Got your email, Andy...I'm HERE!

Dan

birds have gizards, fellas - they have to have some grit (e.g. sand) in their diet, so when they leave something behind on your nice clean car, it needs to be removed very carefully otherwise it's like cleaning your car with sandpaper. If the etching is isn't too deep you might get away with some scratch remover, but usually - once it's etched it's there for good...

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Signs of it possibly sticking are the not quite perfect idle. After cleaning the AIC, I did the minimum idle adjustment as per the book and tested the TPS for .54v. The TPS was reading .533 and I was able to bring it right to .54, rechecked values after I tightened the set screws just to be sure. I am confident the AIC motor is working because once plugged back in the idle moved from the min. set 400 rpm to 650 rpm. and I can hear it clicking when the ALDL is in diagnositic mode.

While idling and watching the on board tach, the rpms will flucuate just a little between 630/640 and 680/690. This is not a serious concern for me and I don't know how perfectly these things (1985 stock) idle in the first place. I also have yet to inspect the distributer/rotor and test the ignition wires - one thing at at time...

This is interesting...I haven't heard or read about *lubricating* the AIC - perhaps I have missed something. I finally got to mine a couple of weeks ago, and I honestly doubt that it had ever been cleaned. I used Throttle Body Cleaner on both the pindle and the seat as well as sprayed and cleaned the pindle shaft, but I didn't spray any lubricant afterward. There was a LOT of carbon on the pindle and seat and a lot of black cleaner came out from around the shaft. The idle has become a lot more steady but not perfect and this has me wondering if the AIC is sticking a little. Any thoughts/experience?

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Seems to be the general consensus... If I'm not mistaken - the '85s had Bosch injectors, no? I'd say that if these injectors held out as long as they did and with 210,000 kms they didn't owe me anything...

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Yeah - I used the library, though I pulled the old injectors out while still attached to the fuel rail; it was easier to get to the clips once the rails were out. Thanks!

Thought I'd post an update...After purchasing a set of Design III's from Jon and Rich at FIC way back in February - I had a rainy week-end last week-end and figured it was a good time to spend a few hours in my garage, changing the injectors. Not knowing the complete history of my car, but from the look of the injectors (from the outside) and the fact that it has 210,000 kms on it - I figured a new set of injectors would be a good idea, even though it was starting and running fine - no complaints.

Early into the job, I confirmed that the fuel rail had never been removed on the car in its lifetime because the factory paint on the fuel line connections cracked and peeled when I put a wrench to them. When I pulled the old injectors, it was interesting to see how the years, miles and 1,000's of litres of fuel had taken their toll on the injectors. Several of the plastic tips on the nozzle end were deteriorating with cracks from top to bottom, several had missing pieces of plastic at the base and one had half of the plastic tip missing. Several o-rings on the manifold side had deteriorated to the point that the o-rings were splitting around the circumference. I'm pretty sure that there was no vacumm leakage though.

The install went smoothly - although I did call Jon once (Saturday evening around 9:00 p.m - and he took my call - what a guy!) when I put the old and new injectors beside each other and saw that new injectors were about 1/4 inch shorter. Jon, told me to place an old and new injector into the manifold (side by side) and sure enough the tops were precisely level. By the way - he provides all that information in the information sheet that comes with the injectors if only I had read it (oops!!).

Apart from accidently dropping a torx bit down one of my runners (did the job with the runners on) and having to fish it out with a strong magnet - it was a fun and easy job.

I had a little difficulty with the install of the o-rings for the fuel line connections that came with the gasket kit, but fortunately had an assortment of my own and found a pair that fit nicely.

In the end, the car is running excellent! I'd say that there is a crisper throttle response and overall, a bit more snappy. I did clean the AIC when I had the TB off and it was seriously carboned up - the car had a little bit of an irregular idle at times and this clean-up smoothed the idle nicely.

Thanks again to Jon for a great product and customer service that goes far and above the norm. We need more guys like him and Rich 'on the other side of the counter'!

All is good. New alternator installed - fired up at 14.3 on DVM and 14.5 on digital display. Settled down to 14.3 on the display after a couple of minutes and held steady at 14.3. Pulled on the headlights - no drop, switched on AC at max and it dropped and hovered around 13.8. When the fan kicked on it would drop momentarily to 12.9/13.1 and then stabilize back at 13.8. A couple of observations...the brand new alternator has the same kind of electrical hum/rattle when under heavy load as the old one had. After running for about 5-7 minutes under heavy load (coolant temp was only 89 C) the alternator was just as hot to the touch as the old one was.

All set for Beach Cruize this coming week-end. The largest Corvette car show/event in Ontario. See http://wasagabeachcorvetteclub.com/

Thanks for the tip, Coaster - I decided to go with the stock 120. Going to pop it in now and compare voltage readings to before.

Up in Canada, growing up on a farm and 10 years old, I remember my parents talking about drugs, hippies, rock 'n roll and how they would be the ruin of this world!!!! And this morning I couldn't help but chuckle as my 20 year old daughter with a great sense of humour was singing a ditty from The Family Guy as we got ready to drive to work together..."Establishment, establishment - we always know what's best" - I think I might have taught her something....

I ordered a 120 amp reman this morning from my perferred auto parts supplier here in town (NAPA). My car's RPO codes show it having a "120 amp generator". 2 prices (in CDN $) for what I am pretty sure is the same alternator... $149 for a unit with a limited warranty (I forget - either 30 days or 1 year) but it doesn't matter 'cause I didn't hesitate to go with the higher price of $198 because it comes with a lifetime warranty and roadside assistance. Given our C4s' reputation of going through alternators on a regular basis - I couldn't pass on the lifetime warr. and RA. Will pick it up tomorrow and install in the evening.

Chuck,
Interesting that the readings are so comparable - it was that little red idiot light that came on when I was 3 hours from home at dusk that got me a little unsettled. ha ha The car was idling a little lower than usual (in drive at a traffic light) but when I saw 11.7 volts flashing at me, I wasn't too comfortable.

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good one... there oughta be a country song somewhere in those lyrics!!! ha ha

More seriously...are you suggesting that because it is a Delco Remy that is worth considering having it rebuilt? My concern in this case is I don't know how many times the alternator could have already been changed on this car, and whether the one I have now is the exact one for it.

Hi Pete & Chuck,
I think I got my numbers crossed on the amperages - thanks for clarifying, Chuck. Any reason why you haven't tried a 200 amp alternator during one of your replacements?

I just pulled it off the car and although the sticker is long past being readable, I found the following stamped info: "Delco Remy" and 2 rows of numbers, the top: "1101 037 70A" and the bottom row reads: "??? 12V NEG". Anyway, this has me wondering...could it only be 70 amps - is that possible? Who knows what was PO's put on it??

Before pulling it out of the car I started it up, and had a DVM on the battery. The DVM and the display in the dash read exactly the same at all times.

Cold - it was reading 14.1-14.3. I pulled on the headlights, and turned on the AC and within 3-4 minutes readings were in the low 13's eventually dropping down as low as 12.6 when the fan kicked on. I could hear the alternator make a bit of a rattling noise when under max load and after running the car no more than 5 minutes the alternator was so hot, I couldn't hold the palm of my hand on it.

I'm thinking I was pretty lucky to in my 3 hour drive home last night.

Dan

My volt display started showing 11.7 in really hot weather, with A/C running while idling at traffic lights. Increased RPM's bring it up to mid/high 12's in the city, and while driving on the highway (headlights, radio and AC on) it got up to 13.9 - 14.1. Thinking that I was running on luck to get home (3 hour drive), I'm going to pull the alt and have it tested but not sure that a test can factor in the hot under-the-hood temps while under load.

My question...assuming it has a factory 108 amp alternator, is there reason not to replace it with the 200 amp alternator?

Although it is an old alternator - it was on the car when I purchased the car 4 years ago and was not visibly new(er) at that time. Battery replaced 2 years ago no other electrical problems noted. It might be just the internal regulator, but is it really worth putting new parts on old in this case?

<smile> - you guys are talking about how to use this little mod at the track and here I am - just a *Sunday afternoon cruiser* looking at how it improves my ride on the back roads and getting across town. Good to see that it has applicaations in both settings.

Thanks for sharing the chart. If I'm reading it correctly, it shows the speed at which the TC unlocks at 35 mph. That is probably okay on the highway and not climbing a hill, for example but when climbing a hill at say 40 mph, that's when it really starts to lug down and requires me to push the throttle a bit to get it to unlock and then as soon as I let off the throttle, it locks up again. With the switch, it stays unlocked until I want it to lock up again.

Update...
I finally got around to doing this little mod. I removed the driver's side hush panel and located 2 switches that are activated by the brake pedal. I isolated the switch that controls the TC lock up/unlock function - it is the switch with the vacuum line (cruise control) attached to it. There is a 2-wire plug that also goes to that switch. I patched a single pole rocker switch into the pink wire in that plug. When the circuit is open, there is no TC lock up - just what I wanted. Flick the switch (i.e. closing the circuit) and the lock up funtion is restored. This feature is really nice for city, and secondary highway driving because the TC is not locking up at slower speeds and it is a dream to drive when climbing hills and the engine begins to lug while the TC is still in lock up mode. The auto transmission shifts very appropriately between 3rd and 4th gear without going in and out of lock up. I thought that with the switch in open circuit mode, I would have lost cruise control functionality but I tested that tonight and cruise control works whether the TC is locked up or unlocked. The rocker switch is mounted in the centre console near the shifter. I'll take a picture and post later.

If Aardwolf's question was directed to me - the answer is no, I haven't drag raced it. However, when driven under aggressive acceleration, the TC does not lock up until rpms are down and I am approaching cruising speed. I do find that it lugs down a bit longer than I like when in lock-up mode before disengaging (e.g. hill climbing)

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No problem - lots of great discussion on this topic and it has been very helpful. I'll add this to my list of projects when the car comes out this spring.

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OK - back on topic...in my original question, I was inquiring about how to over-ride the lock up function and explained that I did not want it locking up automatically while I was driving in town. I further wanted to be able to switch it back to normal so it would lock up as per ECM parameters, for example - normal highway driving. I don't have any reason to make it lock up when it is not normally supposed to. And this brings me back to my question...if touching the brake pedal unlocks the TC by opening the circuit, then why couldn't a switch do the same thing? And, therefore, I don't understand the notion how with the circuit open (i.e. using the switch) is any different than accelerating with my foot pressed lightly on the brake pedal sufficient to light the brake lights. The TC would not be locked up in either instance, and would only lock up if the ECM sensed the appropriate parameters AND the switch was set to close the circuit. How could forgetting to re-engage the switch and stopping put stress on the transmission? Am I missing something??

I'm more confused...is putting the switch between A/F terminals is the same as splicing a switch into the TCC wire at the brake switch?

I ask this because what difference is there between starting from a stand still with one foot riding the brake pedal (i.e. brake lights are on, and the TC lock up curcuit is open) and starting with an open TCC circuit controled by the switch?

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JrRifleCoach wrote:
My only suggestion is to engage the TQ override after your rolling. Otherwise its like shifting without the clutch..
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JrRifle - I'm don't understand the precauton that you mentioned above. The torque converter lock up is not engaged before the car gets rolling (with the switched circuit open or closed) and the purpose of the switch is to prevent (override) it from locking up after you are rolling - so how are any of these circumstances like shifting without a clutch?

Thanks gentlemen for the excellent information and instructions - I will definitely install the switch and splice into the wires at the brake light switch. I have a couple of DVM's, so no problem identifying the wires now that I know whether to look for the correct open and closed curcuits. By the way, that is a nice install of a switch right on the shifter, JrRifle. The shifter knob in your pic, tho is not quite the same as the leather-wrapped knob on my '85 which is over hard plastic. I'm thinking that I will install my switch (I'm thinking a rocker style) discretely under the hush panel to the left of the steering column.

That's an important point - I don't want to interfere with the unlock function when I touch the brake pedal under normal operation - which means I need the switch to mimic touching the brake pedal. Does touching the break pedal open the TCC circuit or close it? I'm thinking that it doesn't really matter *knowing* whether the circuit is open or closed under normal operations - if my presumption that there is a single wire is correct(??), then is it just a matter of splicing in a simple single pole switch and then the first time I run the switch open or closed I'll find out whether open or closed overrides the lock up under normal operation. Or...are my assumptions here oversimplied?

Also, vetteoz...are you talking about the TCC control wire at the A location - at the brake switch or on the transmission? I'd prefer to wire the switch in under the dash at the brake switch rather than at the tranny...

Yeah - I'm hoping to hear from Pete K too. Thanks to the others for your responses; very helpful to know that this is possible with a switch spliced into the *correct* wire at the brake switch. Can anyone positively identify the correct wire? I don't need to have the TC lock up fully controled, just want to be able to switch it off when it would otherwise want to lock up is all that I am looking to do. When I want it to lock up on its own, I'll just set the switch to let it do it's job. Make sense?

Is it possible to over-ride (i.e. manually switch "on" and "off") the torque converter lock-up in a stock 85? I'd like to be able to switch it off when driving in town.

that's about 5.5 feet to the top edge of the green wall. A typical winter in Northern Ontario! The 'vette goes into hibernation in early November and I wake it up in mid-April. I replaced the light tarp (what you see) from last year with some heavy guage covering used for covering loads on trucks and I have a waterproof mat on the ground - no moisture. I have a pre-fabed wood frame lean-to that I attach to the side of my deck in the back yard for winter storage. It takes about 3 hours to put it up in the fall each year.

not the best angle or background but one of my latest after polishing the rims...

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here's one for ya'...

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