Under Reading coolant gauge on I5 100

[Fisher, Scott]

Rob Hod asks:

>     PS I was looking at getting a spare FPR for my car, just for backup as
I
> see from the list they fail from time to time.
>     However when I found the dealer wanted GBP 61 for one I thought I may
as
> well just make up a jumper lead for that contingency.

If the FPR on your I5 is the same as the FPR on my '83 CGT, you want to know
one additional get-home-from-the-side-of-the-road trick:

The relay works by closing a pair of contact points, which are clearly
visible if you pop the cover off the relay.  In an absolute pinch, you can
wedge these contact points closed with, say, a piece of rubber trimmed off
the window squeegee that your car's previous owner thoughtfully left in the
glovebox.  I suspect that a wad of duct tape of sufficient thickness might
also work nicely.

That got me home to where I could rig up a jumper wire, which got me to the
dealer where I went ahead and paid my $87 (Q-list discount, three years ago)
for the correct FPR.

As an alternative, I also recall that the 4-cyl relay will physically fit in
the panel (again, this is on my '83 CGT) and will provide all of the safety
items Huw mentions -- but with the wrong rev limit.  The FPR counts ignition
pulses, of which there are 20% more on an I5 than on an I4, so the rev limit
is something like 1500 RPM sooner with the wrong relay.  But it's
significantly cheaper; if you were looking for an emergency spare, a 4-cyl
relay is another get-you-home repair.

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon