I just spoke with my husband, who's at home with the car.  He did the test on the EGR valve, and the car got noticeably rougher and was about to stall.  He let up on the diaphragm at that point, and it went back to its current level of functioning.  So, I guess it's not that.  Too bad.  I think I could have replaced that myself.  He did notice a knock, though, that made him think a problem with one of the injectors may very well be an issue.  A stuck injector has been suggested to us.  But, we will have to have a mechanic test the injectors, since we don't have anything to do that.  He's going to have it looked at tomorrow to see about the injectors.  We already looked at the injector fuses (along with a number of other fuses) last night, and they're both fine.  

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The car is at the shop and it turned out to be the Optispark.  At just under 100,000 miles, we decided to be prudent and change the water pump at the same time as the distributor.  Thanks to everyone for all the helpful advice.   You guys are great.

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Joel Adams  
My Link

    
(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Back in the old days:

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If it isn't broke, I haven't fixed it yet....

Steve, the good old days have something to be said for them.  These modern cars have a lot more than can go wrong LOL!  

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Sounds like you are dealing with some up standing individuals here. Glad to hear good stories about repairs. Too often we only hear of the not so good experiences.

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Thanks, Brian. The car is now ready, so we'll pick her up after work this evening.  Looking forward to having her back home, and was very happy with the reasonable rate we were charged for the repair.

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I also want to add that my FSM set arrived today, so I'll be checking that out tonight.  And, now that the 95 will be back home, I'm going to try Dave's door lock trick.

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Yay, she's home!  It's good to have all three cars home where they belong.  I haven't driven her yet, as I was driving the 85 home, but my husband said she runs great.  

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Neat. This is the first report that this feature actually "works".  I can't wait to try it during Operations at my next NCRS judging event.  I'm also curious how far back this feature goes, year model wise. I suspect 93, the first year of PKE, but maybe earlier. I don't have Helm's manuals for all the years, so I can't research it on my own. I need empirical input.

Glad you got your 95 fixed. The replacement with the May Suddenly Die opti was probably thought to be an "improvement" at the time it was installedd.  I look for MSD components during any pre-purchase inspection, and if found, consider the cost of replacement with OEM componets into the recommendation/ decision for purchase. MSD stuff is not "very good". It just "MaySuddenlyDie", as you found out.

Haha.  I'd never heard that - May Suddenly Die.  But, that's sure what happened.  It was fine in the morning, then running horribly in the afternoon.  At least I was able to limp home.  Some people end up totally stranded when those go.

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