DaveT

Another common cause of the lifter tick is air sucked into the oil via the oil pump shaft seal. Replace the seal. There are o rings between the heads and the cam towers. Those can add to leaks, loosing pressure at the lifters. Oem only. If they are original, they are long overdue for replacement.

2 cats in EA82s is not a CA only thing. All in the USA have 2 cats. 1 in the y pipe, one in the middle pipe.

I'm looking for a good quality creeper - Preferences - Padded / comfortable. Low is better than higher, will be used on smooth garage floor. I prefer to avoid cheap made in china stuff, even better if made in USA.

to gather solar, you want surface area. The energy density is low. Long black plastic pipe will be far better than a couple radiators. The thermal gradient is low, so you need LOTS of surface area.

That thing is a clip that holds a plastic shield in place. The bottom of the plastic thing had a part that fit in the clip, and the top had a clip that went over the approximately 1" hose up on the front of the throttle body.

There is only 1 air filter. I am not sure when they went to 2 catalytic converters. Ea82s have 2.

With those pits, either a new pioe, or a thin layer of rtv in the groove. With smooth surfaces, I have found that plumber's silicon grease works well for helping seal, and when you have to remove, the hose is not stuck to the nipple. Also I have used it on the oring.

Doesn't look familiar to me. Just a mangy odd colored o ring.

Engine model would help with ideas. If it is an EA82 spfi, fuel starvation can cause power loss. It is also normal for the transmission to downshift when you floor it, there is a switch on the gas pedal that trips a valve to do this. Also 4000 rpm is not harmful to these engines, it is normal rpm at 65 mph for my 3 speed automatics.

#1 thing to help. Old starts. Don't rely on an old battery. 5 years is considered end of life for lead acid flooded cell bateries under ideal conditions. Ideal conditions are seldom seen in real life. Sometimes you can get away with using one longer, but it's capacity and capabilities are not what they were when new. It often does not take anywhere near that to start an engine, so everything seems fine. When it's cold it takes a lot more, and cold drastically reduces the capability in addition to the age effects and the higher demand of the cold engine.

Compare the friction of the old and new by installing.

Sounds like it. Sometimes that happens. I never had a reason to look at that particular wire / group. If it only connects to the diagnostic connector, it won't matter.

I never had any Turbos. I've run Amsoil 100% synthetic since the late 80s. And their ATF and gear lube. If it leaks, reseal it. Over 150K and or 10 years old, due anyway. Most noticeable thing is when they are cold, shifting is better - both the auto and standard shift. I run their bypass filters also.

That is not a freeze plug. It has a hex key recess in it. It is the access to the wrist pin on the cylinder adjacent. It opens to the crank case. The only freeze plugs are in the head, under the rocker covers.

FWD and 4WD hi would be for street use and speeds. Shift in and out on the fly. 4WD lo is a lot slower ground speed for a given engine rpm. Think of driving through woods, not on a trail. Up and down steep hills.

Yes, that makes sense. I was only thinking of FWD vs 4WD.

no clutch. Other detail - all 4 tires the same brand and wear. You can get away with slightly different - more so than with AWD, but may make switching in / out of 4WD less smooth.

Just be rolling, no heavy load one way or the other, not in a turn.

Must be something about where we vs mice are. Here they are a major threat to anything left outside. I've had them damage wires, lucky the car didn't catch fire. Build nests in the entire hvac system. They pull the fuzz from under the carpets and stuff it into the ducts, blower, anywhere. And bring in acorns,etc. Leave pee and poo everywhere. I'm in CT, so they definitely look for places to get out of the cold.

Kind of a side issue, but mice will infest it if they live in the area. Good idea about the fuel tank.

I made a wrench from a thick piece of aluminum and a couple of bolts. Square hole in the center for my torque wrench years ago. I use the fsm numbers. Once they are on, run it for 20 seconds or so. Re check the setting, as they often drift into place where they want to run, and the tension changes. Watch ebay for a used fsm.

I agree, the slightly high dose of HEET should not be the problem. No, you can't go by what newer cars do. They are way more complicated. Does sound like possible fuel starvation.

The neutral switch is only to prevent cranking if the car is in gear. Dead fuel pump, and or contaminated fuel is possibly why its running poorly. T a pressure gauge in the supply line at the TBI input port, then oyu know if the pressure is ok. 21PSI. Does not take much lower to start causing problems.

Since the engine is all aluminum, it pretty much is all the same temperature once it's been running for a while.

C&K switches makes some nice snap in rocker switches that are good and look nice. I think digital key and /or mouser sell them.