Car will not idle

codyrv32

New Member
Mar 28, 2009
12
0
0
i just installed a new stroker engine on my 95 mustang but we upped the throttle body size to 75mm from 55mm and put headers on it with the stage 2 trickflow cam so its breathing a lot now but if i let off the gas the car seems to die it was timed by a couple friends of mine when i was in the car so i assume they were right when they said its timmed right we bumped it to 13-14 degrees base with the spout out but the car will not idle any suggestions?
 
we messed with the throttle plate screw a little bit and had it idling high around 1k rpm to adjust the IAC how is that done only way i have done it is with a snap on scan tool and u can tell it to go in or out. i know ill need a tune but right now were just trying to get it to run halfway decent till the mail order tune comes in then later after fuel system upgrade and Nitrous go to the dyno.
 
we messed with the throttle plate screw a little bit and had it idling high around 1k rpm to adjust the IAC how is that done only way i have done it is with a snap on scan tool and u can tell it to go in or out. i know ill need a tune but right now were just trying to get it to run halfway decent till the mail order tune comes in then later after fuel system upgrade and Nitrous go to the dyno.

Give us some more info on your combo...opening the throttle stop screw a little bit will bump up the idle and sometimes that will help. Is it revving and then dying or is it just idleing low and then dying?
 
we got it to idle its a little high but it idles at least but on the test drive we noticed that my new king cobra clutch didnt feel too stiff and i had trouble getting into gears not to mention my speedo is just pegged downward. I wont be able to work on it till monday but anybody know if there is a way to stiffen the clutch pedal or what would be causing it not to be as stiff my stock clutch was way stiffer than this. It is a rebuilt T5 with 500 in new forks syncros and some gears i still have my old t5 if i have to throw that in i can if the T5 could of been assembled wrong. But i could still get into gears just not very easy 2nd was really bad and 3rd was annoying at times.

My setup on this car is as follows
331 Stroker GT40 heads intake 75mm tb with CAI and headers
T5 transmission with King Cobra clutch
4.10 31 spline built rear end
 
Yeah i didnt buy an aftermarket clutch cable or any of that just bought the king cobra clutch disc and the pressure plat throw out bearing and a pilot bearing. So i believe it is the stock quadrant
 
Well, usually if you let the tension off the cable to do transmission work the quadrant will go out of adjustment. Basically, you have to get under there and hold the little paw away from the quadrant and take the slack out of the cable, then release the paw. From there it usually clicks and fine tunes itself, at least that's what it's supposed to do.

Either way, you're better off getting an aftermarket setup, use the stock cable with a steeda double hook quadrant or the like and a firewall adjuster. Don't get an aftermarket cable unless you like replacing them once or twice a year!
 
Try resetting your idle with the following procedure. If your idle problem is NOT being caused by a bad part or vacuum leak then I have never seen this not fix the problem!

Begin with a cold vehicle. The idea here is to get the car to a firm cold idle with enough air bleed capacity left in the idle circuit for IAC adjustment.

The idle stop should be set first. Back out the idle stop screw, away from the bell crank arm, until about 1/2 turn past the point where it no longer makes contact (blade fully closed). Using a 0.010" feeler gauge, tighten until gauge just drags between screw and bell crank arm. Remove feeler gauge. Tighten screw exactly 1 1/2 turns. If the screw is very loose, put a drop of loc-tite or silicone on it, so it doesn't work out of adjustment.

Now remove the connector to the Idle Air Controller (IAC) just on the other side of the throttle body. Start the car and allow vehicle to warm for 2 minutes. Give a small "blip" to let it settle. If it is having a hard time staying running you may have to get an assistant until you can get to the front of the car. Now open or close the air bleed screw (CCW opens) next to the IAC until the car idles at 575 to 600 rpm. For guys with aftermarket cams and an EEC tuner, you might want to idle a bit more briskly, say 650 to 675.

Obviously, this rpm range is by what the car and driver wants...IE, no set idle speed, whatever works for YOU.

Turn off the car. Now count the number of turns clockwise to close on the idle air bleed screw. If it falls between 1/2 and 2, it's okay, now reverse it out the same number of turns. Log the number somewhere in case you need it for the future. Reconnect the IAC. You are done.

If the air bleed screw is above 2 turns, it's a good idea to tighten the idle stop screw another 1/2 turn, and then repeat the idle setting. If it is below 1/2 turn, then loosen the idle stop screw by 1/4 to 1/2 a turn, and repeat the idle setting. Be sure to put another drop of silicone RTV on the stop screw if it was disturbed. Reconnect the IAC.

Now remember we adjusted the set screw on the throttle body. That means that the voltage reading from the TPS sensor has changed. It should read between .96 and .99 volts. Anything outside of that range will cause all sorts of issues including misfires and rough idle.

you will have to back probe the TPS connector. With the connector attached to the TPS stick a paper clip into the rubber boot on the connector where the top and middle wires go into the connector. The rubber is very flexible the paper clip will slide in between the rubber and the wire.

Set your multimeter to volts. Turn ignition to ON. Then place your multimeter leads on the metal pins. If it comes up as a negative that is okay as long as you are -.96 to -.99. If you get this reading then great you are done and hopefully your issues are gone. If not proceed to step 9

This is where and extra pair of hands come in handy. Using a large screw driver you will need to loosen the bolts that hold the TPS. DO NOT USE A SCREWDRIVER THAT IS TOO SMALL BECAUSE YOU WILL STRIP THE BOLTS. They probably will be really tight so you have to really lean on the screwdriver and use some finesse.

Once the bolts are loose you will need to move the TPS up or down and continue to read the voltage. Once you get it to the desired setting you can retighten the bolts. What I do is I find .97 and then as carefully as possible I tighten the TPS down. what will happen is the voltage will change usually to .96 or .98 but that it okay. Once you are done with this manually open the throttle body a few times and close it then reread the voltage and make sure it is still within our desired range.

Depending upon how loose your set screw was you might want to cover it in RTV to hold your setting. At this point you have CORRECTLY reset you idle.