Re: Newbie GTV Questions

[jack@domain.elided (Jack Hagerty)]

>From: Andy Newell <anewell@domain.elided>

>1.  This car has non-functioning A/C.  Is there any reason I should keep the
>system in place? It seems to me to be a silly dealer option offered to the
>US for marketing reasons. Now it's dead weight.  Are there additional
>parts/blanking plates/belts I'll need in order to revert to non-A/C?

In defense of the A/C (mine had it too, as a "mandatory dealer option") I
can say that it really works. It could throw ice balls when it was cranked
up. The down side is that it rarely worked for more than six months at a
time. It was always a different problem: the copper equalizer pipe across 
the top of the compressor work hardened and broke, losing the freon. The 
bearings in the idler pulley would freeze up about once a year (I think the 
mount was out of true). The bearings in the compressor went out. And finally, 
the pipe leading into the condensor worked loose (probably vibration) and 
it lost all the freon. I eventually just yanked the 200 lbs of compressor, 
bracket and condensor out, but left the flex lines and receiver/dryer in 
place (in the unlikely chance that I may want to reinstall it some day).

To answer your question, no, nothing has to be blanked off. You should yank 
the compressor, compressor bracket, idler bracket and maybe the reciever 
dryer. The condensor up front doesn't weigh much, but it blocks the radiator 
and could lead to overheating problems if the system is marginal. Wouldn't
hurt to remove it. You should make sure that the green wire (that starts the 
compressor) is well taped off/isolated so that in the unlikely occurance that 
you inadvertantly switch the compressor on (the "snowflake" switch on the 
console) it won't be sparking around the engine compartment. The flex lines 
can be left in place since they're pretty well tied down, but the big heavy 
connectors tend to bang noisily against the fender wall during cornering.

After doing this, you'll still have a ventilation system far superior to
the stock GTV. The center console has two eyeball vents (stock has nothing 
in the center) and a three speed fan. The heater valve is also integrated 
into the system and is supposedly self regulating, i.e. you leave the lever 
at the same position, and the valve regulates itself by means of a pressurized 
gas loop to open wider when the coolant is cold and close it down as the 
coolant heats up. Unfortunately, this also tends to give up after about one 
year leaving you with a binary heater lever. Of course, now your engine
compartment has access space unknown since the '50s :-)

>2.  Is there really no way to lock the doors from the inside?  The owners
>manual implies there isn't. 

The manual lies. Pull back on the handle the opposite way that you open 
the door. 


>3.  The oil pressure at idle is bottom quarter of the gauge; at speed it's
>just below 55.  That seems low.  

Completely normal. In fact that sounds like great pressure for the mileage.
Mine hovers only a couple of needle widths above the bottom when warmed
up, and reads hardly at all at idle.

>4.  Are valve cleaner fuel additives (eg Techron, RedLine) considered
>harmful to SPICA FI? 

Mine's proven remarkably resistant to all of the crap force into California
gasoline. YMMV, thought. Others haven't been so lucky. Once you get through 
the rubber part of the fuel system (basically tubing between the pumps and 
filters) the system is all metal, mostly steel. You're not going to bother 
it too much with additives.

>5.  Despite the PO's claim of "recent tuneup", I have a warm start problem.
>It cranks but won't catch, but will fire when push started. Now, with a
>turbocharged Saab, you can hardly finish saying "it runs roughly" before
>everyone in the room yells "vacuum leak!"  Is there a similar
>SPICA-for-dummies "this happens all the time" answer?

Hmmm, even non-turbo Saabs are hyper sensitive to vacuum leaks. This could 
be a mixture problem or a Thermo-actuator. I'll defer to others on this one.

- - Jack


+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Jack Hagerty                |    "If this rocket stuff is so important    |
| Robotic Midwives, Ltd.      |    to you, so be it. Just be careful and    |
| Livermore, CA		      |    don't blow yourself up. I suppose there  |
| jack@domain.elided   |    are worse hobbies!"                      |
| (925) 455-1143 (voice/fax)  |            - John Hickam, October Sky       |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|        ARA #97, NAR #55105, LUNAR #002 / TRA #3943, Aero-PAC #168         |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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