crazy idle

[84-150]

i have an 84 f150 starts fine warms up good until choke kicks off, then it idles very rough almost dies then revs up, while driving down the road when you push in the clutch you have to wait for it to idle down so you can change gears, yet at a redlight it wants to die. Im at a loss on where to start with this any help would be great thank you.

[Franklin2]

What engine? If it's a six, then take the carb off and make sure the bolts that hold the carb together are tight.

[84-150]

yeah, its the six i will try that thanks

[1986F150six]

I agree with what Franklin2 suggested, plus check for vacuum leaks [all hoses as well as manifolds]. Your 1984, if still original, has a feed back carburetor, which is controlled by a computor. If a vacuum leak is present, the computor will constantly be trying to correct and drivability will be adversly affected.

Welcome to the forum!

[sivart]

My old 86 (300-6) did the same thing. For some reason the carb bolts would loosen up from time to time and run just like you described.

[84-150]

ok carb bolts are tight, i got the truck off my grandpa who said those bolts have been tightened twice. I unhooked some round thing on the back of carb, it runs considerably better now although it still idles too high, and the idle screw is stripped out lol. I have worked on cars for years, but this is my first carb and im lost. This truck still has all the original pollution controls on it also, so im just kinda going on trial and error, so any suggestions you guys have i greatly appreciate.