Re: Intro - and a question

[steveb@newkla.kla.com (Steven Buchholz)]

==========Dirk==========
So far the things that have broken: Driver's side door handle, right rear 
window switch, defog switch, and the sun roof closes slowly.

==========Steve=========
The window switches fail from oxidation of the contacts because of the 
inductive arcing from actuating the motor.  I responded to an ad I saw 
in European Car where they had a great price on replacements.  They only 
sent me one switch!  It is possible to get inside the switches and burnish 
the contacts with some very fine wet-or-dry sandpaper (or an emery board).  
Maybe I'll try experimenting with putting capacitors across the switch 
contacts to minimize the arcing.  I thought the slow sunroof was a feature!

==========Dirk==========
Problems?
Well the OXS light is on - and it is wired correctly... does this mean I need a 
new one or could I have broken a wire - and how do you tell?  How bad is this - 
or rather how long can I drive like this?

==========Steve=========
Is the OXS light anything more than a light that comes on after some pre-
determined mileagle elapses?  Look for a small black box in line for the 
speedo cable.  Or does the '87 have the electronic speedo?  If you do have 
a speedo cable and there is a black box mounted in-line near the firewall, 
then there will be a small button that can be pressed to reset the OXS 
Elapsed Mileage Odometer.  

==========Dirk==========
Also how do you adjust the throttle cable?  Is there some kind of clamp or so 
that can be moved.  My car has a cable that attaches to the valve cover not a 
linkage.  There is a ruber isolator on the valve cover.  Should there be clip 
at this point as well or some sort of limiter?  Right now I can only go about 
half throttle.

==========Steve=========
It sounds like you may have lost the little clip that holds the end of the 
throttle cable housing in place.  You should notice that the plastic end of 
the cable housing has a number of small grooves on it.  There should be a 
reasonably flat, C-shaped spring clip that will fit into the grooves.  This 
clip is used to adjust the throttle position.  I don't know what the factory 
adjustment procedure is, but since my cable broke because the position was 
set too low, I adjusted the cable so that when the accelerator is pressed 
to the stop that the WOT switch on the throttle body clicks.  It was adj-
usted so that WOT occurred before the accelerator was at the stop, so the 
cable was placed under considerable tension.  It finally broke at the end 
of the bellcrank (or whatever you call it!) attached to the throttle body.  

BTW ... I would recommend that everybody include a selection of hose clamps 
with their emergency tool kit.  When my throttle cable broke I got the car 
back on the road by attaching the stub end of the cable to the ball-and-socket
joint where the cruise control actuator connects to the throttle body.  A 
small hose clamp held the cable to the ball & socket, working well enough 
to allow me to get home without having to wait for a tow.  This was not 
the first time a hose clamp had come in handy on the road!

Steve Buchholz
s_buchho@kla.com