Ok, to say the least right now, I am jumping up and down out of pure excitement. It's 3:29 am as I write this. As some of you know, I have put 5 digit repairs into 3299. Everything from the tranny to the engine has been rebuilt - here is a quick small list of things I can remember I've done so far: 1. Replaced oil filter 2. Air filter 3. Fuel filter 4. Auto tranny filter 5. Rotor cap 6. Rotor distributor 7. Spark plugs 8. Spark plug wires 9. Coil wire 10. Ignition wires 11. Alternator belt 12. A/C belt 13. Valve covers 14. Oxygen sensor 15. Control pressure regulator 16. Frequency valve w/ss line 17. Spinners are off tires 18. Tranny completely rebuilt - specifically 1st gear, computer governor, torque converter, and vacuum modulator 19. Rewired the otterstat 20. Fixed the brown starter wires 21. Cleaned numerous grounds 22. Rewired the wiring around the microswitch 23. Cleaned microswitch 24. Added the SS coolant bottle with new radiator cap 25. Fixed the idle control motor 26. Replaced the battery with new MATCHING battery screws 27. Fixed numerous, pathetic attempts at wiring in the electrical system 28. Added a self-bleeding kit to the cooling system 29. Replaced the shifter cable 30. Had numerous sets of keys made and tumblers reset/cleaned 31. New Alternator 32. FanZilla 33. New transmission mounts 34. Fixed my turn signals 35. NO MORE TIRE SPINNERS 36. Replaced all the fuses 37. New front rotors 38. New brake pads on front rotors 39. Added a "lifetime" air filter 40. Replaced the air hose directly underneath the coolant bottle 41. Replaced some of the hosing on the coolant pipes 42. New oil pressure sending unit 43. Got my cargo net up in the storage area. 44. Replaced the fuel pump 45. Installed a fuel baffle kit 46. Replaced thermotime switch 47. Replaced otterstat 48. Rerouted the otterstat wiring away from the catalytic converter (the wiring had begun to fuse); the wires were also carefully cleaned and repaired 49. Cleaned/tightened the ignition wiring (blue and white ones, didn't touch the red one) 50. Modified the CO adj. screw - got the car idling VERY well 51. Took out and cleaned my fuel injectors 52. Replaced spark plug wires 53. Gave the intake manifold and the valves a thorough cleansing/paint job 54. Replaced all 10 coolant hoses 55. Replaced all heater hoses 56. Installed 13 stainless steel fuel lines 57. Installed new heater control valve 58. Replaced or inspecting all vacuum hoses 59. Installed a brand new water pump with all new hoses, O-rings, water hoses, and clamps 60. Installed a new rack and pinion 61. New adapter cup 62. Lubricated the angle drive (make spedometer work again) 63. New fuel pump cover 64. Installed new front wheel bearings 65. New fuel pump 66. Replaced all relays and circuit breakers - completely clean every single relay connection. 67. Cleaned out, washed, rinsed, and vacuumed the entire battery compartment 68. New ignition coil 69. New front (and about to be rear) tires 70. Flushed coolant and brake system 71. Fixed my weatherstripping in my trunk compartment 72. New fuel sending unit So after all of this (up to now - still have new radiator to install, repair fan motors, repair females connections in electrical system, new rear tires, brand new starter and starter solenoid, and new brake master cylinder all before PF), I was to say the least, a bit disgruntled when my car would crank to life, then suddenly die. For a month now, this problem has plagued me. Then this morning, I was reading the back issues I have printed out, and I found a little article from Sean Mullally back on March 10, 1998 - and this is how it went: "Ok, here's my problem. When I start my D after it has been sitting for at least a day, it will start, but will stall immediatly. On the second or third try, if I give it alot of gas for a few seconds after starting it will be ok. It will idle fine after that and restart perfectly after being shut off. Has anyone had simpilar symptoms, or know what the problem might be?" Well, Bruce Benson followed up with the idea of it being a bad thermotime switch, and how to jump it to see if this was the case. Now, considering I just bought this back in 01/04 from a reputable vendor, I felt this was far-fetched, but I figured "Why not? The problems Sean described are absolutely identical to mine, why not give it a try?" I followed the procedure, and around 3:20am I fired the car without giving it any gas or anything. It fired right up first try - perfectly. My four month old thermotime switch is bad. I find that - to say the least - a bit hard to believe and a little discouraging. Nevertheless - to see my car fire right to life, first try, no need for gas - just prefect fire and idle - oh yes. The point: DON'T neglect the backissues. They are quite the tomb of knowledge. I have the defective thermotime switch to prove it =P. Jeremiah #Completely-made-over-you'll-never-recognize-from-the-original-pictures-from-11/11/03 03299 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger. http://messenger.yahoo.com/ To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/