4kq and issues

[Brian Devlin]

>I am very pleased to report that I purchased a 1985 4kq this weekend.
snip
Congratulations.

>  I've never owned a car before,
>and never worked on one either, but I'm ready to put some effort into
>this.
(knowing snicker)

>The biggest (or rather noisiest) issue with the car is the
>exhaust. The rear muffler has no holes, but clearly needs to be
>replaced. I have found the part online from Blau, and will be
>ordering it shortly.

They are bit louder than other cars, I guess you could call that a
"feature" too. Do you have the proper front muffler too? Personally I
wouldn't do the job unless I could definately find a leak, you might
not hear any improvement.

>
>Also loud, but without any apparent problem, is the fuel pump. It
>makes a fairly loud buzzing sound. My friend advised me to turn up
>the radio and not worry about it.
Yeah, they do that. some say that they get louder before they die, so
replacing it might be worth it for peace of mind.

And a better radio is a good idea anyway.

>
>Team Rotary light switch has struck again, leaving me with sort of a

Perhaps a relay could be triggered by the headlight circuit and feed
into the parking and dash lights downstream of the switch. This
would, unfortunately, turn all those lights on when you
flash-to-pass. This brings me to the basic design flaw of 4k
headlights. Follow this link:
http://lah-electra.stanford.edu/headlamps.html

>Rear windows are totally shot. they don't even pretend to move. I
>guess I'd like them to work, but I don't know if thats a huge project
>either.

Switches, switches, switches. At least they are available for your
car. When testing, look for 12v pretty much everywhere. Moving the
switches provides a ground. Nevermind that gibberish, get a wiring
diagram.

>Sunroof is barely functional. Very slow. I've been advised to just
>leave it closed and forget that its there.

Mine seemed to work better after I painted the car (sanded and pushed
on the sunroof). Perhaps a height adjustment?

>The center heat vents don't seem to blow any heat,

As other's have said, it's a feature, and I like it a lot more than
the climate control in my 5000.

Have fun with the car, and make sure you do this:
http://lah-electra.stanford.edu/cars/helmut/wetaudi.html

-Brian