Firstfives.org

This kind of leaf:


Well, that wasn't so hard. Got the whole leaf out in one piece which makes me feel a lot better about things. Total time: about 45 minutes.

Blaise wrote:It really depends on the kind of leaf, the size of the leaf and what state of decomposition it was in.

It was definitely not an OEM leaf.

#$^@ing shadetrees...

Changing my oil today, when a gust of wind drops a little leaf right in the funnel. Before I can react, shwoop! It's down the funnel and somewhere in the valves. :evil:

I can't see it in there through the oil hole to fish it out. Am I condemned to remove the valve cover to ...

So yep, I definitely needed professional help.

Here's the missing piece of the puzzle: right at the start of this process I munged the timing. Moved the distributor--I had no idea that was an adjustment! Wasn't 'til later, after much reading ("what is this 'timing' that everyone keeps talking ...

The hydraulic assist brakes have been a favorite of mine, they free up a lot of space under the hood.

Wait, what? Did you really get rid of the big brown brake booster? Do you mind telling me what you installed instead? Is it that silver doodad in picture 3?

Nice build! Good luck with the rest ...

Yeah... sigh... It definitely has that 'way over my head' feeling. I've just enjoyed so much that feeling of mastery that comes with doing my own repairs...

I've brought the car to Terry's before. They do good work.

This is a continuation of my coolant temperature sensor replacement adventure. In a nutshell: I had a very weak cold start that appeared when the ambient temp was above 65F. I replaced the CTS, a bunch of hoses and connectors that broke in the process, and the famous ECU/CTS ground terminal (which ...

Hey Crit, I am working on exactly this problem too. I still don't have it licked (I think I messed up a wiring repair), but one thing you should also check after the AAV and the CTS is the quality of the ground connection at the rear of the intake. There's a ring connection from the wiring harness ...

In the distributor there is a coil, the pulse generator. ...I'm not sure how you could static test the coil.

Appreciate the suggestion. I'm not inclined to suspect the distributor as the car was running fine except for warmup, but heck if I know.

The distinguishing characteristic of my problem ...

Replaced bosch connectors on cold start valve, coolant temp sensor, and temp time switch, as they had all shattered due to my clumsiness. Gave the contacts a sandpapering. Thoroughly sandpapered CTS/ECU ground contact on intake: it was quite dirty/oxidized, and looked much happier for the polishing ...

Thanks, Lenny. That is awesome information. :D

Today I had some time for the car so I clipped, trimmed, retwisted, resoldered and reclamped the CTS/ECU ground. Made me awful nervous as screwing this up=buying new wiring harness, but it seemed to come out ok. Still no improvement in cold start.

I ...

Yeah, I have lots of sclerosis of the hose and rubber! I am very wary of what I touch now unless I have the replacement part in hand. Fuel and vacuum hoses in particular.

Blaise, I saw your overhaul pics. Terrific stuff, very educational.

Philosophical question for the learned: if I replace ...

Update: Cold start valve functions correctly. Old coolant temp sensor delivered 1600 ohms resistance at 95 degrees; I'll test the new sensor and replace the ground terminal when I get back to it. I have to set this repair aside for a week or so. At least it runs.

I messed up the voltage drop ...

Lenny D. wrote:At 68 deg. F, 2-3K ohms.

Thanks for the help. I'm going to go back over that stuff this morning.

I ended up picking up a coolant temp sensor from the local parts store for around $15 instead of ordering the expensive unit from BavAuto.

So far, so good, but who knows.

That's what I was hoping for with this $16 Bosch unit from Autohaus. How did you know if yours would put out the right ...