Thanks very much for this help. I will take a look for my fuel injectors tomorrow. The photo in the Haynes manual shows a very obvious distributor cap-looking contraption (
edit: ummm, yeah, that would be the fuel distributor) at the front left of the engine compartment (where my big flat box thingy is) with very obvious fuel lines running to the engine at the front of the intake manifold...which is why I thought mine was carburated, it looks noting like that!
The engine turns over good, so I'm sure that's nothing to worry about, but it has crossed my mind that a problem with the fuel system may have led to leaking fuel, so I may not have the full tank of gas I thought I had. I did check for leaks, but that was after I'd driven briefly in my parking lot by slipping the clutch, and started the car several times just to see how it was responding...plenty of time/opportunity for the gas to leak out and evaporate without me noticing. I did notice a slight fuel smell the last few times it was started.
I will check the owners manual for fuel system info, as I know it does list a bunch of specifications in there. For some reason I never thought of that and have been going crazy searching all kinds of resources trying to figure out what kind of stuff I actually have under my hood.
When I investigated the throttle cable, I was able to tighten it on the engine end, and I was able to tighten the bolt to where it pulled the throttle valve open...from my very limited knowledge and experience, the engine end of the throttle cable seems fine. But tightening it made no difference to the gas pedal, it still just sits flat on the floor, I can lift it but it just falls back down. I think I may just go ahead and replace the cable and spring...are there any other components that would be good to replace at the same time? I'll take a closer look at the engine end of things, and see if I can figure out how to access the pedal end of the mechanisms tomorrow and let you know what I've found (or not found).
Thanks again...I really can't thank you enough. I couldn't afford a mechanic if my life depended on it, so if I don't get my car fixed this way, it won't be getting fixed (at least not while in my possession).
Did I say thank you?
