My new coolant temp sensor arrived yesterday – within 24 hours of ordering it from Parts Express. There is good news and bad news:
Good News: I definitely needed a new one since my fuel consumption is now sharply down, and I am not smelling fumes. I have wasted
thousands of dollars on excess fuel over the past year or so because of the failed sensor. This new one will pay for itself well before my next fill-up.
Bad News: The new ECT sensor did not solve the ASR problem.
I was preparing to proceed with the brake switch replacement when another plausible cause surfaced:
About two years ago the vacuum modulator on the transmission failed. My tech plugged the line with a BB and that was that. To compensate for upshift delays I adjusted the Bowden cable -- but it turned out that what I thought was the Bowden cable was, in fact, the accelerator cable, and I set it pretty tight. I am suspecting that the tightness of the cable is not allowing the ETA to operate in a manner acceptable to the ASR computer under cold conditions.
My next course of action will be to loosen the throttle cable and see what impact, if any, that has, then thoroughly clean any visible grime from it and its hinges. Finally, I may replace the brake switch in case it too is faulty. Hopefully this will prove to be the root cause of my problem.