1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
82T owner here. Bought it a year ago for a song, and have been tweaking away at it since. The previous owner had to be the worst owner ever. The list of repairs to get it running smoothly was long. Some big, but mostly lots of little things. Especially stopping any and all possible vacuum leaks. Some common "mystery" vacuum leak sources for a car of that year are:
the dist advance unit itself. If the inside diaphragm degrades and rips, that's a vacuum leak. No air should pass through that port.
vac hose connections behind the dash - lots of possible places to leak back in there. One common one is the turbo over-pressure fuel cut-off switch. Either a hose disconnected, or the internal diaphragm is blown, thus allowing air to be sucked into the vac system through the seams of the switch. Just bypass the switch until you can replace it with a known working one. One sure way to tell if a hose has disconnected somewhere back there is the vac boost guage doesn't move. Plus you'll hear the sound of hissing air.
any and all rubber gromets on the intake manifold that are supposed to maintain a tight seal around their respective plastic fittings. If they're at all loose, that's a vac leak.
the ventilation control vacuum tank inside the right side front wheel fender. If that hose system (one going in, one going out to behind the dash) is loose or disconnected, that's a vac leak.
Even if all vac hoses appear to be connected, they may be split (because of heat, age and hardening) where they join the fittings. Remedy is to replace all vacuum hoses, especially those in the engine compartment.
Then there's the intake manifold itself. If the gasket has ruptured somewhere, or it's not tight enough against the cylinder head, that'll cause a vac leak. The rubber injection valve seats are also prone to hardening and shrinking with age, thus causing a leak. One common DIY way to determine if you have a leaky manifold is to spray carb cleaner around the manifold/injection valves during idle. If the rpm's increase, there's a leak.
Is the air filter clean? I realize it's not easy to change that filter, but it should be clean. If not, that'll cause the engine to pull harder on the entire vacuum system, thus increasing the leakage potential.
There's also the likelihood of oxidized/corroded electrical, ground, and relay connections, plus the main ECU box connections failing. Add an oxygen sensor in need of replacing and you have some oddball behavior.
My car is now almost trouble free as far as starting, idling and driving goes. It leaks a little oil here and there along the engine gasket seams, and the engine itself is probably in need of a bearing and piston ring overhaul, but other than that it's very smooth and trouble free. The next project car is a late 80's 16V turbo.
posted by 152.163.1...
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