idle speed...

[Anonymous]

when car is started at idle it sounds great and is running fine...when i put it into gear (reverse or drive) it wants to quit.... if i turn the idle up so it is higher when i put it into gear, will it be too high at idle in park??? is there something else that would cause it to try and quit when i put it into gear???

 

[addo]

You are supposed to set the idle with your motor warm, the car in gear if auto, handbrake applied and wheels blocked. Also you must apply electrical load to the system. Run your high beams, aircon or blower, radio, wipers (pull the arms off the glass) and blinkers.

Otherwise, your idle may be too low on a dark rainy night...

 

[Guest]

After you set your idle with the car in gear, try to wind the large idle spring tighter, wind it in the way its already wound, or you can take it off and hand wind it.

I had a problem with my idle being too high in park, and at first it worked where I tapped the throttle to get it back down, but I wound the spring, so it pulls the throttle body back. You can also get a new spring probably somewhere, because they do lose their elasticity over 40 years.

Sounds like 2 problems in one. Idle too low (adjust as forementioned by addo), and idle too high (large idle spring connected to the body or radiator). Id start with the spring, then tune.

Anyone know how hard it is to get another spring? I think mine has had it.

 

[Anonymous]

never new that about how to idle....i thought i had it perfect while in park...but of course wrong again...guess i'll try that out in the morning and see how it sounds in gear then....thanks again, i'll let you know how it turns out.....

 

[Guest]

Can you manually tune a choke? It may be a choke problem. I had a problem similar once, that it idled fine, but under load it just dropped idle. I fine tuned the choke, and it ran so much better.

Chokes are weird sometimes.

What I do is start cold (shut down at least 2 hours) with the choke pulled 1/4 way or more, and let it idle, unscrew the choke linkage, and move the choke flap back and forth until the engine sounds "just right". Then I re tighten the choke linkage. There are also guages for this, that measures the closure of the choke flap, but I think you can get it, and learn something along the way.

The reason I pull the choke 1/4 or more, because youre doing a "cold start", which requires you to pull the choke anyways. Youre just emulating a "cold start" by pulling it, and the engine IS a cold start. .By the time its warmed up (around 3 or 4 minutes), you can push the choke back in.

After all my mishaps and chaos with cars all my life, all my last cars from the last 6 years purred like a kitten...the Falcon purrs better than any other.

Its all an educational experience. What you learn and apply directly affects how good your car runs. Kind of cool.

Then I would say set the idle, b/c the choke has alot to do with the idle consistency, even at warm, if not tuned correctly.