OK, my 86 GXL just got its new clutch recently. At first, after the install, it drove fine. Idle was right where it normally was--a little less than 1k. But now, with no other changes to the car, it will not idle at all. When I start it, it will hold a bit above 1k and then drom down below 500, and then it stalls. It drives fine, it just will not idle. Is there a connection or something that might be causing this? Nothing that I can think of was disconnected that would do this during the clutch job--throttle cable, etc. The car has just over 101K on it and is all stock. Also, I noticed that I have a very bad bogging around the 3500 if I have my foot in it a bit, but I found the problem here I am pretty sure--the rubber hose that goes to the port actuators looks like it is ripped on one side, so that is going to be replaced tomorrow. But I do not see how that could be connected to this idle problem. Any suggestions?

 

Why did you pull the throttle cable for a clutch change?

The first thing that pops in my head is your tranny-to-firewall ground wire- is that intact?

 

I did not do anything with my throttle cable....that is why I said that nothing that would have affected it was touched, like the throttle cable.
"Nothing that I can think of was DISCONNECTED that would do this during the clutch job--throttle cable, etc. "

As for the ground, I cannot see it from the top, and last I recall, it was visible looking down behind the engine at the firewall, isn't it? But what would a ground like that, from the tranny, do to the engine? Also, there was a ground strap on the driver's side of the exhaust near the muffler. it was snapped during removal of the exhaust by my unknowing helper. This thing about it is that it drove perfectly fine for the first several days, but now it does this each and every time the tach gets down to 1K--it just drops like a rock. i will look for that ground, but I don't know if that would cause all of this...

 

Find your windshield wiper motor on the right side of the firewall...There, now go to the left (directions are as if you were sitting in the car) a bit...You should see a metallic "clip" bolted to the firewall, with a black single wire attached to it. This is your ground, the ONLY ground (other than the neg battery cable at the starter) that bonds your engine to the chassis on a "normal" OEM car. Follow this wire down- it should terminate at a ring terminal, bolted to the top of the tranny bellhousing (S4 NA cars, anyway) with a 10mm bolt. Make sure the wire is secure, and make sure the tranny metal is nice & clean under the terminal...

The bonding strap on your exhaust piping is just for dissipation of static electricity, and is not an electrical ground per se...

Have you pulled anything apart that could possibly cause a vac leak?

 

only one rubber hose by the bac, and that was just so I could get to the slave cylinder easier. But I made sure ot put it back and it is still there now. I will take a quick look for that ground and get back to you. And thanks for the help!

 

The ground is intact. But I did pull off the rubber hose that connects to the aux port system. apparently the previous owner developed a crack in this hose and decided to put some sealant **** on it instead of dropping the couple bucks for the new hose. Could that hose be the cause of a vac leak? I know that exhaust comes from the cat and goes thru this hose to move the actuators, but when it is at lower rpms and the 6-ports are not functioning anyways, would that cause a vac leak? If so, then this is most likely the entire problem right here.