Engine Will Not Idle

[norcalsvt]

Going crazy. Couldn't get the Street Avenger to drive without sputtering. It was a long drive home on the streets since I didn't trust it on the freeway. Put my Dp back on & now it idles for a few seconds & then it dies. Before I put the avenger on a few days ago, the Dp ran good. Starts up no problem idles initially around 1100 rpms, then the rpms slowy gets lower until it dies. I can rev the engine good, no hesitation or stumble, but when I takle my foot off the gas it dies. Tried all afternoon & night. Not sure if a carb problem or something else. Sprayed carb cleaner around carb & manifold & no rpm change. New hose on power brake & PCV, no change. I did notice the #1 plug wire came loose from the cap at the distributor & thought that would be it, but when I crimped it back together & reinstalled, no luck. Wondering if I can buy a single plug wire to replace the one in case my crimping job wasn't any good. It's a Mallory 8mm red. I now have to try & find a ride to work tomorrow. Hopefully someone has an idea of what I should do.

 

[grego37]

double check your timing then address the carb. maybe the idle circuit.
1100rpm at idle? does it need to be that high?

 

[ForceFed70]

Grab a cheap fuel pressure guage. Sounds like your fuel pump might be on it's way out.

 

[mustangdave]

Swap out someones plug wire. If that doesn't work, check the fuel pressure, float, look for gas leaks...

 

[hrspwrjunkie]

Going crazy. Couldn't get the Street Avenger to drive without sputtering. It was a long drive home on the streets since I didn't trust it on the freeway. Put my Dp back on & now it idles for a few seconds & then it dies. Before I put the avenger on a few days ago, the Dp ran good. Starts up no problem idles initially around 1100 rpms, then the rpms slowy gets lower until it dies. I can rev the engine good, no hesitation or stumble, but when I takle my foot off the gas it dies. Tried all afternoon & night. Not sure if a carb problem or something else. Sprayed carb cleaner around carb & manifold & no rpm change. New hose on power brake & PCV, no change. I did notice the #1 plug wire came loose from the cap at the distributor & thought that would be it, but when I crimped it back together & reinstalled, no luck. Wondering if I can buy a single plug wire to replace the one in case my crimping job wasn't any good. It's a Mallory 8mm red. I now have to try & find a ride to work tomorrow. Hopefully someone has an idea of what I should do.

That definitely sounds like fuel starvation...probably not a plugged idle circuit because it changes over time and a plugged idle circuit will be constant. It sounds to me like a fuel delivery issue (either plugged line and filter or bad pump) or a problem with the float.

 

[Max Power]

If it happened with both carbs, don't worry about the floats.

Probably a pump or filter.

 

[norcalsvt]

I will change the filter again. I just bought a fuel guage & a cheapo spark plug wire. I'll install those & see if I get lucky

 

[67coupe351w]

I will change the filter again. I just bought a fuel guage & a cheapo spark plug wire. I'll install those & see if I get lucky

I had a 302 give me the same kind of problem with 2 diffrent carbs.

It turned out I had a kink in a fuel line back near the tank that only was there durring suction from the pump so the engine would run until the carb ran out of gas.

I had inspected the fuel lines before but they all looked ok. I by chance went underneath just after it died and saw the kink slowly going away. Had I not found that I would have set the thing on fire.