It’s definitely getting more challenging to find good parts these days.

I would use either silicone grease or Vaseline

Oh, sorry to hear about Dave. Yes he was active here. He will be missed.

Yes. Maybe I’ll remember to check it when it gets cold.

Good stuff Richard. I know you know way more about these than I do, but my understanding is that the AC does come on when you select Defrost/Demist no matter how cold the ambient temperature is.

Congratulations Richard and Dina!

I see. That makes more sense.

That is true.

But I do really like a good old fashioned paper copy in the garage. I can easily scribble any notes I would like for the next time I do the job.

The viscous fan drawing so much power that it was hard to start? I would never have believed this, partly because starting RPM is low, and I would have thought that even a direct drive fan wouldn’t have drawn much power at that low of an RPM.

Take it from a Canadian (our winters can get very cold). Cold engines are hard to crank. With our thinner oils these days it’s not as bad (but a lot of you folks in the UK are still using 20-50, which makes sense in your climate). In the cold, the oil gets thicker, the battery is less efficient. There may be other reasons as well, but cold engines are hard to crank.

Starter motor may be likely. As others have said, ensure all the main connections (positive and negative) are clean (probably not the most likely but it’s free, other than your time). My first replacement would be the battery (again, perhaps not the most likely, but you said you know it’s not the healthiest, so you’re replacing it soon anyway, so really no extra cost). But you did say you might have a spare starter, so that’s also free.

To get the fan off, I use a real (IIRC 36mm) wrench and tap (hit) it with a hammer. The thin walled wrenches they sell as fan wrenches are too flimsy to break the fan attach nut free. Once it’s broken free the fan wrench works great.

Unless the axle housing is bent, I’m pretty sure you can’t have any toe in or out on the rear axle.

“Not a bad result”! I’ll say! For a vehicle with 517,000 miles. Great work Richard.

I use Dinitrol, but I’m an Aircraft Mechanic and I get expired product for free.

Let us know how it goes. Removing the upper intake isn’t very difficult or time consuming.

For sure your arcing wires will contribute to your misfire. Wires are very easy to change on GEMS engines (pre ‘99). On Bosch engines some disassembly of the upper intake is usually required (though some people can do the job without disassembly).

Cracked block is highly unlikely.

It wouldn’t cause a misfire (unless the leak is very bad and fresh air gets to your O2 sensor). I’m not saying this is your issue, just that small exhaust leaks can present themselves as ticks. Like you did before, you can use your stethoscope and probe around with an exhaust leak in mind.