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As mentioned in the "Introduce Yourself" section, I recently acquired this 1985 GS. It has just under 47K miles and is all original, a one owner car. Clear coat had faded so seller had it re-painted original silver metallic. Overall, it is very good condition. Clutch, transmission, brakes, steering, suspension all good. Before I bought it it we had it on a lift. No rust or rot. Car has spent almost all its days in AZ and CA.
Like I said in the Intro section, in 3/4/5 it doesn't want to rev beyond 4500. To baseline it, I changed all fluids, plus the plugs, wires, cap, rotor and coils. Used NGK where possible. Added a can of seafoam and a fresh tank of 87 octane. Car runs smoother and is more responsive but still will not rev over 4500 in 3-4-5. I did get the redline buzzer to buzz in second! Aside from not being "peppy" in 3rd & 4th the car runs and handles very nice from idle 800 to 4,500.
I ran out of time today but tomorrow I will change the fuel filter. Maybe that will cure the issue?
Also plan to test fuel pump.
If the above doesn't produce positive results, I will have someone look at the cat to see if it's blocked.
The Nikki carb was recently rebuilt and seems fine. But the old plugs seem to show some light brown coloring - is it running too lean?
Thanks guys.
Last edited by LoneStar23; Oct 8, 2022 at 09:47 PM.
Reason: clarity
Well the tune-up improved responsiveness but the best I can wring out of 3rd gear is 5,000 rpm. I changed the plugs, wires, air filter, coils, cap & rotor and fuel filter. Looked but could not find any vacuum leaks.
The car starts & runs sweet, just down on power. Idles nicely. No smoke of note. There is a bit of a sulphur smell, which brings me back to the cat being possibly blocked... More to come on that subject.
Radio and power antenna do not work. That's a project for another day. I pulled out the coin tray from the center console. Are these black & white connectors OEM? They look newer... Thanks!
Last edited by LoneStar23; Oct 10, 2022 at 08:42 PM.
Radio and power antenna do not work. That's a project for another day. I pulled out the coin tray from the center console. Are these black & white connectors OEM? They look newer... Thanks!
Those are the DIN standard audio signal cables for the front and rear amplifiers. They also carry the +12V signal to tell each amp to turn on/off. On my 83 the front amp is under the driver's seat and the rear in the driver's bin.
Thanks for your input. Have not yet verified the secondaries are opening. The symptoms of being able to redline in first, come close in second and only get to 5,000 RPM in 3rd might indicate that the carb secondaries are the culprit. The carb was rebuilt recently but might not have been put back together correctly. I will take a look at the teeter totter and secondary assembly tonight. Also the secondary diaphragm...
Last edited by LoneStar23; Oct 11, 2022 at 09:02 PM.
Reason: typo
Great news - the car has its mojo back! But I also need to admit that the lack of power was down to the simplest of things which I missed more than once: the teeter-totter wasn't connected. Now the secondaries are opening and we have some pep in 3/4/5. Next up: radio & antenna.
If/when you eventually need to remove the antenna, the best advice here was to remove the passenger side tail light and go out through that hole. There is an "access" hole that you will be tempted to try, but it just will not fit through. Although there is enough space via that hole to test things.
I ended up installing a Metra aftermarket one noted in this thread:
