A few months ago it developed engine trouble where the RPMs randomly increased and decreased – so much so that the engine would often just stop when the car slowed down. Not fun on a roundabout or making a right-hand turn – across a lane (driving on the left in Ireland).

The Haynes manual detailed a procedure where I could turn on the engine and connect two terminals of the diagnostic connector (OBD-I) with a thin wire. The engine light would then flash morse code patterns corresponding to various faults that (as listed in the Haynes manual). From this, I was able to tell that the problem was the “airflow meter circuit” and the issue was resolved by replacing the throttle body with that of a similar vintage.