UrQ Observations

["ANDREW FINNEY" <DFINNEY@classic.msn.com>]

Well I'm back after a 6 month "time-off" and I have a few UrQ observations 
that I thought I'd share with all the "lucky" owners of these beasts.

1) I have had every possible cause of stalling known to the UrQ. If you think 
you've fixed the ECU ground problem on the manifold and you're sure you've 
fixed the power supply problem to the ECU ( do you know what it's like to 
replace the fuse box and three mas connectors?) and you've rewired your fuel 
pump with an additional relay and replaced every wire to the fuel pump and a 
new fuel pump then you're left with another option: The wire connected to the 
coil that tells the ignition control module the engine rpm. If the connection 
is bad the ECU thinks the engine is shut off. How do you tell, the fuel pump 
will continue sending fuel for a split second, so the engine will backfire if 
it catches a second later. This is fun folks!!!!

2) If you're strut starts to leak oil (as my crap Konis did) replace it 
immediately, otherwise you'll ruin your brand new (in my case) $125 blue strut 
bearing in no time at all. Buy your new Billsteins at shox.com, these guys are 
incredibly cheap.

3) If you sleeve you're cat (which of course I didn't) then get the inner pipe 
tack welded otherwise, despite you're best efforts with a pipe expander, it 
will rattle badly. Stuff the remaining space w/ fiberglass, but of course, 
don't actually do any of the things I just mentioned.

4) When an UrQ is running well, damn it moves.

5) My terrible intermittent grinding noise with the diffs locked in heavy rain 
or deep snow seemed to be related to the exhaust system and some sort of 
vibration caused by misalignment of the cat.

6) The single radiator conversion rules. The car runs much cooler with the 
single rad and a lower temp thermostat and thermoswitch. I replaced every 
single hose and clamp including the core. Kudos to those who replaced the core 
without discharging the AC system. This is not a fun job and there are no 
hints, just hard work.

7) If you want a custom diff locking system use the vacuum switch from the 
later style 4000/coupe heating system mounted on the outside heater plenum, 
actuated by current from the temp/AC switch. This in line with your diff. 
vacuum lines allows one to use a single little electrical switch to lock and 
unlock the diffs, freeing up all that console for more gauges.

8) Can you believe I use this as a daily driver.

HTH 

Andrew Finney
1983 UrQ
TAP'd, Eibached, Billsteined, and sometimes pretty reliable.