Cabby gremlin driving me nuts! - starting and horn problems

[gull]

You can also pull the injectors and stick them in empty Corona bottles (or some other kind of clear container), jumper the fuel pump relay, and see if they dribble. You should get a fine cone-shaped spray when you lift the airflow plate, and a clean cutoff when you let it drop back to its rest position. Any injector that drips fuel when off or has an irregular spray pattern needs cleaning (almost impossible to do effectively) or replacement.

A fuel pressure gauge will tell you a lot of other stuff, too, though, and is worth getting. J.C. Whitney has a CIS fuel pressure gauge kit with the fittings you need that works pretty well.

[jerseyjon]

no black smoke, brand new injectors and lines as well. It actually seems to be running lean. I think gull might be on to something as well. I was just running through possible problems and I'm wondering if the previous owners had adjusted the fuel mixture to run leaner since the control pressure regulator was bad along with a number of vacuum leaks. Now that the cold start system is back up and working and the vacuum leaks fixed it may be running too lean, at least initially until the lambda control unit takes over. Yet another day closer to working on it again tomorrow.

[gull]

You could always try unplugging the oxygen sensor when it's running well, to see if that causes it to revert to running badly. If so, you know the Lambda system is compensating for something.

Better yet, if you have a tach/dwell or duty cycle meter, hook it up to the Lambda test connector. Once the engine is warmed up and in closed-loop mode, you'll be able to tell whether the Lambda system is skewing the engine richer or leaner. You can then adjust the mixture until the duty cycle is roughly 50% (or the tach/dwell reads 45 degrees on the 4-cylinder scale), and you'll have a pretty good approximation of the correct base mixture.

[jerseyjon]

Started right up today no problems, in a few hours though who knows.. I did unplug the oxs and it did run worse, but not nearly as bad as before. by the way, I actually do not have the test connector, someone clipped it or it broke off.

[kamzcab86]

by the way, I actually do not have the test connector, someone clipped it or it broke off.

Locate the wires and crimp spade terminals on (blue/white wire, brown/red wire, brown wire located at or near the cold-start valve, as seen here; they're also in the bundle that runs to the Jetronic ECU). You really need to have the test connectors to readily see how the system is running.

[jerseyjon]

found the problem, sort of. The problem is in the fuse/relay panel. I found this out because the car started doing it's thing and I shut the door and it kicked right in. again when it started acting up I gave the fuse/relay panel a tap and it corrected itself. loose wire or relay i guess -maybe the fuel system relay isn't making good contact. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, i'll post back when i do.

[Calimus]

If you haven't yet, check the backside of the fuse panle. MK1 windsheild seals are known to leak in the drivers lower corner and drip down into the fuse panle. This can cause all kinds of hell. Add to the equation a convertable, and well, more chance for water to get back there. Could have corroded things enough that some things have rusted through, or for there to be very high resistance.

Or you could just have a crap panle or relays.

[jerseyjon]

yeah, i kinda got used to that issue and just deal with it doing it's thing - I'm calling it my built in analog antitheft system. but guess what? - yup, another problem has surfaced. this car is seriously possessed. It's currently in the shop as of 6 hours ago because I noticed gears 1 and 2 making an incredibly dreadful grinding noise and the other gears started slipping. I figured I shouldn't ignore that so I just dropped it off and I'll have my guys look at it.