got another Coupe GT, interstate pickup trip

[auditude at get.net]

Hey all,

This weekend I flew out to Cali from AZ, looked at and bought an '86 Coupe GT.  It's
red like my last one was, and it was cheap.

When I got the car, it ran like crap.  It had a really lumpy idle, but wouldn't stall.
Sounded like a miss or something.  Power seemed a bit thin, like it couldn't breathe.
The seller picked me up in the car at the airport, and took me to his work which was
a bit of a drive.  He had the a/c on with the heat on, which I later attributed to it
running better that way.

He had it really warm by the time I saw the car, so it wasn't until later that day at my
buddy's house 150 miles north of the pickup point that I found out how bad the cold
start problem was.  I was expriencing reality check number one when it wouldn't
start.  The cold start valve was disconnected and had the two wires just sticking out
of the connector.  Didn't find the rest of them until later, where they were discovered
back at the harness looking a bit melted.

I hotwired the cold start valve to get some fuel going to get it started cold, on
Saturday and again on Sunday morning.  It wasn't until I was starting my 400 mile trip
back to AZ that things got really bad.  Reality check number two was when I was
driving through the mountains and it started losing major power.  The gas gauge is all
mis-calibrated, so I figured I was either running out of gas on the incline, or I had a
vacuum leak that was worsening with altitude.  (I couldn't find the little fuel gauge
adjustment feature)  I filled up the tank, checked the engine compartment again for
any new problems, and started heading out anyway with many unsure feelings.

Well, the thing lost so much power (downhill) that I couldn't keep up with traffic and
had to pull over on the side of the freeway.  It seemed like it was way crazy rich, and
giving it more throttle really made it bog.

Can you guess what the problem was?

Right about the time I was forced to figure it out, I remembered the infamous "spare"
fuse in the fuse box that is for the computer.  I checked for that fuse and found that it
was missing.  I replaced it with a high beam fuse, and the motor instantly started
idling better/normal.  I could rev the motor and it generally was much better!

If it wasn't for me remembering that fuse, yesterday would have been much different.
Thank God for that.  If I was really on the ball, I would have checked for it first thing.
But at least I didn't tow it home and then check it!

It was a pretty uneventful drive back to AZ.  At just above cruising speed or so, the
car had a little shake which I attribute to needing some tires balanced.  I needs some
rear brake shoes, cruise control parts, and other minor stuff.  All in all it was a decent
find.  I'm not sure how it fits into my plans, but even with the problems it had it was
more pleasurable to drive than my daily-driven Saturn.

Once I got into town, I gave it a bit of throttle and try to feel it out to see how strong it
was.  To my surprise it was actually fairly peppy.  I didn't remember my previous
Coupe GT's having that much pull at speed.  I could really feel the mid-range pull, but
it lost some breath at higher rpms.  I still have my exhaust from previous cars that I
can put on.  (sorry to lister Karl, who might have gotten the cat-back otherwise)  I can
put the 4kq EM on it too, which ought to help.

I haven't tried it yet, but I expect the cold start problem would be somewhat less
prevalent with the computer actually hooked up.  I hope the ecu isn't fried along with
those cost start valve wires in the harness.  Worse case, I'll have to use the old parts
from my last wrecked Coupe GT, or from the 4ksq.

Anyhow, just thought I'd share.  If flying somewhere and planning on driving the
unseen car back 400 miles, I wouldn't recommend relying as much on luck like I did,
it was some serious drama at some points.

Later,

Ken
'88 5kcstq
'86 Coupe GT
'85 4ksq + '87 5kt
'94 SL2