[alfa] milano tune up

[ethan schartman <eschartman@xxxxxxxxx>]

hey gang,

in preparation for attempting the NJ emissions test, i
decided to "tune up" the milano (2.5L). i installed a
new (to me) cat (though i'm not sure if the O2 sensor
is good on it), changed the timing belt (was due
anyway), and thermostat (was bad), cleaned all the
grounds, replaced the dodgy negative battery terminal,
inspected the plugs (no surprises) and cleaned the oil
seperator, intake hose, throttle body, etc. 

end result: so far it is running quite a bit nicer.
probably not yet ready for emissions, though. 

while i was monkeying with the exhaust i gave the
front wheels a few pulls to check the bearings. to my
amusement, the steering rack slid visibly over the
crossmember. so i tightened down the bolts, and solved
the mysterious source of steering wheel float that i
had. the test drive was incredible! it's practically
telepathic, now.

the other sweet thing was the motor. a couple months
ago i noticed a new "angriness" to the sound of the
motor when it got above 5k rpm. up to 5k it was all
sweetness, but above, there was just this odd change
in tone - not really worrying, but perceptible. it
must have been the timing belt, cause it's gone now.
the old one didn't have any tooth root cracking (i had
recently checked on it to make sure disaster wasn't
imminent) , but it was a notably looser fit than the
new one. from now on, i will definitely not let it go
so long (close to 20k on a fixed tensioner). now the
motor just sings all the way to the limiter.

the remaining task (as far as my emissions go) is to
double check the O2 sensor, and tweak the idle
mixture. my sensor was giving me .6 to .7 volts at
idle, but later i couldn't get a good reading out of
it - almost 0. hopefully it didn't die while i was
looking at it.

-ethan schartman 
-87 milano gold
-princeton, NJ


	
		
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