I need some help figuring out my engine problems: The symptom is that while my engine is cold or warm (but not yet fully warm), it idles okay, but any attempt at acceleration is counter-productive. The engine coughs and sputters instead of increasing the RPMs. This doesn't happen every time I start the car from cold, but it happens often enough to be very annoying. I am wondering if this could be due to a bad warm-up regulator (a/k/a control pressure regulator). I paid a local mechanic $750 to replace this part a few months ago. It was $500 for the regulator and $250 for the labor. Question 1: Are these symptoms indicative of a bad regulator? Question 2: Did my local mechanic rip me off for replacing this regulator before? Question 3: If the problem is the regulator, is it possible to take it apart and fix it? i.e., could it be clogging up with fuel system crud? Also, I got busy reading the service manual and figured that maybe my problem was in the cold start circuit. So I checked the thermo-time switch (a/k/a temperature switch). I found that it is permanently stuck in the cold position no matter how warm the engine gets. Question 4: Since the cold start circuit is only active while the starter is engaged and failure of the thermo-time switch could cause flooding, is my problem a flooded engine? Question 5: Could flooding of my engine cause it to not accelerate well until the engine is warmed up? Or is the warm-up problem caused by something other than a stuck thermo-time switch? Question 6: If 12 volts from the starter circuit is applied to the heater in the thermo-time switch, how long will it take for it to open the circuit? What I want to know is if these switches are meant to open-circuit before the starter disengages. Or does it take continued starting attempts to heat this switch enough to open the circuit to prevent flooding? Question 7: Where is the best place to buy a new thermo-time switch? Do I get it locally, or should I buy it online? How much should I pay, and what part cross-reference should I ask for? Also, while I was diagnosing the above problems, I noticed that my radiator fan thermostat (a/k/a cooling fan switch) is dripping coolant. And it also sounds like it is out of range. Question 8: See question 7 only now I'm looking for a different switch. Question 9: Instead of replacing this switch with the same thing that can leak, would it be better to plug this bad-engineering fiasco and replace it with a surface mounted thermostat instead? And if so, how, who and what is involved? Good luck answering these! Walt Tampa, FL