Tools and a problem

["Eric H." <ejham@xxxxxxx>]

On the subject of tools...I still carry to this day an
adjustable wrench that was in my first Alfa. I doubt it was
part of the kit, but it is really cool: it doesn't use a
wormgear type of adjuster, it uses this really cool slide
mechanism. It was the only tool I had in the car when it
broke down in the middle of nowhere (with cows in a pasture
mooing at me, no less), on a moonless night, with no
flashlight. The problem was no biggy -- the fuel fitting on
one of my newly-installed Webers had come loose and was
spewing fuel -- and I had the opportunity to fix the problem
in pitch-blackness, greatly impressing my girlfriend.

Now the problem: I'm failing emissions. The test that I'm
failing is the Idle Hydrocarbon test. The car is a 1983 GTV6
with Sperry stage III heads. The car passed last year,
albeit by a hair. The car passes the 'under load' test...a
joke if I've ever seen one, 30 MPH in 3rd in my GTV??? I'm
barely out of idle!

Anyway, this is what I've done so far. I started with free
and cheap stuff:
Free -- checking for and remedying possible vacuum leaks
(removing intake manifold, checking those hoses, checking
for cracks in the duct, etc.)
Cheap -- replacing nearly all the rubber air tubing (it was
all looking pretty bad)
Cheap -- Replaced plugs (NGK B6's), rotor, cap, and coil
(the wires were changed by the remains of the dealership for
the previous owner less than 2 years / 5000 miles ago)
Free -- adjusted timing to a slightly retarded state on the
advice of a Sperry Valve person. She barely ran, but she
almost passed. Further retardation had no affect, nor did
slight advancement.
Free -- checked fuel pressure, it was a little low (fixed
below, however)
Cheap -- replaced air and fuel filters
Free -- completely removed auxiliary air device (I live in
Florida, it's always warm here and so far have not missed
the thing much -- she runs a little rough until operating
temp is achieved)
Cheapish -- replaced an externally leaking fuel injector
(no, it wasn't the hose leaking, it was the injector itself)
and replaced the injector seals on that half of the engine.
Also got a fuel pressure regulator in the deal for the
injector and added it...brought the fuel pressure to spec.
Free -- checked the valve clearance, finding no major
problems.


Result: still fails, but not as badly. I even went to the
extreme of putting 87 octane gas in it for the test. I am
thinking of trying the oxygen sensor but am given to
understand that it primarily affects CO -- which I pass --
not HC (insights welcome...especially a part number of a
compatible, non-Bosch, one-wire O-sensor) I may have misset
the timing when I tested it this morning -- so that needs to
be re-checked.

So I wonder if any of you have had similar experiences. The
car idles roughly cold or hot. It runs out well, though. The
cam is rumored to be hot, but I can find no receipt to back
that claim.

On my to-do list is trying a test resistor in place of the
Thermo-time switch. Ditto for Temperature Sensor II. I've
gotten no meaningful data out of the O-sensor, am I supposed
to test the voltage with it hooked to the system or
disconnected? A compression test is also planned.

Thanks in advance,

- - Eric H., Clearwater, FL
83 GTV6 -- she loves to go real fast but won't behave at the
testing center
88 Volvo 740 -- he passes gas that don't stink
Alfas of the past:
79 Spider -- Webers and really hot cam, exhaust from a 66
Duetto, no power under 4500 RPM
88 Milano -- AlfaBill killed her <grin> -- I know it wasn't
your fault, Bill!

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