[alfa] 164: problems starting when hot, plenum pop, and my own mystery

[Pottree@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 6/15/2004 11:29:27 AM Pacific Daylight Time,  
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:

I  haven't had starting issues with my LS but my early experience with
2.5l  V6s was that pushing on the gas pedal while trying to start risks  a
backfire, which can pop the plenum off (then it won't start at all!).  I
would expect the same to happen on a 24 valve.


The screws that attach the ducting to the plenum should always be a bit  
loose, so that JUST IN CASE of a detonation or backfire, the force will pop off  
the duct rather than launch the plenum.  Get out there and back off your  
screws, everybody!
 
When I first got the 164 LS I had 2 or 3 experiences when it didn't want to  
start back up when hot.  All were after a fuel stop.  As I had just  gotten 
the car I can't say for sure how it had been driven by the PO.  All  I know is I 
let it know that I didn't appreciate that kind of behavior, and also  I gave 
it an Italian tune-up, and to date, it hasn't had the nerve to pull that  on 
me again, probably out of gratitude.
 
Meanwhile, I am still having troubling with  intermittently cutting  out 
directional signals on this same 94 LS.  I mentioned this to the  collective 
wisdom and collected several good suggestions.   Following  them, I replace the 
fuse, the relay, and both the R and L (or S and D) blinker  switches.  Still, 
once in a while they simply stop working until the car is  shut down, rests, and 
then is restarted.
 
Here is something else to chew on: sometimes I take this car through an  
automated carwash.  As THE SAME POINT EACH TIME as it run through, the  running 
lights flash!  These are the same fixtures as the  directionals.  Most cars I 
observe going through the wash don't do this,  but a few others do it, too (the 
last one I spotted was a Lincoln  Navigator).  I had thought there could be a 
short, perhaps under the car,  and with the water, etc., that was causing it, 
but it was a stretch of the  imagination.
 
I mentioned this to my crack mechanic and he suggested there may be  
something at that point that is emitting a radio signal of just the right  frequency 
to flash the lights via the (non-working) alarm system (I think it is  supposed 
to wink to show it is armed).  
 
So now I am thinking about the directionals cutting out, which they do only  
rarely, and I am beginning to think they to this when I pass certain places; 
if  I don't, they keep working as normal.  So, I am thinking that a spurious  
radio frequency in a particular place is somehow affecting the half-dead  
circuits of the alarm system, and disabling the directionals.  Again, if  the power 
is cut off they always reset after a while (not right away), and then  may 
work for days or weeks until I pass the wrong way again.   Unfortunately, they 
always seem to stop working in the vicinity of the junction  of the 405 and 5 
freeways in Irvine CA, when I am heading north, at night,  coming back to LA 
from a visit to my parents in San Diego - every time!   This is not safe.
 
I know this is a great place to get ideas from engineers of every type, so  I 
am eager to hear if anyone thinks this theory has some merit or not.   Please 
don't let me know if you just think I am crazy; I already know  that.
 
If this notion holds water, I further wonder, could I just rewire around  the 
nonfunctional alarm system to keep the troublemaker out of the loop?
 
Thanks!
 
Charlie
LA, CA, USA
84 GTV6
94 164 LS
91 Spider
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