Sir- I cranked the car up today- well, first, I grounded out the guage...it went to full hot. Connected it back and ran the car for a good 5 minutes and it barely registered a blip on the temp gauge, so I shut it off.I took the rad cap off (the middle one) and it shot some coolant out so I am assuming it is moving coolant (i.e.- not a thermostat or clog). What do you recommend I do next- sensor? or check the cooling system better instead of assuming? Thanks again!

 

As long as the system is full of coolant, the sensor should enable a reading on the gauge: this is not dependant on circulation. When checking the coolant level, remove the brass bleeder plug on the top of the radiator, driver's side. Fill the expansion tank first, then cap it. Remove the bleeder plug and fill from the engine crosspipe filler until coolant comes out of the bleeder port. Plug it, put the crosspipe cap on, run the engine for a couple of minutes with Defrost selected, re-check the level in the expansion tank when cool.

It's always possible that one or both thermostats are stuck open, or have been removed in an earlier attempt to deal with an overheating problem (this will not work). That would explain a low reading on he gauge after 5 min. of running. Feel the top radiator hoses, they should feel cool while the engine is warming up and then quickly start to warm up when the thermostats open. The temp sender could be bad, my earlier point was that they don't commonly fail.

 

I think what happened was, as you suggested, some air was trapped in the system. I bled it out pretty good, and now it registers a normal temperature....a little below the 'N'. (I suspect the thermostats were replacedwith a pair of 180s). So,I took it down the street today, and everything was nominal, until I come to a stop, and the oil pressure drops very low....too low for my comfort. I am hoping that an oil change will fix this, as the car has been sitting for about 2 years and I have no idea what viscosity is in it at the moment.

Matter of fact, when I pulled in the driveway, right before I shut her off, at idle, the oil light came on. I am going to change the oil out tomorrow with a 20w50, and I'm going to get the tranny flushed.

On a positive note, she pulled pretty hard and quick up to 70 mph, soI think the motor is in good shape! Cool car. The fuel pump is obnoxiously loud, is that normal?

 

Load fuel pumps may continue to operate for quite a while, but this is not normal. Clean out the swirl tank (under the battery tray), and put a new inline filter on the car. If it's still noisey, you're better off replacing the pump now rather than on the side of the road.

Low oil pressure reading is usually from the pressure transmitter: the bad news is when the oil warning light also comes on. Put in the 20/50 and cross your fingers.

 

Will do- another thing that is weird- the power steering doesn't work. Even though it is full of fluid and the belt and pulley are fine, there is no power assist. The pulley is turning fine when the car is running....Any hints on that?

 

That's very unusual, and I would suspect a bad P/S pump. The control valve in the rack and pinion never fails. You can't get to the hose unions on the rack easily to test: about the best place to check for flow would be at the power steering cooler. That is the return (low pressure) side, and the cooler is mounted on top of the front crossmember on the LF side. Be careful not to break the stem off if you are removing a hose: warm the hose up with a hair drier first to ease removal.

By the way, I have anything you might need to repair the car with. Clicking on my name gets you the direct email.

 

Couple things since last post- decided the ps pump is bad- dont have time/money to fix it, so I'll be getting a good arm workout the next few weeks. Changed oil out, drain plug is seized, had to vacuum out the oil. Also had them vacuum out some tranny fluid and replace it, didn't want to flush it due to unknown condition of tranny. Overall it runs good, but could run better. Idle is choppy and I suspect ignition is playing a part. Went to replace the o2 sensors, Prior Owner buggered up driver's side O2 sensor- have an appointment tomorrow morning to get it welded/tacked/removed out of the pipe.

Would the MSD 8207 single coil setup help? Or should I do the optical pickup plus coil? Also, what do I need to do to take the fuel sump apart? I haven't gotten a chance to tackle the sumpyet, but I'd like to be prepared when I do! thanks much!

 

Unless you install an ignition system with a dedicated ignition ECU (which is what the Marelli ignition system used on '89 and later cars has), you won't have a proper advance curve if the vacuum advance and centrifugal advance is working properly. An optical pickup which replaces our properly functioning hall effect pickup will gain you nothing. Your coils are probably ok too, they rarely fail. If the primary coil is bad, starting is difficult and spark is insufficient under load. This probably won't affect idle quality.

Taking the fuel sump apart to clean the pickup screen requires no special tools. I would do that, then check out the distributor advance, as the next steps. The O2 sensors are probably not in perfect order, but probably not causing significant performance faults.

 

Once again- I think you're advice is spot on- thanks for keeping me straight! What does it take to check the distributor advance? And what to do if its in bad shape? Does that mean new distro? Thanks again

 

Take the cap off, turn the rotor counterclockwise...it should snap back under the spring tension of the centrifugal advance springs. It won't, 'cause it's stuck. You can pull the distributor out and try to free it up, occasionally this will be successful. New or good used distributor will probably be required. Pull the hose off the vac advance while you have the dist, cap off, plug on a piece of ribber hose, and suck. Nothing will happen, because the diaphragm in the vacuum advance is bad too.

 

That sounds like a fun job- I've always had the worst luck pulling distributors- how can I pull it and put it back without messing up the timing? Also, I went to the parts store and asked for a fuel pump- they came back with a 220$ asking price. Isn't there exists a plain ole' walbro that can be used as a suitable substitute?

edit- found one-

http://www.fuelpumps.com/19801992-ja...l-p-12154.html

actually...ended up getting it off Ebay...the site above is shut-down or something. Also found a used power steering pump on Ebay.

70 bones

 

Thanks alot for asking, like I said I have power steering pumps and just about anything else you need. I'd have sold a P/S pump for $50., they rarely go bad and should be priced accordingly.

 

GAH! In that case, do you happen to have a distributor that you'd like to sell? (I'd send you my old one in return as a core!) =) If I try and fix my own distributor, what are the oddsa layman like myself will be able to put it back in without messing the timing up?

 

Check yours out first as I detailed, without removing it, and we'll see if that is necessary. I'd have to look, I have four engines but I'm not sure if I have enough good distributors to sell one.

 

I just realized what you meant a few posts back- I thought you meant you had "tools", not "parts"! (in reference to "I have anything you might need to work on it"). I got the fuel pump for about 70 and the ps pump for about 40 shipped. The ps pump guy had a "make an offer" thing on the auction so I made an offer of 16.95. What book(s) would you recommend I buy to work on this thing?I have an unnatural fear of breaking things when I work on them for the first time- then once I do it, I always think "what the hell wasI worried about?"...so a good bookor reference manual would help tons. Thanksagain.

 

do you have this center console thingy in the red circle for an 85-ish? It doesnt have the newer type gauges and those knobs, its got the old school knobs and dash.

edit - link would help-

http://picasaweb.google.com/heliax/D...42227437530690

 

No problem, check your mailbox.