Well, I worked all last week trying to figure out what was wrong with my 86 240 wagon. My sister was driving and said it just quit and made a squealing noise, then stopped dead. Hmmmmmm!

I checked the battery output - 13.7. I checked for a small drain of the battery (none) and put a new negative ground cable on it. I decided to trade in my Diehard on a new one ($15) with the pro-rated deal. The car seemed fine this week. I even bought a new (sorry Don) FI relay to put in it - but waited on that!

On Friday night at 5pm the car stopped dead about 10 miles away. I quickly drove for the rescue waiting to hear this squealing noise. I fired it up and it squealed like a stuck ....whatever and immediately killed the car. I thought it might be an alternator bearing, until I looked inside - she had the ac switch on (20 degrees outside) and the compressor was locking up. Turned it off and drove home.

I assume I can drive it all winter with the AC switch off (plus I disconnected the power plug at the AC compressor). Any danger of the whole thing locking up??? It seems fine, but I was mad that I could not leave the whole ac belt off (no ps then) like the 740 wagon.

Today I put in the new FI relay and noticed the old one had a 1986 date on it - so it was original. I swear the car idled better after I put the new one in?? Or I could be nuts - the old relay will become a candidate for Don Foster's surgery 101!