One step forward, one step back.
I recently replaced my cracked exhaust manifold for a lightly used header I bought a while back but hadn't taken the time to install. While the exhaust was out I took the opportunity to check out the motor mounts.
Hmm, they're not supposed to look like that are they?
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8351/8...f3ac99df_z.jpg
After the exhaust swap the weather here has been chilly by FL standards and the car has never really run great when it is cold. Now, however it has been running like crap. I suspected that the extension I added to the o2 sensor was the culprit so today I unplugged it completely and went for a quick drive to warm it up. Had the typical "open loop" crappy even when warm. Stopped and plugged in the o2 sensor and back to the real craptacular stuttering and bogging I've had recently. So wouldn't that mean that there is a signal from the o2 sensor?
Back in the garage I start looking at the wiring and looking just upstream from the o2 connector I noticed a shared ground at the back of the intake manifold.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8078/8...bbe34870_z.jpg
It's pretty crusty down there so I pulled the whole mess apart. Sanded the contacts and the brackets at the contact points. I also moved the ground connectors to directly contact the bracket rather than above the loom holder. Not sure if that is important but it made sense to me.
Fired her up and she runs great. Pulls smoothly through the rev range. Now I am wondering if that will improve the cold startup running too. Will try to sneak out for a quick drive tomorrow to see.
On to the bad news. One/some of the POs of the car have done some odd electrical "fixes" and questionable style choices in the history of the car. I was toying with swapping the original gauge cluster back into the car and so I did some exploring today to see how it looks. Well, I should have left it alone. There was already a crack in the gauge hood that had been repaired at one point. The stupid thing practically crumbled in my hands.
It broke into a few more pieces as I picked it up from here thinking I still might try to fix it.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8491/8...610dda26_z.jpg
That's it for now and for the next few days. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.