Common ones that can be overlooked are the pcv tubing and the evap hose
Common ones that can be overlooked are the pcv tubing and the evap hose
I'll try to steal a few minutes this week to fiddle with wiring and vacuum lines, but we are waging war against the termites in the new (old) house, and at this stage it is unclear who the victor will be, only that it will be expensive and time-consuming regardless of the outcome.
I scraped 3 minutes of pitch dark aside to look at the ECU wiring. The brown and white in pin 10 was intact, so I cut it. Started okay. Need to carve half an hour to go flog it around and see if that made any difference. Maybe this week.
Termite project is moving slowly, but we're back to a mostly weather-tight structure, so I'm willing to call that progress. As that tapers to a close, I should be able to start focusing on cars again.
Butt dyno said it was slightly happier with pin 10 cut. Couldn't find an obvious vacuum point-of-failure, but there are at least three ports that are capped off with short pieces of rubber hose with bolts crammed in the free ends. Sub-optimal. Proper caps on order. Topped off with gas; getting about 15mpg in the first fuel economy test of my ownership. Hopefully we can get that up to the 20s.
Replaced three "capped" hoses with actual caps last night. Will try to get her out for a rip this weekend.
Wants to be better. Isn't quite. The only other vacuum line I can find is where the EGR tube ties into the throttle body; the tube was cut off at several inches long and crimped flat at the cut end. Not at all convinced that's making a good airtight seal. Little brother is tinkering with it this afternoon while I hang drywall in the bathroom renovation.
He's going to drill the seat belt mounting tabs so the shouldered bolts will fit properly, have a look at the fuel pump to make sure something hasn't fallen apart (wants to starve after longer corners), and fiddle with the back brakes (sounds like pad chatter from the right rear).
The crimped EGR tube was definitely not airtight, though if it was sufficiently leaky to cause that much issue remains to be seen.
Little brother got the EGR tube and fitting off of the car, cut the crimped end off and capped with a rubber vacuum cap, but broke the small return nipple off of the coolant expansion tank getting it reinstalled, so we didn't get the chance to road test the vacuum leak. New ebay-special coolant ball should be here this weekend.
Bro also got the harnes mounting tabs drilled out to take the 9/16" shoulder on the mounting bolts, so those are good and secure now.
He also had a look at the in-tank fuel pump assembly, said he didn't see anything loose or out of place, but that the threaded ring that secures the assembly into the tank was not real tight. That may have been the fuel smell the last couple fuel fill-ups. We'll see if we still have starvation on longer corners or if that was a transient gremlin.
Need to peel the right rear brake apart and see if there's something amiss. Maybe see if I can unstick the parking brake cables so the handbrake works better.
Aaaand the coolant ball "got lost in the mail". Tracking number created, USPS says they're still waiting to receive the item. Seller says "we are aware of carrier delays, we can refund your money, can't send you another one because we're now out of stock". Starting to smell like I got scammed. Thankfully not out much. Another ordered from a different source, we'll see if one (or maybe both) comes through.
(Second) new coolant expansion tank arrived.
Got her out for a turn around the neighborhood Thursday evening. Dead spot is still there in about the same place, but less pronounced. Maybe have another sneaky vacuum port or two that are capped off suboptimally.
Two major impressions from what turned into a 30 minute drive.
1. It is slightly scary over mid-corner surface imperfections. Not sure we're keeping all the tires on the surface properly, wind up getting quite a bit of "skip" toward the outside of the corner. Not ideal.
2. Think we still have a fuel delivery problem. First 2/3 of the drive were smooth sailing, but then started to get stalls during cornering and then stalls in general. Limped it home and parked it, think I better get into the in-tank sender unit to make sure little brother's assessment was accurate.
Right rear brake - cleaned thoroughly.
Brake noise - no longer an issue.
Vacuum leak - chased, unsuccessfully.
Flat spot in the throttle - still an issue.
Fuel pump shenanigans - investigated.
Sporadic stalling - more testing required to establish repeatability.
Scanned for codes? 
In reply to Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) :
If I could figure out how, I would. OBD1 ECU. Not sure if the dash harness is Mk2 or Mk3. Have not found an OBD2 port, so I assume whatever harness is in the dash is OBD1. I cannot find the white and black two-pin OBD1 plugs anywhere, just blue and brown two-pin plugs near the fuse and relay block under the steering column. Wires in the brown plug go to the appropriate pins on the ECU for the data link connector K and L lines (gray/white and yellow). What I've found online is the other OBD1 plug should just be a 12v and a ground; connect the appropriate pins for the appropriate times and the CEL should flash the codes. I have no CEL illumination at ANY point in the start or run process, have confirmed good bulbs in the CEL position. Wire may have been cut to "fix" the CEL, no idea.
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