VIN 4519: 14-year "garage find"

[Jonathan]

I just swapped out all those relays on my own car, Rich. 7 relays all the same plus the unique one for the lambda location. Plus the ignition resistor bypass relay in the engine bay that’s the same as the other 7.

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[Rich_NYS]

Thank you to everyone for their help with relays & K-Jet stuff, I'm becoming much more familiar.

I've been on a small break, periodically trying to remove the O2 sensor. I'm still recovering from shoulder surgery so I don't have full use of my right arm yet. Yesterday I removed the drivers' side axle for better access. I ran the car a bit to warm up the pipe, used a heat gun and an extension on the wrench, and it broke free.

Replacing the O2 sensor didn't seem to change the behavior of the running, but at least I feel like the Lambda system is now "intact."

I also replaced the ISM with a working one Jimmy sent, it seemed to make an improvement.


Current running behavior seems to be specific enough that I hope to be able to further diagnose.

Cold start: Starts easily and idles smooth around 900 for approximately a minute.

Warming-up: Hunts like mad, wildly swinging between ~500-1200. If I increase the idle a bit with the curb idle screw(s,) I'm able to smooth out the idle at ~900.

Warm running: After around 5(?) minutes, something changes and the idle starts climbing. The amount of increase seems to be synonymous with the amount of increase I made with the curb idle adjustment during warm-up. I then return the idle adjustment screws to their previous position and the car idles fairly smoothly at ~750.

[Rich_NYS]

I just completed another cold-start test. It was 8 degrees during the time of test.

I backed out the idle adjustment screws, adjusted the bottom to +1/2 after it made contact, adjusted the top one to 3/4 after the microswitch "clicked."

Cold start: Started easily and idled fairly smooth around 900-1000 for 1-2 minutes.

Warming-up: Ran a bit rough and hunted continuously. I didn't check the RPM's but I'd guess between ~500-1200.

Warm running: After around 8-10 minutes, something abruptly changed and the idle jumped to very high RPMs (~2000?) I was able to rev the engine & drop the idle, and I also think the top screw might've backed out a bit & lost contact with the microswitch. At this time I tested the idle with/without the top screw engaging the microswitch: the RPMs increased when the switch as not engaged.

With the car idling at ~750, I shut it off and will try another cold start. I'm beginning to think a lot of this is related to the idle screw adjustment.

[David T]

Check for looseness (play) in the ends of the quadrant link. When you get a lot of play it doesn't keep the throttle arm against the stop and the idle will increase as the throttle plates open. There is a procedure to properly set the 2 set screws on the idle arm. One sets the throttle plates so they are closed all the way and the other clicks the micro switch. Some hunting is normal till the motor warms up enough for the Lambda system to start up. Your CPR may also be out of calibration. Hook up a fuel pressure gauge and watch the pressure during warm-up. Make sure the throttle spool is not sticking. You may have to take it apart, clean it up, regrease it and reassemble. The 30 year old grease gets like glue and prevents the spool from moving easily. The throttle cable may need lubrication. Lubricate as per the recall with Anti-Freeze. Finally check the decal springs on the throttle plates. if the springs are deformed or damaged the tiny poppet valves can open and allow air to bypass the throttle plates. If they are damaged you can replace them with springs from a ball point pen, just cut them to length.

[Rich_NYS]

Thanks David, it does seem like something is sticking. I think a clean/lube/adjust will be my next step.

I checked the springs, they look good.

I need to get a kit to measure fuel pressure.

[Rich_NYS]

I removed & disassembled the front calipers.

Rotors, pads, calipers, and pistons are in pretty good shape.

There's a few odd things:

-The passenger side caliper was painted grey, but was originally gold-colored like the driver's side.
-Both calipers have an edge broken-off in the same area....weird.

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[David T]

Eastwood sells paint made specifically for calipers to take the heat and adhere to the cast iron. That square "O" ring can be reused again between the half's if you don't have a new one, just dip it in brake fluid before using it again. Refer to the notes and chart on D:02:01 to test the CPR. There is a spring in the throttle plate assembly and 2 in the throttle spool. If you take the quadrant link apart, it is right handed AND left handed and each socket end has a clip like the door struts that MUST be removed before you try to pop it off.

[Rich_NYS]

Thanks David,

Thinking of clips, what is the method for the square wire things on the connectors for the WUR, CSV, frequency valve....etc?

I temporarily removed them 'cause they were aggravating me. I sense there's some kinda rico suave move, but I haven't figured it out.

[Jonathan]

Thanks David,

Thinking of clips, what is the method for the square wire things on the connectors for the WUR, CSV, frequency valve....etc?

I temporarily removed them 'cause they were aggravating me. I sense there's some kinda rico suave move, but I haven't figured it out.

Those wires are crap, basically. The smooth move would be to wing them into the trash can, but only if you have a better replacement.

They are nothing more than a way to have sort of like a child proof lid to your medicine bottles, but on those electrical connectors so they don't rattle off mistakenly. The two arms slide down the sides of the connector and 'bump' over the opposite end that it's grabbing onto. You can just pull the connector loose from the top, but I think maybe once upon a time you were supposed to squeeze in on the connector and that metal bar would flex a little and let go. Kind of like the bottle of Aspirin at home... or whatever good stuff you're taking for that shoulder!!

Those wire things get mangled over time from what I've seen and sit in there loose at best. I happened to be in my old mechanic's shop a couple seasons ago just reminiscing about the times I used to take my car to him, lol, and we got talking about those wire connectors. I then went routing through his odds and ends boxes of old wiring harnesses and came away with three of these. Whoo hoo! You can see how they slip over the sides the same way, but you now have that nice flap on each side to squeeze with.

I only found the one size, which did a few connections on the car, but not all of them. I'd love to actually find a place to buy these and not have to scavenge junk yards, but I haven't found that yet. Maybe someone else on here will know where they can be bought new?

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[Jonathan]

And for that short linkage Dave was talking about that can get some unwanted slack in it, there's a couple good close-up photos of it in this post:

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?10...l=1#post152181

Last two pictures there. You can see part of the tiny clip stuck in there as well as the threaded end. Dave is right about it being just like the clips on the door struts. It's a shoulder joint (ahhhh, I didn't even make a shoulder pun on purpose that time!!) and the cup end of the linkage actually has two little bars inside it, sort of like the wiring connectors we were just talking about!

Each end of that linkage has a small nut that you use to tighten it down once you're finished adjusting things. The reason both ends can be adjusted, and rotate opposite ways, is so that you don't have to make a full 360 degree thread adjustment all at once. You can take it off and rotate each end enough that you get the right length but then the cups are facing the side they need to be to let you clip it back into place.

It is not hard to just remove it entirely by both ends and I would recommend doing that just so you can have it in your hands and fiddle around with it and fully understand how it works.