keberoxu:
Thanks for taking the trouble with your vehicles and extensive posting on troubles with such. Sounds like the problem was poor grounding of one of those transducers I was on about in a previous post. Quite frustrating but let me mention one of my auto bete noirs of an earlier part of my life, driving a pre-computer era automobile.
For years I drove a '74 Toyota Corona. I'd traded for it with my brother. He got my '71 BMW 750cc motorcycle. He'd owned the car for its life, I'd owned the motorcycle from a previous owner who'd given it an awesomely bad paint job, but at least it was orange.
Anyhow, the Toyota gave good service, but every so often I'd start it and all the dash lights would sort of blink on, then off, then go dead. The whole car would go dead. For an indeterminate time. Then all would be well, the car would start, drive normally, until days, weeks, months later, any place on earth, any time of day, the blinkin' lights would flash everywhere and the car would shut down for a space of 15 minutes to an hour.
Over time, I began to notice that the problem would usually occur in the wet. New England wet varies from misty to torrent. I could make no other link.
Then, one night in New Hampshire, I was coming home from a camping trip with a buddy of mine. I was tired and he was going to take his turn driving relief. He got in the well-worn driver's seat, inserted the key in the ignition, turned it, and - blinkin' lights, total shutdown and darkness. He was and is a very experienced computer programmer, totally logical mind and scientific attitude, but the car's response was so quirky he immediately declared it hexed and refused to drive it. So, we waited the few minutes it took, I started it the next time and the car responded with perfect behaviour whereupon my friend reinforced that the vehicle was under a spell and only I would be permitted to drive it. This was before Christine by the way. I drove the rest of the way tiredly. Once back in my driveway, I popped the hood (bonnet), and took a look, under the impression that dampness must somehow be shorting out the ignition relay which allowed the entire electrical system to short, but not enough to short the battery itself, 'cause it didn't set it on fire. In the morning dry, there was nothing obviously wet, but there was a rubber weather-strip fastened to the leading edge of the hood (bonnet) and it was torn. I replaced this piece of weather strip, and the problem never recurred.
That car went on to drive me to Alaska.