ZRX Doug

..so I figgered I might as well re-seal the oily little bugger while it's out..it's an EA-82. I'm about to step out to the dealer to order up parts. I'm figuring a pair of cam seals, valve cover gaskets, oil pump o-rings, and a rear main seal oughta pretty much cover it. Am I forgetting anything? Oh yeah, about the clutch fork..it's all stress-cracked to hell & back, the ball it rides on is pushed about 2/3 of the way thru..prolly a good idea to inspect these little doodads when ya do a clutch replacement so ya don't get surprised 30,000 miles later like I did..

Before you start replacing random components, find & isolate the problem. My GL was doing exactly what you're describing..replaced coil (seemed likely) no change, replaced distributor (seemed even likelier) no change..I finally dug out a multimeter and discovered it was my alternator. Go fugure. Bad brushes and goofy current fluctuation were playing hell with the electronic ignition. So, I wasted a couple hours of time and a buncha cash that could have been spent better 'cuz I forgot to play "mechanic" and decided to play "parts replacer" instead..

Might be a good idea to see what kind of amperage your new light's transformer draws first..probably not a whole lot for something this small, particularly if it's not actually neon. "Real" neon lighting needs a whole buttload of stepped up voltage (at minimal amperage) to work.

Well..it's probably no consolation to you, but I found MY problem. My alternator brushes were so worn that they were only making intermittent contact, thus the weird "surging & jerking & tach jumping around" problems..and I would assume the brushes were arcing to the commutator when I put a big enough load on 'em, hence the problem seeming to be "cured" when I turned on the heater/headlights. Weird. Anyway, I replaced the alternator with a reman unit today..problem solved, Sue is rock-steady and back to being her usual good-natured, oil-dripping, doom-ticking self.

If you really want it to last forever, go nuts and put some real miles on it once or twice a week. Short trips with no extended heat cycle are really murder on an engine over the long haul..get it out on the freeway and let it stretch it's legs to boil off all the condensation in your crank case.

Moved a couple full pallets of red landscaping bricks across town ('bout 22 miles one way) in a few trips last spring..stopped loading when the rear suspension was still 1/2" or so off the stops..moved numerous Mopar big & small blocks and their respective transmissions to and fro to various shops around town..about two hundred board-feet of two by four from the lumberyard to my sister's place (multiple trips, again with the "load it 'til it looks like it's gonna break, then back up a notch or two" theory) last winter in slush & snow that was making all the SUV's stay home in their cozy garages.. Sue's a hardworking little girl, made my old Toyota pickup blush with embarrassment..

With a wiring diagram..I'll be jumping in the same boat with ya very soon if it's any consolation. I'll be starting at the battery and working my way back thru the ignition switch to start..seems to be a total power loss to the whole system rather than any single component, so may as well commence firing right at the heart of the system, yanno? I may be taking a good solid look at the back of the interior fuse box first..noticed some rainwater dripping back there, that CAN'T be good.

Shouldn't be a problem..other than the oiling issue. The stock compressor is lubed by special A/C oil that's added to the refrigerant. I don't think it would live very long if you ran it as an open system without any recirculating oil.

Take a look at my first post above, our symptoms seem to be very similar IMO..I'm dead certain my problem is going to boil down to a poor connection, whether it be bad ground, bad contact points in some switch, or something as stupid as a broken wire. I've been where you are and have also replaced the likely coil and other components to no avail. Just wondering if any of the hardcore Sube guys would know any likely places to look for a failed item of this nature..

Thank god! I thought I was going nuts..Sue ('89 GL SPFI) is doing pretty much the same thing, only not as bad. (she doesn't actually stall, just hesitates and jerks) If you watch the tach the needle bounces about 800 rpm during each "event." I went nuts trying to fix this issue..my hot-rodder's brain said "coil" first, so I replaced that with a new aftermarket unit..no change. Next up was the pickup in the distributor..so I swapped in a used lo-mileage distributor, along with new cap, rotor, wires & plugs..no change with the pertinent problem, but she ran a bunch better in general. I finally decided to quit guessing and actually read the trouble codes.. I got a #14 "Fuel Injector-abnormal input." Replaced the whole throttle body with used unit. Got rid of the #14 code, but not the weird ignition issue. #21 "Coolant Temp or circuit" Cleaned up the terminal and replaced the temp sensor with a known good unit. Cleared the #21, still got the fits & jerks. #32 "Oxygen sensor or circuit" No surprise there, Sue hasn't had an O2 sensor for the past ten years or so..installed a new Bosch universal which cleared the code, but didn't do a thing for the ignition problem. #33 "Vehicle Speed Sensor or Circuit." I haven't gotten around to this one yet, she needs a new speedo cable and time/funds aren't there for it right now, but I don't see what this would have to do with it anyway. Finally, while driving into work in the rain the other day I found the right direction to be checking..she was doing the fits & starts thing, tach bouncing like a monkey on crack, and the windshield started to fog up from all the humidity..so I turned the defroster on "High" to clear the 'shield, and at the same moment the ignition problem went away. Turn the heater off, tach goes whacky and car starts surging, turn it back on "High" and the car runs normally. I have since discovered that it doesn't need to be the heater blower..turning on the headlights or any other electrical accessory (or combination of low-draw accessories) with a fairly high amp draw will do the same thing. I'm thinking there's gotta be a crappy connection somewhere that lets power to the ignition sorta fizzle and spark as it will..adding more amps to the circuit makes it momentarily improve the connection, sorta mini-arc welding it while the additional load is applied. Does this make sense to you guys, or have I been breathing too much exhaust & burnt oil? I'm not gonna have time to chase this silliness down until the weekend, but in the meantime turning on the headlights/heater makes the car happy, so I'll do that.

Maybe y'all could get a group discount..

That kind of depends on the trailer you've got. Some of them are built of fairly sturdy C channel or rectangular tubing, others use lightweight angle and depend on the low aluminum box as a sort of wannabe unibody. Once you get your frame stripped, try grabbing one end of it and twisting it along the centerline..if you can make it drop a corner you'll need to do something with it. Basically, you just need to restore torsional rigidity if you have the weak type. They have a tendency to come out sort of floppy without the supporting sheetmetal. About the cheapest way I can figure to fix this (no guarantees on the longevity) would be to sandwich the frame with plywood top & bottom, fully boxing the frame..poor man's monocoque. The alternative would be to replace/reinforce the existing frame rails with something a little more substantial. Just weigh up your costs BEFORE you start..those cheesy little Harbor Freight trailers work, and it's really easy to creep up into their price range fast when you're doing a homebuilt..it's depressing when you finish building something that's full of compromises and find out you could've bought a new rig for the same price..better to figure out your costs up front.

People with too much free time shouldn't be allowed to play with SawZalls.. :-p

It'll work, but tent trailers aren't exactly known for their beefy frames..they can get pretty floppy when you peel off the shell, so some reinforcing may be in order if you go that way. I'd skip the converted truck bed/axle route..half or more of your towing capacity would be wasted on trailer weight. Also, some states won't let you license/register a trailer that doesn't have trailer-specific axles anymore. Check with your local DMV to see what the requirements are for licensing, sometimes it's as simple as a weight slip from the local scrap metal place's scales, but some states want info on the origin of EVERYTHING you put into the build..best to find out before ya start. Check out http://www.harborfreight.com for some cheap liteweight utility trailers if money is the driving issue.

I see several issues with this idea..first, the diff side covers weren't designed to bear weight. Second, when you blow it up, how are you gonna service it, with a plasma cutter? Third, there's gotta be about a billion mini-truck rear axles out there already, why pick on a poor little defenseless soob?