Resuscitating the G20

About the time Ian was born, the G20 started performing lousy. The idle was rough, and I had hardly any power (i.e., going up hills was very challenging--I'd floor the gas pedal, but the car wouldn't respond and would even slow down). It had acted the same while I was storing it for the year before we gave up the Corolla, but it magically started running better after I started driving it regularly. But after six or seven months it started acting up again.

I had my friend Greg help me give the G-car a tune-up (new spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor, and fuel filter), but that didn't help (although the car needed these things anyway). I had a hunch I needed new fuel injectors. And with the help of some buddies on G20.net, I was able to get some injectors out of a low-mileage Japanese engine for cheap and had help installing them in my engine. When I cranked the engine for the first time, I immediately knew we had solved the problem: it idled smoothly at the correct RPMs, and when I took it for a test drive, we almost got whiplash because I wasn't ready for the car being able to accelerate like normal.

I really do like working on my car, so I'm glad I've met people who are willing to help and mentor me. But don't expect me to be the guy that can just come over and diagnose and solve all of your car problems.

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