Wohhoo. It was the alda. Runs like a 2.5T now. Shifts perfect. I forgot to mention i was fueling it from a jug under the hood already and fuel filter looked newish. Judging by how fast the return fuel was coming -- like 1 pint a minute -- i figured there was no fuel restriction.

This was an after market alda i think. It had a little nipple that the vacuum line plugged into and it hung down right in the way of getting your wrench on it. and it would not spin to get out of my way. I had cruise control off and the washer bottle out. I broke nipple off. still could not get a wrench on that skinny alda nut. The wrench was bigger than the nut. I needed a skinny spanner like 1/8th inch thick to get on it. Otherwise it was bumping into the big nut.

Well there's more than one way to get the alda off. Finally, I chiseled it off. I'll post pics . A screwdriver placed at bottom ring on alda , right above bottom ring, aiming slightly down, BAMM! . punches a whole right in it. Do that all the way around like opening a can of soup with a swiss army knife. You can spin alda with big pair of channel locks. That top pot can part just spins on the bottom base that has the vacuum connection.

Highly recommend this method if you don't want your alda and cant get it off the right way. Thanks for help. I can't believe the alda completely disabled the car like this. Anyone ever had one so bad before?

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What Would Rudolph Do?
1975 300D, 1975 240D, 1985 300SD, 1997 300D, 2005 E320 , 2006 Toyota Prius