...Scott Shure with his suggestion of Sat, 28 Jan 2012: "The first thing that comes to mind is the coolant temp sensor. AND if rocking the engine changes the idle then I would suspect wiring more than the sensor itself."
Age must have caused contraction in the insulation on the wires (as it seems to do with many things) running to the Motronic temp senor on the thermostat housing. I found the wires pulled tight as a drum. Relief of the tension was all it took to solve this problem. I *knew* the answer would come from the Digest! I am ever gratified with the purchase of this car. Those of you with long memories might remember when Ed Parise of Sarasota, FL announced its availability in Digest #1996. Ed had purchased it from John Hertzman a few years prior. I flew down and bought it a week later -- it had 51K miles at the time. It just clicked over 65K this past week. Thank you, Scott. And thank you to all who responded. Excellent suggestions all around. - Eric H., Marietta, GA Alfas: 1991 164 A/T base, 1976 Spider Non-Alfas: 1984 Coup De Ville (3rd generation owner of this family heirloom) - 2009 RX8 R3 (zoom, etc.) -- to be removed from alfa, see http://www.digest.net/bin/digest-subs.cgi or email "unsubscribe alfa" to [email protected]
