW to make sure he got the right ones and the right gap settings. They were only like $7 each so there was really no excuse for not doing them all at once. The seller said the PO had never had it properly serviced. Obviously.

My compression check said #1 - 112, #2 - 125, #3 - 120, #4 - 120, #5 - 128, #6 - 127. A smidge over 10% variance but the mechanic thought it was OK considering the altitude we're at (around 4500 ft. MSL).

I've started noticing some short-lived idle RPM fluctuation on startup but I hear it's a fairly common quirk so I'm trying not to freak out too much about it. Other than that, everything seems good. Hoping to get down to Vegas at the end of the month!