Car won't idle or run correctly

5.0 Nostalgia

10 Year Member
Feb 28, 2003
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5
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Today I started my LX to take it out. I had not started it in about a week. The car does not get too much road time, especially in the winter. The car started to idle really rough, then stalled. Started it again, and it idled rough, but did not stall. I let the car run for 10 minutes then took it around the neighborhood. Idled rough the whole time but seemed to run. Almost stalled once while I was driving. This problem occured a couple months ago, but seemed to go away.

Some possible problems:
- I have the idle adjustment plate that goes in between the TB and IAC. I took this off a couple weeks ago and forgot what direction to put it back on. Does the side with the springs go on the left or right? I have it on the right.

- When this problem originally started happening, the engine had gotten snow on it because the car was parked outside and I had to move it. I had the hood open during the snow storm because my battery was dead and I had to jump the car. I know this was stupid but at the time I had to move the car. Anyway, the car would keep stalling when I tried to start it for a couple weeks. How long would it take for the engine to dry out? I bring this up because last week I washed the engine compartment of my car. I covered the distributor, coil, alternator, electric fan, etc. When I pulled the car back in the garage, it ran fine. If something is wet, would it take this long to dry?

- I noticed that after I turned the car off after I took it out I heard what sounded like some liquid slushing around somewhere between the engine compartment and the dash. I got out to see if anything was leaking and there was nothing on the ground. I changed the oil today before starting the car and there was no water in it. It is common to hear some noises after turning your car off, but this lasted for what seemed like a minute.

Sorry for making this so long, but I want to make sure I put in everything that happened to give as good a picture of my situation as possible. Thanks for your help.
 
When it is cold, water can take a long time to evaporate, if at all. Remove your distributor cap and wipe it dry. Spray a little WD 40 in it if you see any evidence of moisture. Dry the wires off and use a little WD 40 there as well.
 
Thanks for the input. I started the car again today. It stalled the first attempt, but held idle on the second attempt. Idle was still a little rough though. I checked the cap and rotor and they were dry. Didn't pull any plugs. Interesting about the EGR. I will have to look at that. Like I wrote before, I have the idle adjustment plate between the TB and IAC. Not sure if I put it on correctly though. I have the part with the big opening facing the inside.