curb idle speed slows WAY down with hot engine??????????

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'66 'stang, 200 six, c4, 3 row radiator, thick shroud, 160 thermostat, 2 electric fans.......now that it is hot and humid here in new orleans ( 91 temp, 70 humidity) i have been running the a/c a lot. in traffic it heats up to around half scale ( estimate 210 or so) or a little higher stuck in the I-10 nightmare construction zones.

the curb idle speed drops quite a bit as the engine heats up.

how come?? anything wrong i can fix????
 
What kind of vacuum advance circuit do you have? The late model 200’s had a circuit that would increase the RPM through a change in the timing, when the engine temp increased. Yours is going the other way?

Ric.
 
Wow, with all of that on your cooling system you should not be running 210... even in hot temps....

2 Electric fans, shroud, 3-row, and 160 stat?

That is way too high for all that cooling hardware. Something has to be going on inside to cause that engine temp....

2 things.....

Check the timing very carefully.... and check the choke too... run the car and let it get really warm.... turn on the AC and watch the choke plate on the carb, let the car do in the driveway what it does on the street.

You did not mention what carb you are running, but on most carbs with the choke all the way open there is a detent that drops the RPM range to it's lowest point on wide open choke, you can even flop the lever open all the way yourself, see if the engine drops to the RPM range you are experiencing.... if you find that it is too low, adjust the throttle speed screw a tad higher to get more on the bottom end, then you might have to back off the fast idle screw a tad to compensate. there is a fine balance between these two screws and it took me a long time to find the "Happy" place with them both.

If your timing is off the car will run warm too, make sure you are on....

And my last 2 cents, in some cases a cracked head will exhibit this sign, when the car is cool or even warm the crack does not meak too much vacume, once the car gets really hot the crack opens more and more until a drop in vacume causes the car to idle down and run a little rough.
 
One tip I have is to change the thermostat. Go to a 180 or 190. My belief is that sometimes water can flow too quickly and doesn't get a change to cool off in the radiator. I had this problem once in an RX7.

Check your pump? Make sure it is looking good.

Jason
 
choke is opening fully, correctly....i adapted a fairmont electric assit choke on it last winter.

the water pump is new, less than 300 miles on it.

the engine is (supposed) to be a complete rebuilt long block, with less than 6000 miles on it, have the reciept from the previous owner who paid big bucks to have it done.

i have tried a 160, 180, and no thermostat, the 160 seems to be the best compromise down here in new orleans as we have very moderate winters.

the cracked head comment has me wondering........
there is a slight, intermittent miss at idle that i cannot locate, have a black spot on the garage floor right under the tailpipe from every time i start the car up, even though it starts instantly and the choke is functioning properly.....all related to a potential cracked head??
 
A vacuum problem on mine caused a lean condition which resulted in the engine running hot.

Don
 
sounds more like a carb problem to me...I had similar problem...and still do..intermittently...

I had carb adjusted and it was gone..I dont know weither he adjusted the fast idle or choke
 
Black soot under the tailpipe is usually an indication of running rich. Too rich or too lean will cause heating problems - might try and get a vacuum guage and adjust the idle mixture screws to try and improve the situation.
 
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