QuestionI have a 1984 900T, 8-valve I think. Was running fine except hard to start. Battery recently replaced. Read wires leading to coil could be dirty, or positive battery cable could be bad. Couldn't get to coil wires, so checked coil wire to distributor cap. Found oil in cap, and burnt contact points. Changed distributor (relatively new) cap and rotor, cleaned/gapped plugs. Started much easier, but power to starter still seems weak. Positive cable looks ok, fitting was cleaned at new battery install, and is tight.
Battery light came on, battery went dead, wouldn't jump, had to push start it (it's a manual).
Charged battery, took to my mechanic, who replaced diagnosed/replaced bad alternator. He also notice fuel injector plastic pipe cracked/leaking, replaced with one he made himself.
Daughter got car back, idle seems a little worse, but mainly it runs very rough under any load at any speed. Went 10 miles, started up slight grade, and distributor leaked oil onto exhaust. She pulled over due to smoke and rough running. I drove back to shop, assuming rough running was related to oil in distributor. Mechanic couldn't find a distributor, so he cleaned it out (had to glue the three wire attachment back on since the clip inside was broken), still ran rough, so he changed (at cost) cap, rotor, and plugs (plug wires are new). He says he made sure he bled something when he replaced the fuel injector pipe.
Still ran rough. I located a vacuum hose under alternator that was not connected at one end (other end connects thru some t's to intake manifold), that apparently is supposed to go to the heating system, but could not find any place to attach it. Noticed that it idled a little better (when cold) if I plugged it, but it still runs very rough under load. Also noticed heater switch in dash no longer goes psssss when moving it from, say, defrost to main vents; don't know how long that's been going on.
Took back to mechanic, he thought hose may go to valve cover, but I pointed out that the valve cover nipple had been capped off, and the hose from it was supposed to go to aircleaner (which fitting now had a hose running back to intake manifold with the other loose hose, even though the existing hose from intake manifold to aircleaner was supposed to go from intake manifold to "Dec. fuel shutoff"). Then we noticed that with engine warm, uncapping the loose hose (and providing a vacuum leak), picked up the idle speed. Perplexed, we decided that the hose had been connected to nothing before, so left it uncapped. Also noticed two red wires (crimped together into a small pipelike fitting) coming out of the same wiring harness as the wires going to alternator, connected to nothing, but he verified he had not disconnected them, and fitting was dirty, so we decided it had not been connected to anything for quite a while.
So, car ran fine when I took it to him, but after new alternator and gas line, it runs like crap.
Any ideas would be welcome. My young daughter refuses to let me junk it (which is why a year ago I spent $3k on new drive axle, blown headgasket, new master cylinder, and broken transmission shifter, towing), but she doesn't feel safe leaving town in it the way it drives now.
AnswerMichael:
It is extremely unlikely that the new alternator and gas line could cause the rough running; my guess is that is is an unusual coincidence. Also troubling is your noting that "the distributor leaked oil onto the exhaust". How did the oil get there?
I can only speculate that the vacuum advance control on the distributor has a ruptured internal diaphram which is somehow allowing oil in. Bad exhaust valves (which could cause poor running under load) could concievably cause oil to be backfed into the distributor, but it is something I have never experienced.
It could also be turbo-related..but as noted in my profile, I have no hands on experience with the turbo SAABS.
