The Resurrection of Vixen

One of the rather interesting things about my electrical system is that it has eaten three batteries already and has yet to be on the road. Seeing as how I don't run the engine in the garage much (I prefer to get my CO from cigars, thanks) I often place the battery on an automatic charger. Well, last Saturday I woke up thinking "what's that smell"? I searched my house and found that

1) I really needed to do my dishes,
2) I really needed take my garbage out, and most relevantly,
3) the battery on the D was boiling -- the acid smell was really permeating my house.

The meter on the charger still read only 50%. Checking the charger revealed that it actually DREW .75 amps when connected but unplugged from the AC, so I've replaced both my charger and the battery (which luckily, has a 24 month free replacement program. Scratch one gremlin there, I guess.

With the new battery, I was able to start the car for the first time in about a year. She fired right up and ran perfectly, until the idle dropped and she stalled. I'm thinking the problem is in the warm-up or idle systems. While still running just fine above idle, leaving up on the pedal will result in a stumbling, sputtering engine. I'd like to move the car outside soon and try warming her up sufficiently to rule out one or the other... and burn off the 18 month old fuel (with fuel stabilizer) to see if that will help as well. I guess there could be problems with the flow plate piston gummed up in the fuel distributor again, or maybe a sticking idle speed motor or leaky injector. I suppose it's also possible that my newly installed O2 sensor may not be quite up & ready, so simply disconnecting the sensor will be a good test there. I guess even a cranky warm-up regulator may be at fault as well, but since she runs fine at anything even slightly off-idle, a hunch tells me that's not the case. If anyone can save me a step or two and point me in the right direction, that would be appreciated.

I've also been investigating a couple of leads on a good used passenger door, and have decided to use the original driver's door which only has a couple of nicks. Hopefully those can be filled in with weld, ground flush, and regrained.

Now that tax day is over, I'll also be dumping out the approximately $3,000-4,000. I'm going to need to finish the project. On the bright side, I may be the first person to be awarded a frequent flyer ticket on my USAir Visa exclusively from buying DeLorean parts.

Costs for Week 129:

Date	Purchase	Store	Price
09-Apr-02	Truck Bed Coating (2)	Pep Boys	13.98
09-Apr-02	Glaze and Spot Putty	Pep Boys	3.99
09-Apr-02	Black Trim Paint	Pep Boys	5.99
11-Apr-02	Truck Bed Coating (3)	Pep Boys	20.97
11-Apr-02	Assorted Sandpaper	Pep Boys	7.98
11-Apr-02	Misc. Hardware (washers)	Pep Boys	5.95
		Week 129 Total	$58.86

		Running Total	$17,678.57

Year One:
Week 1	Week 8	Week 15	Week 22	Week 29	Week 36	Week 43	Week 50
Week 2	Week 9	Week 16	Week 23	Week 30	Week 37	Week 44	Week 51
Week 3	Week 10	Week 17	Week 24	Week 31	Week 38	Week 45	Week 52
Week 4	Week 11	Week 18	Week 25	Week 32	Week 39	Week 46	-
Week 5	Week 12	Week 19	Week 26	Week 33	Week 40	Week 47	-
Week 6	Week 13	Week 20	Week 27	Week 34	Week 41	Week 48	-
Week 7	Week 14	Week 21	Week 28	Week 35	Week 42	Week 49	-
Year Two:
Week 53	Week 60	Week 67	Week 74	Week 81	Week 88	Week 95	Week 102
Week 54	Week 61	Week 68	Week 75	Week 82	Week 89	Week 96	Week 103
Week 55	Week 62	Week 69	Week 76	Week 83	Week 90	Week 97	Week 104
Week 56	Week 63	Week 70	Week 77	Week 84	Week 91	Week 98	-
Week 57	Week 64	Week 71	Week 78	Week 85	Week 92	Week 99	-
Week 58	Week 65	Week 72	Week 79	Week 86	Week 93	Week 100	-
Week 59	Week 66	Week 73	Week 80	Week 87	Week 94	Week 101	-
Year Three:
Week 105	Week 112	Week 119	Week 126	Week 133	Week 140	Week 147	Week 154
Week 106	Week 113	Week 120	Week 127	Week 134	Week 141	Week 148	Week 155
Week 107	Week 114	Week 121	Week 128	Week 135	Week 142	Week 149	Week 156
Week 108	Week 115	Week 122	Week 129	Week 136	Week 143	Week 150	-
Week 109	Week 116	Week 123	Week 130	Week 137	Week 144	Week 151	-
Week 110	Week 117	Week 124	Week 131	Week 138	Week 145	Week 152	-
Week 111	Week 118	Week 125	Week 132	Week 139	Week 146	Week 153	-
Year Four:
Week 157	Week 164	Week 171	Week 178	Week 185	Week 192	Week 199	Week 206
Week 158	Week 165	Week 172	Week 179	Week 186	Week 193	Week 200	Week 207
Week 159	Week 166	Week 173	Week 180	Week 187	Week 194	Week 201	Week 208
Week 160	Week 167	Week 174	Week 181	Week 188	Week 195	Week 202	-
Week 161	Week 168	Week 175	Week 182	Week 189	Week 196	Week 203	-
Week 162	Week 169	Week 176	Week 183	Week 190	Week 197	Week 204	-
Week 163	Week 170	Week 177	Week 184	Week 191	Week 198	Week 205	-
Year Five:
Week 209	Week 216	Week 223	Week 230	Week 237	Week 244
Week 210	Week 217	Week 224	Week 231	Week 238
Week 211	Week 218	Week 225	Week 232	Week 239
Week 212	Week 219	Week 226	Week 233	Week 240
Week 213	Week 220	Week 227	Week 234	Week 241
Week 214	Week 221	Week 228	Week 235	Week 242
Week 215	Week 222	Week 229	Week 236	Week 243

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