rottenhead

She made it back without issue. I'll try to take a look at some of the other things mentioned over the weekend. Shawn - does your shop do straight up repair work as well, or are you focused solely on restorations? I'd love to bring our vehicles to you in the future.

The mystery continues. Mancinelli's has given up. They were only able to duplicate the problem once. Did a full diagnostic of the vehicle and couldn't find any issues except the aforementioned P0440 CEL, which they don't believe is the source of the problem. Got the car to "shudder" once this morning while hooked up to computer, but nothing registered. A couple more details from the wife -- she was going 30mph under light acceleration when it occurred. No sputtering or stalling, just off. She is on her way back up I-70 so I hope it doesn't happen again today. If it continues I guess I will print this thread out and take it somewhere locally. Thank you for the suggestions and I will post an update if/when we identify the source.

No alarm. Wish I could be at the shop with them or have them reading this thread. After it stalls, it won't start for 5 minutes, but then it starts again OK. It seems pretty random.

It is at Mancinelli's, on Logan. As far as I know, when it isn't starting it's similar to when the starter contacts are bad -- the starter does not engage. I am not with the car though and I'm trying to translate through the wife.

You think so? I didn't realize timing belt could cause intermittent failures -- I thought it was either broken or operational. It was last replaced at 180K. *Posted this before your edits - thanks.

2.2, auto trans, 220K. Wife is driving at highway speed (65mph), and engine stops running. Power is on. She coasts to a stop on the side of the road and tries to start it -- power is there, but car does not turn over. Puzzled, she sits there for 5 minutes, and then tries again, and it fires up. Since she is in Denver and I in the hills, I advised her to take it in for a look. She got it to the mechanic fine and he could not replicate the issue on three separate test drives. On the fourth, it occurred again. They have checked: MAF sensor, alternator, plugs and wires. Codes thrown for a vacuum pressure leak. Gas cap was replaced in an effort to remedy that. I also checked the fuel filler pipe and while it has rust on it, it didn't look like it was rusted through. The car does not stall, per se, like it is starved for fuel -- it just stops. Any ideas?

I used "Twilight Blue Metallic" from this website. The original color was Flare Red.

yes.

http://s445.photobucket.com/albums/qq172/ajessen21/1985%20BRAT/ Some recent photos, post-paint job. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out, considering a friend did it in his garage. There are certainly imperfections, but he really did a nice job welding in some new pieces on the passenger side, and rehabbing the passenger door. I still need to deal with the rusted wheel wells and a big rust hole underneath, by the driver side door. Running pretty well for now...trying to decide whether to put anything in to maintaining the current motor, or save up for 2.2 conversion. I have a blue interior and some nicer seats I'll get put in eventually. If anyone has the passenger side trim pieces I'm missing, I'm interested in purchasing them.

I think what happened is the fluid level was a little low, as it didn't coincide with any activity with the brakes. And yeah -- brake warning light. I guess I referred to it as the e-brake light because I had never seen it on other than when the handbrake was engaged.

Just as an FYI/confirmation, I recently had my e-brake light staying on in cold weather. I added a small amount of brake fluid to the reservoir and the light went away. Brakes are probably due for some maintenance.

I agree on the cold weather too. I went from getting 26-28 this summer in my 98 Legacy 2.2, to 20-22. Changed the fuel and air filters and am getting 22-24 now. Never noticed that big a drop in previous winters, but this year has been a particularly cold one.

After my last post on this issue, I ended up tapping the starter with a hammer a few times. That bought me some more time. Last weekend though, it finally started giving me a problem on every start. So went to work on it last night and was successful. Starts up no problem. I got the contacts from S*Wings in Denver. Photo documentation of the replacement here.

I had this problem with my '92...a correct flush and fill solved it.

I'm a little hesitant to take the starter out and mess with it, although it probably needs it after 185K hard earned miles. It's just so weird to me that it does it when low on gas, and otherwise if it does it, hitting the shifter makes it start.

Went back over and tried again -- same deal. Decided to pump the gas a few times and it fired right up. Is there a good explanation for that? While we're on the topic, I do usually have a strong gas smell at startup.

Car started up no problem this morning. Drove to the post office, came back out and it doesn't turn over. I have power and there is a "click" but no turn. This issue has arisen from time to time in the past, and was resolved by hitting the gear shifter forward a little bit, presumably reminding the car it isn't in gear and it's OK to start. It also seems to do it more often when very low on gas. No luck with that this time and it also won't start in neutral. It is low on gas, but I put 2 gallons in, same deal. Any help is appreciated. Additional info: 185K, timing belt change at 181. Hitting the shifter to get it to start has worked since I've owned the car -- since 114K.

Had an interesting first trip over Vail pass and through the tunnel. My the time I got to Denver, I was maxed out at about 20mph, stumbling and bucking. Had an enjoyable meetup with Shawn W. Didn't think I'd make it back up the hill with the way it was performing, so brought it into the shop that owned it previously. They were stumped for a couple hours, but eventually got a bunch of gunk out of the fuel line and replaced both fuel filters. Looked like reddish dirt to me. Poured a few gallons of 91 into it, and the problem had disappeared. Made it back up EASILY. Mechanic speculated that gas tank or steel fuel line is rotting. Or, a bad tank of gas. When I first bought it, it was pretty low on gas and may have sucked some garbage in. Planning to pick up a couple extra filters in the meantime.

Awesome. Would love to do this at some point too, but height (6'2") may limit my options.

I've found a BRAT with a solid passenger quarter panel and door. Now I just need to convince the current owner to part with them. Does anyone have advice on removing/reinstalling the quarter panel? I assume it needs to be cut somewhere near the roof, but where? What kind of welding magic needs to happen for reattachment? A reasonable offer for these parts? The BRAT these would come off has been parked for a decade here in the mountains, but somehow has minimal rust. The owner says when he parked it, the clutch was bad. He is on the fence about parting it out...thinking he can get more for it as a whole, may or may not be true. It's got a decent topper on it with the rear glass busted. White spoke wheels that need sandblasting. T-top glass is intact. Windshield is a goner. Hood, fenders, doors (except for driver side window), and quarters are solid, tailgate and bumpers are not. Complete set of jump seats still attached to the bed. Interior is trashed. I haven't looked under the hood, but the underside of the car looks pretty rusty and beat. Thanks for any thoughts!

Very nice! Best of luck on getting the mechanical issues resolved.

Not that great, but some photos of the motor are here.

Hard to tell. Spent a long time lying underneath it trying to figure it out. The top of the motor is dry, but the oil pan is universally wet. But I'm also not losing an appreciable amount of coolant. We'll see what you guys think when you see the pics. Thanks for the tips.

Changed the oil a couple nights ago. There is a small amount of coolant, I think, leaking from somewhere. I took a bunch of photos and hope to post them when I get home tonight. The rest of the motor looks great. Everything appears clean and/or new, with the exception of one hose off the air filter/carburetor box. I think I also got a decent photo of the "hole" the previous owner drilled in the carb. Weird. Looking through photos of the junker BRATs I found...they may end up being a great source for parts.