Milano door; DOT3; Milano cold start; Y2K

[Pottree@xxxxxxx]

In reverse sequence:

The "communication" about the rev limiters in Motronic injected cars relying
on the date 2000 and FIAT's decline of Bosch's kindly offer to reprogram due
to the small number of now out-of-warranty cars in the USA sounds like classic
bunk to me.  Wouldn't it be a laugh if BOTH my cars decided to stop running in
less than a year from today because the calendar had flipped over?  Stay tuned
and we'll see if this is the bunk or not.

Fred suggested checking and correcting bad signals from the coolant temp
sensor for a Milano that wouldn't start up in frigid MI, I believe, and also
to make sure the wire that should be disconnected is disconnected.  Along the
same line, and with his kind help, I "fixed" the same problem on my BW's 87
Gold simply by unplugging the spade connector for the coolant sensor and
replugging it have a dozen times to rub off any crud that had built up, and
this worked perfectly and has continued to be fine for 2+ years.  I believe
someone mentioned it might be the relay on the firewall -- there are 2, both
square and worth about $75 on the street -- and I believe the outboard one
controls the fuel pump.  But, if it were bad I don't think the MI car would
have been flooded as described.  Before doing anything difficult or spending
any money, at the very least make sure you have continuity in the connection
and line coming from the coolant sensor; this is a pretty common and easy fix.

Also on my BW's Milano, the PO, a friend form the club, did tell us when we
bought it that the car "eats" master cylinders and he'd replaced it every 25K
miles, and since andother anniversary was around the corner, expect to replace
it.  Guess what?  It needed replacing.  And it seems that the use of DOT3 was
involved in the premature failure of all 3 MCs.  Wiser heads than I have
speculated it chemically accelerated the disintegration of the inner seals.
Since installing the latest MC I've been running nothing but DOT4, which I
believe is specified.

Last, another f the frozen north reports a Milano driver;s door that wouldn't
close until the car is warmed up.  This is not a problem, this is a safety
feature, letting you know when it is safe to run the car on the road.

Our AROSC 1999 Time Trial schedule was recently posted.  I suggest anyone who
wants to run at Laguna Seca next month make your arrangements NOW.  This is a
turn-away event on a premier track.  OTOH, the members of AROSC, now around
325 strong, are not too long in the judgment department, having recently
decided to draft and return me to the presidency for 1999.  Enjoy it while you
can: at the turn of the year I will wink out as the result of a programming
oversight.

Charlie
LA, CA, USA

84 GTV6 (cover girl)
87 75 Gold with the Zender rear spoiler.

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