I missed something out on the thread.
A few days ago the car was running fine, I checked the ECU with an OBD reader and it had an error code stored P1640, which is really P1641, don't ask.
Cleared it and a few hours later went out for lunch
The car wouldn't start. Quick call to International Rescue (aka better half) and a second car appeared, complete with jump leads & tools. Short trip to pick up the spare ECU and Tech II resulted in another apparent loss of the ECU connection. So, I swapped ECU's around, reprogrammed the Immo code (now I understand what happens here, thanks Audax), and she started.
I have run her for two days without problem, confidence is returning
Thinking about things, it may be this was the reason the car was taken off the road 11 years ago. Clues:
- The sound insulation trim above the pedals is in the boot
- One of the spring nuts was missing from the aquarium, so one screw was simply sat in there
- The ECU just seemed to slide into place, no fixings to remove
I did have some vacuum pipe available, so replaced all 3 pieces. The gauge is working properly and the needle goes just into the red area. Just as I remember it
Doing that job allowed me to see a couple of small slits in the pre warming pipe to the throttle body. Just close enough to the end that I could shorten the pipe & stretch it to fit back in place. Now water tight and a replacement will be on order
I have been prepping the green 9-5 for MOT, that's now ready, so the 9000 is ready for a new thermostat to be fitted. It looks a bit more fiddly than the 9-5, but at least it's the same component, so I have one on the shelf