Landseer

Look for oil submerging any of the plugs after pulling the wires.

I like to vac each plug hole before removing plugs to try to remove any grit.

Quarter inch drive extension.works best, stepping up to a 3/8 drive on both ends, ie sparkplug socket and handle

James Bailey

Also resist the urge to try to tighten up the cam cover bolts.....85-86 they screw into the head of bolts which screw into the head. Quite often the heads will break off leaving you with broken bolts in the head. Some you can get to but others require the removal of the ENGINE...

skpyle

I am going to respectfully disagree, though with the caveat that I have FAR less experience than the guys who have responded.
Sighting down at the plugs, the factory plug removal tool clears the plenums. Its tight, but it clears.
IIRC, looking at the WSM, it doesn't tell you to pull the plenums, and has an illustration showing the factory tool on a plug with the plenum in place.
I am not near my computer right now, so I can't verify this info.
Take with a grain of salt.

On the other hand, would be a good idea to pour out the oil that has collected in the plenums. And check the plenum to pipe seals for deterioration.

Landseer

Ive never used factory tool, maybe its a better way.

Christopher Zach

I saw in the manual to use either DOT3 or 4. Never DOT5.

This afternoon was busy. Took off the side mirror switch, I can see at least one wire is burned, something happened. Checked the window switches, with the engine off I can see the alert lights dim a bit in either up or down positions which means the switch looks good but the motor is screwy. So tomorrow the driver's side door panel comes off and in we go.

Also locked myself out but got in with a coat hanger. Noticed the trim was damaged at the corner anyway, this was not the first rodeo....

AC vacuumed down to -30 which is good and held it. I charged it with some 134A, checked to make sure the compressor turns (it does) then fired the car up, set everything to cold, turned on the AC.

Got about 150PSI on the high side before the AC compressor kicked off. Looks like the controller is not telling the AC to stay on. Air from center vents is hot anyway, now need to see what needs to be in for the AC to stay on. Might be a pressure switch or something but the compressor did kick in for a moment.

And figure out the hot air. More FAQ reading. If I can get the door apart tomorrow and get the window to go down I can at least drive it.

Side note: The sunroof works (hit the switch while working on windows, scared me) however very very stiff. Used hand to help it close. My guess is needs a good re-oiling, that will be next on the list after the windows, mirror, ac, heat.....

Never dull.

Landseer

Search for a/c relay. The stock controller has a relay that fails. Radio Shack replacement was the way to fix it.

Regarding access to spark plugs, the quarter inch extension provides latitude to access plugs without hitting fenders, which can be issue when motor mounts settle.

Sunroof linkage gets crusty within metal tubes, several write-ups describe the fix.

James Bailey

The heater valve at the back of the engine rear of the passenger head is vacuum pod operated which fails to the open position letting hot water circulate all the time. So bad pod OR too many vacuum leaks (like affecting the shifting) gets you hot water hot air
And yes you can get to the spark plugs with the plenums in place not that I can because I have huge hands Besides you need to start looking around on top of the engine !!

Christopher Zach

Thanks found the relay info, I was thinking about pulling the climate control thingie anyway to fix one of the sliders. Looks pretty simple to do.

Will also check the heater control, looks to be the same as the one in the 944. Never dull.

Christopher Zach

Ok, let's see. this morning AC compressor is engaging, 150 on the high side which is low but the condenser is getting *hot* because the fan in front of it is not turning. Checked fan supply voltage, zero, pulled fuse box cover.

I have a nice 4 page placard with the fuse locations in there, nice. Looks like fuse 29 would have been it, it's good (glad I have my plastic 944 fuse puller). However fuse 28 had a copper tab next to it, pulled the fuse and it looks like the whole copper plug was pulled out or something. I'm going to use my camera to take a picture to see if this was some idiot's idea to tap into that 12v line or if the fuse contacts pulled out (close to impossible). However I can see why the radio don't work.

Meantime might be the fan relay, I'll pull that and test with my 12v supply. Will also check the fan to see if it spins.

Pulled the air box, I *love* the screen preventing things from falling into the intake. Been there, done that. However it looks like the heater valve is trying to close under engine but not enough vacuum. So vacuum leak in the lines, will look at ye olde FAQs to troubleshoot that one later.

Back to outside. All this and I haven't even taken the door panel off yet :-)

C

James Bailey

the aux a/c fan triggers two ways....front the thermo switch on the radiator left front bottom too, try touching the two wires there...

Christopher Zach

Good point. Easier than dragging out a 12v regulated supply to test the fan.

Meantime, took the car to get it washed, runs pretty good, looks better. Of course it is raining now, but that is that.

Then I took the door apart. The number of screws in the bottom of the door seems to be related to how grumpy Hans was when he assembled the car. He must have had a bad day in my case, but all screws out, door panel off.

Took the wire off the motor, tested it, +12v one way with the switch, -12v the other way. So wiring is good. Then popped it back on, motor is still stalled both ways. Put a clamp with a rag around the window rail to keep the window from falling and removed the regulator. Took off the motor, tested it, motor runs perfectly both directions, no binding or cogging (symptom of a lifted commutator bar). The motor is a PM type so it is very current limited, ok. Took it off the regulator, took out the regulator, I see the problem.

The grease was so hard it was like cement. Caked up on the train teeth, a total mess. I tried cleaning it with brake cleaner, no dice. So I took it over to my wire wheel on the grinder, set to lowest RPMs, and cleaned it all off. Then re-packed the spring with new oil then grease (now moves easily), oiled the motor drive with a bit of penetrating oil, and put it together.

Then it started to rain before I could adjust it. So I closed the other window, cleaned up, closed the sunroof with hand help (I am sure that is also clogged with bad grease) then ran inside.

The wire that is burned on the power mirror seems to be a ground (brown) wire. Not sure what happened there, but since those wires are very thin it's possible the power mirrors also have dried grease in their trains. Not sure how I am going to fix that, but that is tomorrow's project.

Hopefully I will be able to get out there this avro and finish the window/get the door panel on somewhat. Then tomorrow I'll tackle the transmission and see where that pneumatic leak is in the vacuum system. It's probably throwing the fuel pressure regulators for a loop if I recall my Motornic DME lore.

Christopher Zach

Ok, window is all together. I figured out that the nylon slider at the top of the regulator goes into the track under the window. Put it on, used a bit of grease, now window works great! This will make the car something I can drive till I figure out the AC fan. Bit concerned about that one, if the contacts are pushed back too far due to this fail I'd rather not have to rebuild a chunk of the fuse box. Maybe there is a 12 volt supply I could hot wire the fuse into

Likewise I have the mirror adjusting motors working again: The problem there was that one of the lines was burned, looks like someone put a long screw through the door panel into the wire. Short. Ooops. Replaced the wire segment, cleaned it up, both mirrors working now but still a bit slow, which means I may be rebuilding the mirror motors at some point.

So we're getting closer. All rear lights are now working, I noticed today the emergency brake is not engaging, don't know if the rear brake pads are shot or what. Might be related to the occasional ABS signal. Another oddie: The switch on the top of the brake reservoir was not hooked up to anything (on the cap) but there is a second sensor on the side of the brake reservoir and the float was not in the cap. Do they have two fluid level sensors (brake fluid level is fine, left alone)

C

Christopher Zach

This is interesting: Took the air box off the car (again) and started looking at the vacuum lines. I see the one going down the side of the engine (bellhouse) which I think is the one to the transmission modulator. Oddly enough the hoses look pretty good, almost as if they have been replaced at some point...

Started at the brake booster and found problem 1: The small hose from the booster to the main check valve was on but the hose from the check valve to the first Y adapter was so loose it fell out. Check valve has two diameters, one is 6.3mm (input) the other is 4mm (output).

Looks like it's time to check the FLAPS for some new Y connectors. That would keep the vacuum out of the secondary systems. Can't be that easy.....

Christopher Zach

Well, hooked up the new lines and adapter, did a mouth check and sure enough it holds vacuum. Good. Hooked it up, started car, stopped, unplugged vacuum line after a minute from check valve, got a pfft (yes, I can't find a mityvac on Sunday, Oh well). Took car for drive stays in first much longer now then a more gentle upshift with a significant increase in speed. I saw the heater valve move, vacuum diaphragm might need replacement but I think it's enough to close off the hose. So good news there.

Now to figure out the reason the E brake is not working (did these use the disc/drum system or disc lock) then antilock, then that annoying fan. Also need a driver's side mirror replacement since the old one broke and someone stuck on a house of mirrors mirror.

C

James Bailey

The hand brake has shoes inside the drum of the rear rotors.