DaveT

It is looking like the vacuum modulator for the 3AT is no longer available anywhere. ...

I'll have to double check. ..

There is a switch in each seat for the belt system. It is possible that someone cut it to stop them from moving. When there is no weight in the seat, they go to the open / no occupant position.

sounds like possibly blocked exhaust to me. Loosen the nuts on the header studs, drop the flanges a half inch. take a short drive - it will be loud, but if the power is back, you found the problem.

I have one with the automatic belts. I'd lean toward replacing them with the ones I saved from a GL. I have always hated the automatic ones, just haven't had time yet.

So far, the stuck pump is still stuck. Ordered a carter P5000 and a strainer.

Update: The spark plug wires all look ok. Not brand new, but not ancient. NGK. Cap and rotor look ok, nothing unusual there. As a test, I took a spare wire and plug, and connected that to one of the distributor outputs, and let the plug body contact the wire to the plug of that cylinder. I only ran this at idle, but the spark could jump a good solid 1/2" and not even bother the engine running. I have a pressure gauge T'ed into the inlet side of the throttle body. Amp and voltmeters wired to the fuel pump feed. So I can monitor these when I actually risk going out and getting stuck on a hill.... Letting one of my spare fuel pumps soak with fresh gas inside it - they are stuck and won't spin. NAPA lists a replacement that looks identical, but they are out of stock can't back order, and pricey. I remember someone mentioning a low cost fuel pump for some other car that works, but not what it was. Also remembered that I had installed a tap on the fuel system on this car so I can plug my generator into it to use the car as a fuel source. So I can use that port as a test to verify the fuel tank is not clogged. I used boating quick connect fuel connectors.

Test the CTS. Then test the injector if the CTS is good.

The stock gauges are only roughly accurate while driving, if they are working. Idle, they will look like zero. For real checking, get a mechanical gauge. If it's reading very low while driving on the highway, it could be the sender or the gauge. Or some kind of real problem....

Idle oil pressure will be very low. No load on the bearings anyway, so no problem. Stay with 10w 40. Don't lug it, these engines are made to do higher rpms. The factory guage is not accurately calibrated, especially for the pressures at idle.

Yes, I will update. Things have been a little nutty here.

If the intake gaskets are original, they are probably leaking by now. If you replaced them with anything other than oem from a dealer, they will fail in a fairly short time. Ypical way I decide to dissasemble to check those is after verifying that I cannot find any other seeping leak, and that I am not getting exhaust gases pressurrising the cooling system. The best way I have found for removing the 6 manifold bolts without snapping one is to drive until the engine is at normal operating temperature, then park it in the garage and immidiaty and carefully remove the 6 bolts, while everything is hot.

Lucky so far.... once there is enough air in the system, it will go over normal temperature. Then it's too late. Also, if the radiator is older than 5 years, carefully inspect that the fine fins are attached to the flat tubes. Especially if you are in snow country.

I have done some that way previously, but now that they are near impossible to get oem , I had to find out how to deal with the dirtier ones I had set aside.

Forget the extractor. Those only work for new clean bolts that snapped off. Never for old rusted ones. Penatrating oil, them try a pipe wrench, unless you are lucky enough to have an open end wrench that big.

Ig it has an EA82 engine, there are 7 cooling system hoses. Check all of them. Check the radiator. Check the water pump. There should be very little to no air in the radiator. The best way to check the coolant level in the radiator is sharply squeeze the upper radiator hose and listen for gurgles and the jiggle pin. Cold engine, off. Opening the radiator cap allows air into the system, and you cannot monitor the quantity of air if you break the seal while trying to check. Beginning of headgasket failure is most often coolant missing slowly. , as it progresses, bubbles in the recovery tank. . Once you get over normal temperature while low on coolant, the failure rapidly gets worse . Until you find and stop the leak, check the level and air before each start from cold. If you use the temperature gauge as a coolant level checker, you will be needing headgaskets.

To get the outer joint off the axel. Get a 12 inch piece of 2x6. Drill a hole just big enough to fit the steel axle through, after removing the inner joint. Clamp the axle in a vise with the joint end down. Put something under to catch the joint. A moderate hit on the block of wood should pop it off. Now you can clean, and inspect, and regrease much more effectively.

Did it used to work? I had a 76 and a 78 that had the voltage regulator separate from the alternator. I'm not sure how 79s were made.

If I am following everything, it sounds like that running a wire from the output side of the fusible link for the white wire to the junction near the fuse box makes it run? As long as you are NOT bypassing the fusible link, you should be ok. I would rather find the bad connection or break. If it were at the branch for the alternator, you may one day burn out the alternator [or maybe just run the battery dead] if the rest of the connection fails.. Replacing the whole harness is a big project, and you have to find one...

I have seen a wire break inside the insulation. It was very tricky to spot the break, just a little anomaly in the smoothness of the insulation. Almost has to be that kind of thing, or the crimp where the alternator ties in is bad. Bad crimp more likely, so look for that first.

Iirc, it has a junction to the alternator. Like the one in your picture for the fuse box. I want to check that next.

If you ran a wire from the white wire on the link box to the joint, and It made no difference, and when you ran a wire from the joint to the battery, and it worked, that narrows the problem down to the fusible link, one of the connections, or the wire that goes from the link box to the battery, or its connections.

Getting voltage dropping on a wire that size implies a lot of current, which makes no sense, as the battery isn't dead - it would be long a go. But if the battery reads 12V at the terminals, and the voltage at that joint is not the same, there is a high resistance somewhere between that joint and the battery. Keeping the meter negative lead on one ground location for all test - don't move it. Do a recheck of the (+) battery voltage, right on the lead post.. Can you get the meter connected to the white wire on the back of the fusible link box? what is the voltage there? As a test, any 12V light you have laying around connect to the white wire joint, and the other side of the bulb to ground - what does the voltage do? Dose it light?

The joint in the picture looks good, nice and clean. If things work with your "jumper wire" feeding that point, the problem is somewhere between that connection and the battery. As things are now - without the added wire - does 12V show up at that joint? Does it stay there if a load is applied?

Your 10:27 post tells a lot. Look for a bad connection between the back of the fuse box and the battery. Put the voltmeter on say the white wire on the fusible link box. Turn on the parking light switch, as a test load. Like I wrote above.