Help ID part

caliman84 · 06-26-2015, 03:19 PM

Can anyone identify this part, it is located on the drivers side forward to the fuel filter. Thanks in advance
1984 Cabriolet

petercory · petercory's Garage

It's The 02 Sensor connection; you'll find many posts on this subject using the search feature.

cabmandone · cabmandone's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by petercory

It's The 02 Sensor connection; you'll find many posts on this subject using the search feature.

Correction, that was.. their o2 sensor.

caliman84 · 06-29-2015, 07:32 PM

Thank you guys for your response, it is very much appreciated.

Synchro Joe · Synchro Joe's Garage

Try Louie85 here on Pelican, he has a great/improved connector that he makes.

scarceller · scarceller's Garage

If you repair that connection be aware that the cable has a shield around it. Be sure you do not accidentally short the shielded braiding to the center conductor. If that happens your mixture will go extremely rich! I had a car come in that someone messed this up while trying to repair that connector, took me 2 days to find the cause of the rich running condition!!!

caliman84 · 06-30-2015, 07:59 PM

Once again you guys came through so I thank you for that. I performed a search in this site for Louie85 and I found out that this issue is very common and I'm sorry some of you had to go through this. I'm blaming this O2 connector to the fact that I can't fire my engine. I took care of the usual suspects so I purchased a DME relay as well as a new distributor cap and rotor (they were in bad shape anyway), checked for spark, etc. until I noticed this broken O2 connector, with that said, I have two questions if you guys don't mind;
Is this broken connector the reason why my car wouldn't start when it rained and second question and I apologize for my ignorance but can someone tell me how to PM Louie85 so that I can acquire one of his O2 connectors. I'm not very proficient when it comes to finding my way with this site.
I have to get my car back on the road ASAP as this 84 Cabrio has been my daily driver for the past 16 years, now it has been a week and I hate to see it standing there in the driveway.
Thanks

scarceller · scarceller's Garage

The O2 sensor will not cause a no start. With it broken the DME simply is in open-loop mode and runs just as the Euro cars do. This is not the problem.

Try this quick test:
Turn the key to RUN and then check the Idle Control Valve (ICV) located at the front of the throttle body. It's that round can with two hoses coming out of it. The ICV should be vibrating and humming with the key in RUN. If it's humming it means the DME is powered up and booted. Come back here with the result of that test.

caliman84 · 07-06-2015, 10:57 AM

Hi Scarceller,
First able, thank you for your interest in helping me out on this issue.
It took me a while to run the test that you suggested as my battery died when I was ready to do it. I had it recharged yesterday, turned the switch to run, checked the ICV, and as described, it was humming and vibrating, so I cranked the engine and to my surprised the car started releasing a big cloud of white smoke, I let it idle for a while and suddenly stopped without hesitating, just stop instantly. Would you think that since the O2 connector is off, the fuel is too lean and is flooding the engine and also the smell of fuel was pretty intense when I started it.
Any advise will greatly appreciated

scarceller · scarceller's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by caliman84

Hi Scarceller,
First able, thank you for your interest in helping me out on this issue.
It took me a while to run the test that you suggested as my battery died when I was ready to do it. I had it recharged yesterday, turned the switch to run, checked the ICV, and as described, it was humming and vibrating, so I cranked the engine and to my surprised the car started releasing a big cloud of white smoke, I let it idle for a while and suddenly stopped without hesitating, just stop instantly. Would you think that since the O2 connector is off, the fuel is too lean and is flooding the engine and also the smell of fuel was pretty intense when I started it.
Any advise will greatly appreciated

First, leave the O2 disconnected till you resolve the issue. After it suddenly stalls out turn the key off and back to 'RUN' does the ICV still hum? If so try starting it again, if no start you need to next test for spark at the coil. Remove the center wire from the distributor (the wire from the coil) and test for spark while cranking. Do you you have spark? Report back.

caliman84 · 07-13-2015, 11:12 AM

Hello Scarceller,
I performed the test you've suggested and everything seems normal, when the engine dies after idling for about 5 minutes then it won't start until it cools off then I checked for spark and the ICV vibrates and hums. After about 20 minutes, starts again and so on. Would you have any other suggestions to help me resolve this issue.
Thank you again

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

That same type of O2 connector was used in many German cars of that era. They all have the same problem with the connector turning to dust. It is a design some engineer deserves a good hard kick in the nuts for designing that. Maybe the engineer wanted a better one but some bean counter said crappy plastic was good enough. Whatever, you will love the replacement. I have one and it just flat works like it should. Maybe it will last more than 25 years.