[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The AAR will not change the mixture--that is not its function. Its function is purely to give you a higher idle when cold than you would otherwise have. It has nothing to do with the mixture at all.

I would keep the AAR if I could. Otherwise you are going to have to keep your foot on the gas for the first few minutes the car is running in the AM. Even in a warm climate.

If you have a non-functioning AAR, it can very probably be repaired. Take it off the car and hose the inlet and outlet with PB Blaster or Aero Kroyl. Let it sit overnight. Then hook up +12V to the wire on the bottom and ground the case. The bottom of the case should get warm and the valve may close.

If that doesn't happen, you can un-fold the lip of the case that is folded down over the "lid". Then you can pull the lid and the valve mechanism out. Grab the lid with one hand and use a screwdriver to turn the rotary valve. That should free it up.

Make sure that there are 13 ohms resistance between the end of the plug and the case of the AAR. If there are significantly less, then either the wire going into the AAR has worn through its insulation and shorted to the case, or the "resistance wire" has shorted to the case. If there is infinite resistance, then the resistance wire has broken. You can replace the wire with ~13 ohms worth of 1-watt resistors. Hook up one end to the wire coming in through the case, hook the other end to the case. Make sure the connections between the resistors don't touch anything (shrink tubing or tape will work) and make sure that they don't interfere with the valve or the bimetal spring.

The resistors will heat up "about" the same amount as the original resistance wire does. That should close the AAR, if the valve is not frozen.

When you're done messing with the internals of the AAR, you can put it back together again and fold the lip over the lid in a few places. You don't have to make it air-tight.


Uhhh.... This is all in reference to the 1.7 and 2.0 AAR. The 1.8 is somewhat different and I'm not sure how you'd repair that.

--DD