91MR2

On a cheerier note, some photos of the car from last night at Buffalo's outer harbor...

Hi Rabin, again, thanks for the input. I put in another new set of plugs (my 3rd in recent months) the other day, and the car has been running flawlessly since. As it has continued to run better over time, when it would act up I would pull plugs and clean them but then put them back in (lots of mixed views out there on how plugs can be revived from fouled status with a little carb/brake cleaner). Going with the thought that I maybe had some bad fuel and lazy/inconsistent injector performance, as it has continued to clean itself out, I'm curious how these plugs will fair. I could just order the injectors now, but it's another $150 that I may not need to spend. Same with the 2 fuel pumps I bought (another $150) and the used afm (yet another $150). I'm not against replacing any of these parts, as they are all old and likely original, but as you all know, these cars aren't worth much, and while I have no intention whatsoever to ever sell, it is hard to wrap my head around how much money has gone into this car in recent months...again, if it gets me to where everything is fixed and correct, no problem, but the russian roulette of parts is a costly affair...

Hi Rabin, I'm actually getting ready to order those remaining Bosch injectors on rockauto, hesitant to pull the injectors just yet until the fuel pumps are in and the new afm is on. Couple reasons, mainly I don't have new injector seals and would prefer to not have a leak, and secondly, trying to replace parts one at a time to find out exactly the cause of the problem...

Thank you for the input. I'm expecting the new part any day now, so will be reporting back either way.

Hey guys, another update... Drove the car another 100 or so miles tonight, ran great for the most part, however... It did start rather poorly, even stalled out on me once during the drive while coasting to a light in neutral, and every time I tried to restart the car, it took several tries and cranks. But while driving, it was great, no misfires or anything it seemed. So I drove it back to the garage and pulled the plugs again. Same deal, the middle 2 looked a little wet/fouled, so I put a set of 4 new ones in and took it for another ride... The car fired right up and ran excellent, even shut it off a few times, and again it would start back up no problem... I'm hoping I have a bad afm, and that might be causing my plugs to foul at the rate they are. I ordered a used one off eBay, will install when it arrives and go from there. Also waiting on my 2 new fuel pumps (both inline and in tank)... Oh, and of course I still have the CEL going on/off, still code 52... Thoughts?

Goce, good to know, thank you, wasn't sure if it was just my car...

Well Savo, as we have spoken before on this matter, if I can't get it sorted this summer, that is exactly what I'll be doing...I'd love to send it out to you for a real expert opinion/repair... When it has run right, it has been great. I think I'm close with it. Maybe I'm not, but it seems that with all the parts that have been replaced by now, I have to be close...

Couple updates today...as always, good and bad... Drove the car to my mechanic's today, ran very well. While there we fixed my sunroof rattle (the left side arm on the wind deflector was missing, anyone have a spare?), put in a new coil (I bought one recently and while I didn't really need one, I figured why not), and removed the afm to inspect and clean. We had the battery disconnected as we also checked my cel codes again (still sending just code 52), and when we re-connected the battery and started the car, it sounded and ran quite poorly. So much so that it stalled a couple times on my way home and struggled to re-start each time...sigh... I've noticed that each time my battery is disconnected, it always runs shitty for a bit after it is reconnected again. Anyone else have this experience too? Are the ECU's so primitive on these cars that they don't know how to run right for a bit after reconnecting the battery? Even more frustrating was the stalling and failure to restart right away, as that has never happened before... So, all in all, kind of a lousy day with the car, but I'm getting used to these. I'm glad to keep replacing parts with new, since many are old and original anyways, I just want to get some results in the form of a great running car... As far as next steps - I ordered a new in-line fuel pump as well as in-tank fuel pump today. Once those are installed, the only part lefts in the fuel system that haven't been touched/replaced will be the injectors themselves (I've replaced the fpr, fuel filter, and ran a bottle of Castle Fireball through the system so far). From a lot of the reading I've done, and with the symptoms I have, many signs point to the fuel pump/s being a potential problem. I've thought all along that my main issue with the car has been fuel related. I guess we'll find out soon... Oh, also ordering a used AFM today off eBay. Mine looked clean, but again, replacing everything I can to try and get this car right...

Took the car to the first post-covid cars and coffee meet of the year. It ran quite well, and was glad to finally be able to take my daughter out in it...

I pulled my plugs again last night and cleaned up the middle 2, car drove very nicely today to the cars and coffee meet. Also replaced the fuel filter yesterday. Going to keep upgrading the car with new parts as I go, hopefully one day I can report that there are no issues at all...

Hi Goce, thank you for the input, the connections while they may not look like the best option out there, they are at least solid and tight. I have a hard time believing that this could be the cause of my problems, but I suppose anything is possible...

The dipstick...nothing fancy, but gets the job done...

Some bad/good news here, drove the car last night, and the stumble seemed to come back a few times. It wasn't bad, but still present. So this morning I threw on my new fuel filter and took it for a ride, and it didn't stumble at all, so that was nice. But again, this seems to be an evolving thing, eventually it will get sorted, but it does seem like it is fuel related, which is what I've thought all along... Forgot to get pictures of my dipstick, but will do later tonight...

Will get a picture of it today

They are in the shop

A few more, my wheels cleaned up pretty well too...the real work was on all the inner barrels...

Gave the car a proper wash (but not dried in these photos...) and interior clean, in preparation for the local cars and coffee event this Sunday, (my first father's day), will be bringing my daughter in the Peugeot...

Hi Andre, I actually haven't even looked into buying a dipstick, the modification we made keeps it in the holder just fine, and with the several thousand dollars I've invested in this car in the last few months, I'm not looking to buy stuff that's gratuitous at this point. Even if I should… I'll post a picture later today of the modification I made, it's not going to win any awards, but then again this car never was going to. I'm just trying to create a mechanically restored, mostly all original car that doesn't leak anything and is as reliable as it is capable of being, and looks like a well preserved survivor...

Yea, you guys are probably right, I told you my theory was a little out there...well then I guess I'll chalk it up to the fuel...good enough for me... I didn't drive the car at all today, but did finish the last piece of my suspension project which was the driver's side sway bar bushings, they finally arrived. Funny, I replaced the passenger side first because it was obvious they were perished, but I did not think the driver's side was too bad on initial glance...guess I was wrong...

Oh, and got my homemade floor mats back today from the carpet store. I measured and cut it from some excess carpet I had from an old project over ten years ago, and took it to them for the binding. For about $20, I'm pleased with the results. It's the little things...

Hey guys, another update... Drove the car another 80 or so miles this evening, it continues to run flawlessly now, for probably the 5th or 6th day in a row now. This is most excellent. A couple theories on this one as to why... Mainly, I think I had some bad fuel, and with the Castle Fireball and a whole bunch of running (at least 3-400 miles in the last week), I think it is safe to say it has worked it's way through the system and worked some magic... Next theory is a little out there, but hear me out. While doing all the work over the last few months, the handle on the oil dipstick kind of deteriorated and fell off. No problem, we made a new one, nothing fancy, but it works just fine. Here's where it gets interesting. Ever since all this work has been done, the car was leaving a little oil on the ground, whereas before the car never leaked anything. I'm wondering if the oil may have been a little overfilled (due to the marker points on the dipstick maybe not being completely accurate now if the dipstick may be a little lower in the sump than before?), and maybe worked it's way through the came seals (the oil was always on the timing belt side). Funny thing is over the last few days, the car has no longer been leaking anything on the ground, and all has been well on the car. I'm thinking it is possible that if the oil was a little overfilled, it could have blown by the ring gap and eventually got to the plugs, hence causing my fouling/stuttering. I know this is a wild theory, but it seems plausible???

Hi Bean, thanks for the suggestion, I'll read up on that. Here are some photos of my afm. Looks ok to me, but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking at. Again, CEL come on and off throughout driving, mostly on when under decel or approaching stop/red light and often while idling, almost never on under regular or heavy load...

Goce, thank you for the suggestion. I took the photos, just have to upload them later, will post them shortly. I am leaning towards just buying a new AFM though, because like you said, they are tough to read. Also, noted on the injectors, I am still planning to purchase the new ones and then also send my old ones out to be cleaned.

Thanks again guys, I'll take a picture of my afm later tonight, maybe some of you can weight in on how it looks...