Ok, now I need to really explain what is going on here with my car... and hope for insight...

The "work truck" is a great car - 265K Miles and still kickin... anyhow, I have been expierincing a weird loss of engine power here and there...

Let me explain like this - the nimbers below are rpm's adn the capital "R" is a normal power situation and the "r" is a low or restricted feeling power.

1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000

rrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrRRrrrrrrRRrRrRrr - don't go here..

anyhow, the power seems to be fine upto about 3K rpm, then kinda does around 4K then comes and goes. I was just on a 130 mile round trip with that techron stuff in the gastank to clean out the injectors... and when I was flying along at 80 mph at about 3200 rpm it ran fine, but kick it down and it bumps up to 4800 rpm and the engine seems LESS powerful than at 3000... if i come to a complete stop then floor it, it will (sometimes) go like it usually does up to 5500 rpm with good power, but if I am boogiein along on the freeway and kick it down, the engine seems restricted. ???

Another thing to note is when I got home and put it in nutral or park it would idle high for a while. 1300 rpm or so.

it would then idle down to 800 after a while (a few minutes.)

I also poked around when i got home, and when I turned the heater fan off, the engine idle revved for a few seconds. it was very repeatable. I first thought the current draw would have somthing to do with it, but if I shut the fan off by pulling the fuse it would not do it?? i tried this many times and repeated every time. I also poked around and pulled the in-tank fuel pump fuse - no change in the idle or when I revved it. (had 1/4 tank of gas at the time) I also put an ammeter across the fuse holder, and no current draw noticed??? (maybe I didn't get the probes in far enough) well that also intrigued me. My seat heaters also don't have any curent draw - hence they don't work! (burr)

Another thing is the car also has a slight burning rubber/plastic smell after driving it once in a while. I felt the fusebox/relays and no abnormal heat there. (i know the headlihgt relay sometines can cause it to smoke) And the clock was not keeping time until 1/2 way home - it quit at 3, and just sat there. then it worked fine the rest of the way home. One other thing is also the temp gauge at times will not come off cold - i bang the dash once on the side and it pops up to the temp the engine is at.

I have also noticed a decline in my MPG.

So what the heck is going on here? do I need a new wire harness? ( there are crumbling wires under the hood, but it does not look TOO major yet... )

Is the in-tank fuel pump causing my loss of power and or MPG?

What is the deal with the clock and temp gauge?

Help! I love this car! :) (got it for $350 with the AW71 hard 1-2 shift problem that I fixed.)

Thanks for your input.

Stefan

It sounds like you may have a couple different symptoms occurring. The sudden revving up of the engine after you take the tranny out of forward or reverse gear is a common problem. I, too, have this occurring. When I don't have the defrost or AC on (uses the air compressor...major current draw), the engine revs up to 1000rpms. However, when I have the air compressor turned on, it does rev up to 1300 rpms briefly and then drops to 800rpms when taking the tranny out of a drive or reverse gear. I am told that a weak IAC will simulate this event as the IAC is suppose to accomodate for major current draws--making it so the driver will not see or feel a rev fluctuation from sudden current draw as described. I've cleaned

my IAC out but, as I was also told, it may still be bad. So, I'm just going to live with it until I can afford to spend $160 USD for a new one. Hope this gives you some direction. For further information see the archives.

sounds like engine harness...you're lucky it runs at all. 87's are generally toast by now...almost all the turbos have problems.

How about plugs, wires, distributor cap?

Well the cap rotor and wires are new(er) and it does not misfire at all.

I was kinds thinking the harness, but I really didn't want it to be that.

Thanks for your input.

STefan

One more thing - the heater does not seem to get hot enough - even tho the engine gets to operating temp, the heat is kinda lackluster - is there an adjustment for that or do i need a heater control valve? Thankx

Stefan

p.s. it is not a turbo.