Instead of a question I decided to post a solution and some of my recent experiences. I have a 1983, 245 DL, auto trans, with just over 200K on it. I have owned it since the late 80s. I have kept it up and it is still a very nice driver. I had the trans rebuilt about 10 years ago and that has been the only major issue so far.

In the past couple years I've done quite a bit of work on it: new rack, struts, shocks, along with lots of the little things like replacing the 25 amp fuse for the fuel pump relays with a waterproof enclosure, new washer tank, added a tach, etc.

About a year or so ago I started experiencing a rough idle. It would be fine once it warmed up but the problem got worse and it was rough even when warmed up. I cleaned the throttle body, IAC valve, replaced vacuum lines, plugs, wires, and the usual cast of characters like the flexible air intake hose. The problem continued and then it started suffering loss of power when cold that then that extended to when it was warm. This time I pulled everything off the intake side of the engine and replaced all gaskets, injector seals, etc. as I put it back together.

The problem was the Air Mass Meter. I had the AMM fail twice before and both times it had what I understand as the typical failure symptom, refusing to run after starting and disconnecting it allows limp mode. However, thanks to what I have read on the threads here, I discovered that the AMM can die a slow death due to a fail air box thermostat valve. My valve had failed, who knows when, and the continuous heat from the exhaust manifold slowly killed the AMM.

Moral of the story is to give your air box thermostat valve a check occasionally. Maybe even keep a spare around. They are $13 from IPD but I waited 3 weeks for one on a back order. As for the AMM, I did replace it with a Bosch rebuild from Fuel Injector Corporation. Initially I picked one up from RockAuto but is was not the correct item. It was for a the 1985-89 which is wrong for my '83. Rockauto took the part back with no problems and when I told them the one listed in their catalog was incorrect they paid for the return shipping. They've also removed the AMM from their catalog.

So, thanks to everyone who ever contributes to these threads. I couldn't have done it without you.

Vince in Montana