my '80 doesn't want to keep idle
 

hello all, im new here.
I just recently purchased the car. The upkeep on this car was great so I didn't expect any problems. But half way driving home, the car would not keep idle. It would just go lower and lower until it died when I had the engine in neutral. I would have to keep my foot on the gas so the car wouldn't die. There seems like no performance problems just the idle would not stay. The vaccum lines seem alright, i sprayed starter fluid and didn't find any vacuum leaks. the idle is not rough either. if i lightly put my foot on the pedal, i can keep the idle up w/ no problems. but there is no play in the throttle either. weird. What do you guys think?
Mike

first mess with your air fuel mix. maybe you need to richen it up or possibly lean it out. also, mess with your idle adjuster and bring it up a bit and see if you can atleast get it to idle at all. if not then you have a carb problem most likely.

it seems everyones car is doing this right now. the stars must be aligned or something

is there a reference section that points out where the air/fuel mixture screw is? I ordered a service manual but it wont get in till next week. Im really impatient and want to work on my car now! haha.

Turn up the idle first. One it will idle, then play with the air/fuel mix. You'll need a vacuum gauge to adjust it properly.
Not sure about the 80 carbs, never played with one. Towards the firewall, where the throttle cable attaches there should be a screw that acts as a stopper for the throttle linkage. It's towards the bottom of the carb.

Haha so true. My problem is choke related, but it might be the way the moon sits in the night sky too.

On the '80 carbs, there are two screws on the bottom of the carb, facing inboard. The top screw is the idle screw, and the bottom is the mixture screw. You want to screw in the idle screw a bit to raise the rpms, then balance it out with the mixture screw until it idles smoothly, without loping or surging. It may take several tries to get it right, as the two adjustments interact with each other, and leaning it out will change the rpms, too. Also, before you start, turn both screws all the way in and count the number of turns. Save that information so that you can always go back to where you started in case you become befuddled. Good luck! -WG

are they the 2 screws that face towards the driver side? the top screw being bronze, and the bottom being plasic? top idle, plasic one being the air/fuel mix?
thanks for your help everyone
Mike

Yes, that is correct. You'll need to take the little plastic cover off the bottom screw so you can turn it.

rad!

ok, wacky, now i once turned my air/fuel screw to where it idled way way smooth, but it was like 10 turns out. i didnt keep it that way cause i felt it was probably way way way too rich. or is running that damn rich ok? haha

where is the fuel filter located at?