having a bad day...

[Tessie McMillan <tessmc@domain.elided>]

First, I find all the clean clothes I hung up to dry haven't dried yet, so 
I'm wearing wet clothes today (don't ask about why I don't use a 
dryer). Second, I step out of the front door and the door slams, locking 
me out of the house. Luckily, I have a garage-door opener in my bag, and 
keys to the Alfa.

Now, a couple weeks ago, my Spider started stumbling (this was the day I 
ran out of gas -- owing to the fact that my fuel gauge doesn't work, and I had 
recently zeroed out my odometer for a couple of trips where the 
instructions had included "first, zero your odometer".) But -- as 
usually happens when I run out of gas -- I was right in front of a Chevron 
station, so I pushed her in, refilled with 92, and did not worry further 
as the stumbling went away. Note to self: it was a hot day. 

Today is a cool, damp day (ah yes, the wet clothes, in a Spider, with 
the top down). The Spider didn't want to turn over, although the starter 
motor was going 'Si, si, si, si, si!'. When I finally got her started and 
on an even idle, she didn't want to back out of the garage, or accelerate 
from either a stop or from very slow speed in first or second gear. She 
wanted to stumble and die. At stoplights, to keep from what I thought 
would be a stall -- since the car would start to stumble -- I kept the 
parking brake on and my foot on the gas, and was able to skip over the 
dead part of the acceleration. If I was driving in, say, 3rd and let 
off the gas and let her roll and let the engine speed slow the car down, 
she'd begin to stumble again.

Question: could I have gotten muck in the fuel filter when I ran out of 
gas? If so, how do I replace this, or can I put some kind of additive in 
the tank to clean it out? What else could it be? I would expect the engine 
management to be fine, since last year I had a total overhaul done at 
Ferrari of Seattle due to failed emissions. (Aha! a clue, you say. 
Yes, she has always run rich.)

This is an '87 LJet Spider, and she was running perfectly when I gave her 
an ITU last weekend (it was again a warm weekend). Any ideas appreciated!

Altho... I don't suppose y'all can help me with being locked out of my 
house, though... I think the wet clothes will take care of themselves by 
the end of the day...

Tess
Bellevue WA U.S.A.
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