on my 1986, manual transmission car, the orange 'up' arrow light is now on full time. This is a recent development. Does it have any significance?

Also, my car starts and runs crappy in general and I want to test some of the electrical aspects that may be at fault.

I'm not terribly familiar with doing this though, so I am curious what electrical items I should check.

I want to test the air mass meter, the oxygen sensor, and the temperature sender, but don't really know any test values or what to look for. I have a meter, but no clue where to start.

in other news:

I just got my new steering rack put on. The old one was very floppy, and loose. Also, I found out the creaking sound and resistant feel was the fault of the U-Joint that hooks to the rack. Lucky for me we had a parts car to get the piece off of.

The part I removed was aluminum, and I replaced it with a steel one.. ANy harm in that?

Also, I figured with my old rack, I would offer it to anyone that would want to possibly buy it for a few bucks to send in as a core to have rebuilt while they continue to drive their car around with their rack, so they don't ahve the 'down' time while it's being rebuilt.

email me if you're interested.

pics of last nights endeavour at:

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~lhealey/10-9/