Mark Humble

Thanks, I will let the guy know. Mark

I was wondering how to remove the front CV shaft from the transmision, it is an automatic. There doesn't seem to be a roll pin holding the DOJ to the transmision output shaft. Mark

Let me throw this out there. My car, 89 GL, would do the same thing as yours, but only in the winter months. So I thought what was different from winter and summer with respect to the way I was using the car? The heater. So next time it happened I turned the heater off and the idle went to normal and after a few seconds the CEL went off. WTF. Then I remembered I had unpluged the A/C compressor because when climbing a hill in third gear and the A/C would cycle, it would hit so hard as to squeel the belts and slow the car. So I pluged the A/C back in and the idle problem went away. My thinking here is that when the heater or defrost is on and the ECU calls for the A/C compressor to cycle, it expects to see a drop in RPMs so it opens the IACV to compensate for this drop. But without the compressor pluged in, the RPMs go too high and the ECU closes the IACV droping the RPMs, now too low and reopens the IACV. And it just keeps bouncing the RPMs up and down. I may be way off on this, and your problem may be different, but this is what I found on my car to be the cause of the idle problem and the IACV code. Mark

That is where the fuel pump is located, it may not be the pump leaking, but the hoses or fittings on the pump. Just take the cover off and have a look. Mark

Valve overlap is a term used to describe the duration when both the intake and exhaust valves are open at the same time. On most turbo engines, the valves are not open at the same time because the pressure on the exhaust side is greater than the intake side, or the boost pressure. On a N/A engine, the valves will be open at the same time for a short duration. This will cause the out going exhaust gases to help draw in the fuel/air charge. The total duration of valve overlap is determined by many factors, and one of those cam designer's secrets. I hope this helps. I too think it may not make a lot of difference for a daily driver. Mark

No valve overlap on turbo cam. Mark

Fuel pump. Mark

Yes, the CEL will come on if the drivers side timing belt breaks. Mark

The spot welds on the bumper brakets are not very strong. And I had thought about putting some more welds on them, but I don't think it will help much, the brakets are very weak also. So the plan is to get some channel to replace them with and again cut holes all the way through the bumper to install them. This way the new brakets and braces will be welded to both sides of the bumper. For the boat I plan to tow, and the short distance I would need to tow it, it would be fine the way it is. But if I were to tow it a long distance then road vibration would kill the spot welds in no time. The boat and trailer I have only weighs less than 300 lbs. with about 35 lbs. of tongue weight. The next part, and the hardest, is to reinforce the car so I don't rip the whole bumper and all right out of the car. The trailer hitches I found on line bolted to the bumper and to the bottom of the rear storage compartment. Not very strong, and yet you see them all the time. Makes me wonder if the companies making these hitches have ever heard of "product liability". Mark

Here is a pic without the plastic cover and foam installed. I just used some box tubing that fit over the hitch and a bit of plate for bracing. I cut a square hole all the way through the bumper and welded the box tubing and brace to the bumper. I had to drill a new hole in the hitch shank so the bolt could go through verticality. Mark

I have always wanted a hitch on my wagon, so today I made one for it. I didn't like the ones I found on line because they were not removable. So making my own seemed the way to go. I will only be towing my aluminium fishing boat as the car itself isn't strong enough to handle very much weight. Mark

Sticky valves. Lifters don't have enough travel to allow the followers to drop out. Mark

Well, it's been nearly a month now and the A/C is still working great. The leak in the compressor seems to have stoped and I have not had to add any refrigerant. The compressor cycles on and off as normal. Its been hot here, but not in my car. Mark

Metric Heli Coils. You can get a kit from auto parts store or hardware store. The thread size is (6mmX1.0). That way you can just use the bolts you took out. Mark

Something else that came to mind, since you will have to remove the intake manifold to remove the head, check for any foreign objects in the intake port, like a screw or something that is holding the valve open. Other things that might hold the valve open might be, sticky valve guide, or weak or broken valve spring. You might even be able to see if the valve seat has come loose. Mark

Maybe this.

http://<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mHNG3-kNXmc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Well, this is my first attempt at posting a video, if it doesn't work maybe someone can fix it. Mark

First inspect the cam box for any problems like worn bearing bore, worn can lobe, worn cam follower just to make sure there isn't a problem in any of those componets that could cause the follower to drop out. If no problems can be found, then pull the head. If the seat has come out, it might be repairable, but given the fact these head tend to develop bridge cracks (cracks between the seats) it may not be repairable. Some machine shops might say yes and others no. For my money, I would replace the head with a used, serviceable head. If your pulling parts from a junk yard car, then why not take everything from the block deck up if it doesn't cost too much. Mark

Miles, You may have hit the nail on the head. I have been following this post and trying to think of what might cause the cam follower to come out. The valve seat may have come loose and is dancing around. I have seen this happen before, but a long time ago, so I didn't even think of it. That could hold the valve open as much as a quater inch or so, more than enough to allow the follower to drop out. Mark

Rereading your post, I see you said it is arcing between the plug base and the cyl. head, not across the plug insolator. I would check to see if the ground strap from the engine to the body is in place, also check the coil braket grounding to the body. The coil is grounded to the body not the engine. There needs to be a ground path between the coil braket and the engine or the spark will try to find a path, like through the air. Think radio. Mark

Sounds alot like spark plugs have too much resistance. Maybe wrong plug or too wide of gap. Most of the time if you see an arc between the dist. cap and ground or the coil tower and one of the primary terminals it is bad plug wires and or spark plugs. But to arc from the plug wire across the spark plug insolator is rare. What number plugs did you install? Mark

One of your daughter's friends didn't happen to try to help her out and plug in the green and white connectors did they? Mark

It would be best to bleed all four, starting with the rear. I'll bet the air is in the rear. Thats what happened on mine. Only when I tried to bleed the rears both bleed screws broke off flush with the wheel cylinder so bled it by lossening the brake lines. That was touchy as I didn't have a 10mm line wrench. Then later I replaced the wheel cylinders. Mark

The kit I used was made by Interdynamics, Inc, Model#RKR-5. It was given to me by a co-worker, he had bought it a long time ago and never used it. The box was all rotted and the cans rusty but it worked. I did see they sell refrigerant with the oil and stop leak yesterday while at the auto parts store, I may try some when the system leaks down some. Mark

I decided since the a/c system on my 89 GL had a small leak in the compressor, I would see what would happen if I charged it with R134a without removing the old oil or doing anything to the system. So I put in the refrigerant and oil that was in the kit and started using the a/c. It has never worked better since I've owened the car. The small gasket leak is still there but has slowed down alot. Only time will tell if anything bad will happen. After talking with several A/C techs, and getting several different opinions as to what should be done to convert the system and why, I decided to see for myself what would happen if I didn't convert it properly. I don't use the a/c much and don't really care if it never works again. Mark