[Walt Fricke]

I figured you hadn't yet become conversant with how CIS works in some detail, and what the many and varied parts do. Your car has parts I don't have memorized, as it is the last US model. Other parts are the same, or at least similar.

There are a variety of Bosch and other manuals for the CIS available on line - they are very helpful with most basic function questions. Less so as, say, a how to on fuel distributor disassembly and reassembly. But at least you learn the functions. The two halves of the FD are separated by a thin stainless steel (I think it is stainless) plate or diaphragm. Most of the holes in it are obvious - for bolts, or for the central fuel control plunger assembly. However, it has one very small hole, which one might even overlook. The otherwise pretty symmetrical diaphragm can only be installed with that tiny hole in one position, as it is critical in the control pressure system. Lots to figure out, but it isn't like understanding quantum mechanics.

You can get, on line, a wiring diagram. The AAR circuitry is, I believe, the same from at least '77 through '83. Its resistance heater, and the resistance heater inside the WUR, are both on the same circuit, and controlled by the fuel pump relay - they should receive 12V whenever the fuel pump is running. You can check the heater in both with an ohmmeter or continuity tester - an open circuit seems the most likely failure.

That AAR isn't working right - putting it in the freezer should open it all the way up, if I recall the test I once did. I don't know what temperature closes it all the way, but I suspect it is well above room temperature - the engine operates at 190-210 degrees F, and a room temperature engine is basically cold. Hook up 12 volts to the AAR, and watch what it does. Won't hurt it. The moving part can get sticky, and can be cleaned.

The WUR can be pretty easily opened and inspected. When open, apply 12V to the heater element, and observe how the bimetal arm moves. (my memory of how hard it is to open the AAR is dim, but most of this stuff can be opened up).

These heaters, by the way, don't care about polarity - two electrical prongs, either can be plus or minus. And good to check the car's wiring. With the engine out of the car, unless you have pulled the relay or something, if you turn the ignition switch to on, the fuel pump should run - which you probably don't want - never good to run it dry, and you don't want to pump fuel. But you can figure out a way to see if you have continuity from the fuel pump relay to the plugs which go into the AAR and WUR heaters. However, chances of the wires being bad aren't awfully high unless the previous owner busied himself with cutting up wiring. Not connecting them, that's an other matter. Somewhere you can find some kind of specs on the AAR, even pictures of it as far open as it should get when cold, and of it shut when hot. Am I right that your pictures show almost no movement?

Opening the fuel distributor isn't all that hard. Putting it back together so it doesn't leak is trickier - I've failed twice, but others have succeeded, and thankfully there are aftermarket repair kits. If you Google around you can find ugly looking pictures of crud in these, and others where they look fine. The most straight forward way to deal with the FD is to test its function without taking it apart, but that calls for a test rig. If the engine were in the car, where you have a working fuel supply system, you can pull the injectors and squirt them into bottles, observing gross deviations in the flow patterns and whatnot. Making your own bench test rig is possible, but a fair amount of what probably is one time work. If you lived in the US, you'd be referred to Tony for a rebuild, but the pond complicates the financial and time part of that. Maybe someone in GB does this kind of stuff?

I'd start searching CIS repair, and similar subjects. You will find Jim's Garage, which is a site with a lot of documentary and diagram resources. And here lots of information - did you search for AAR, for instance, or AAR stuck or AAR test? Lots of good information, and not a whole lot which is wrong.