November 5th, 2012

Been busy working on the Scorpio, but nothing fun. Just maintenance and troubleshooting annoying issues.

- Fixed the rear window defrost grid ( I thought) had several small breaks from the previous owner and his window tint fetish. I got a kit from www.frostfighter.com. I now have continuity through the grid, but still no heat. I can measure 12 volts on the two tabs, so I am a little confused as to why I am not getting any heat.

- Trying to diagnose a slow starting car. This started about a month ago. It cranks, but doesn't catch for a good 5-7 seconds. I think I narrowed it down to a failing TPS. I don't have a new one on hand, but the original one measured a lower resistance than the one I had off of the parts car. After replacing it, the car did want to start quicker. I may still need a new one, but it appears the original TPS was telling the ECU that the throttle was cracked open a little, and maybe this was causing it to call for more fuel into the engine at start up

- Still trying to diagnose a stumble in the engine when the car is cold. I have had this problem for a long time. I have replaced spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor. Now yesterday with the swapped TPS it seemed a little better. This morning will be a definitive test.

- Installed the CV Half Shaft Bolt retaining clips that keep them from working loose. Somehow when I installed a new CV Half Shaft a year ago last summer I didn't re-use the ones I had. Of course I threw them away. Thanks to Jeff Herson at www.merkurmidwest.com I got a new set of them and got it fixed.

Again, nothing fun, just some maintenance. Even though the summer is over, I am still hopeful I can get the a/c system working in time for some efficient defrost for the winter.