went to adjust my idle the other day, and the screw seems to have a gap between it and the throttle lever. its maybe 2mm gap. I adjusted the TPS back to about stock settings (as close to 1k ohms as i could get), and now the car will idle for about 20-30 seconds once fully warm, but then dies, and when its cold it just dies. any help?

 

assuming this is turbo?

if not, i have no idea which screw you are referring to...

if it is turbo then there is some other reason why it needs the throttle open that far in order to idle.

 

sorry yeah the car is a 1987 turbo 2. stock ecu with FCD
the strange part is i cant even pull the throttle lever close the to idle screw so its like the throttle is closed all the way, but the screw just isnt long enough to hold it open enough to idle when its cold. i tried adjusting the BAC but nothing happened. any suggestions of what i should do or check if it isnt the screw being too short?

 

thermowax is likely holding the throttle partly open, even if it was bypassed.

reasons for the idle to need to be adjusted that far would be ignition timing off, leading plugs not firing, extremely dirty air filter, rag or other foreign object in intake, extremely clogged exhaust and last but not least- low engine compression.

 

im going to try checking the timing first. PO said he changed the ignition coils to JDM s5 ones so maybe thats it. I just replaced the plugs and wires, and the air filter is quite clean. thanks. hopefully its not low compression. car is running better and better every day so maybe thats the last thing i need to do.

 

Jdm s5 coils?

Show us these coils

 

i wouldnt be surprised if they were the same as any other ignition coil, but the PO said he got them from a friends RHD s5. but with how much he said was done and how well it wasnt really maintained when he said it was, idk what to believe at this point.

 

Ahhh, JDM coils. Everyone knows the electricity flows backwards through them so that's probably your problem!

Way back when I was futzing around with that idle screw I had the same problem you had (well, not the length problem) and got some more length by moving the nut to the opposite side. It buys you a bit more length. Oh...and whatever you do DO NOT drop that nut, its a royal pain in the but to find a new one since its a fine threaded rod.

 

I'd focus on the thermowax and fast idle mechanism first, and that also means your tps may be off.