My Ford Spec book says fast idle 1400 rpm , carbide idle 800/500
My truck idles at 1150rpm warmed up & that seems too high to me what do ya'll think ??????????
Maeby 1400 cold then 800 or so warmed.........1400 seems too high cold too me also..........gotta go 4 now.......have a good day.........

 

Is 1300 rpm warmed up too high ???
I think I have a vacuum leak because idle will not adjust down .
Also I must reset my timing because I tweaked it to the highest vacuum , or close to it because at 20hg it idled at 1400 rpm , so I backed it down to 1300rpm .
I will try to set the timing better tomorrow . I have not adjusted the timing very much so I am dreading it...........
Oh if I have 20hg of vacuum then I should not have a vacuum leak , is this logical ???????

 

What motor (just noticed it's a 302w), carb, stock or modded motor? Pics. Sounds like the high idle circut on the linkage is not letting the butterflies to close down.

 

Motor is 302 with Holley 2300 2 barrel carb , long tube headers , Pertronix dist. & coil , installed new AutoLite plugs yesterday .
Motor was idling @ 1150 rpm before I changed plugs & tweaked dist. & adjusted my manual choke an 1/8" or so because throttle blade was not opening fully .
1150rpm seemed too high too me . Motor is smooth at 1400 ,just seems too fast sitting at a 4 way stop .
Well I bought an advance timing lite , & have to use sometime , now is good a time as any..................ha.............
Would I have 20hg of manifold vacuum at 1400rpm if I have a vacuum leak ? Needle seemed steady . I have 1300rpm @ 19hg or so now.........
My youtube guru says 90% of the time when idle will not adjust down , it usually is a vacuum leak . I turned every screw on the carb but the one right below the manual choke , I forget what screw that is , idle stop screw maybe.

 

When cold and the choke is on then 1300 / 1400 is what it should be.
If your normal temp idle is 1300 RPM yes it is too high.
It should be 800 / 500 (auto / manual).

If you can post up a picture of the carb speed adjustments we can then tell you what dose what.
But till then check to make sure the choke is opening all the way and that the fast idle cam is not hanging up and the cause why the idle will not come down.
The cam is a stair type thing that should move when the choke butterfly moves.
Dave ----

 

Oh you CAN NOT adjust the timing till the idle speed is set to factory (or closer) spec.
Dave ----

 

Will 1400rpm harm the truck on trips across town ..........30 -55 miles or so ?????????????
Do you think I may have a vacuum leak is the problem ????????????
Setting idle before timing was very good information thank-you very much.........

 

I turned the fast idle screw counterclockwise several turns then started Truck , it started at 850rpm the immediately started climbing rapidly to 1300rpm .
Then I shut it off and readjusted the idle screws to 1-3/4 turns out . This did not affect the 1300rpm . When I did these adjustments I kept the distributor vacuum advance connected .
I then tighten the four corner screws of the carb , they were barley snug , now they are snugger ! .... I try not tighten them too much , less is better . I should use a torque wrench but too lazy, I do plan to start using one...........one day..........
I plan to remove the carb tomorrow & check it out . I rebuilt it & have not put 100 miles on it........I probably made a mistake or two & now I know more about carburetors so maybe I will find any problems I may have caused.......
Any advice ?????????
I also checked the float level & some steady drops starting coming out quickly but truck is a little off level so I think it is close to right , but will check again 2morrow !!!
Any advice ???????

 

Ok , It appears the fast idle screw does nothing on my Holley 2300 , 07448 - screw is almost loose and is not snug against the choke cam. It is a manual choke so it may not have a purpose ???.........I got it back all the way out and idle is still 1300 rpm warm...........Cold it is 900 and fluctuates up & down 300 rpms as it rises , the fluctuation is 4 or so seconds in between intervals......Vacuum is solid at 19hg , no fluctuation !!!
Also curb idle seems to not do anything . Screw is backed all the way out and idle is 1300 rpm . I screwed it in a little & no change in rpm . I am going to turn it in a lot & see if it affects the rpms......
Engine runs smooth as a sewing machine ,just idles too fast , no smoke , exhaust may smell a little rich.........
I need help..........ha..........

 

Be sure that the linkage between the gas pedal is not holding the carburetor from closing. The idle mixture metering screws should be 1.5 turns out from lightly seated. Most times around 1 turn in on the stop screw sets the idle speed if the timing is correct and there are no other problems with the engine.

 

Quick recap & update : I am currently in much better mental & physical condition than when I first started on this project/adventure many ,many moons ago
Yesterday & Today I remembered work I did during my frantic/manic period than was acceptable or celebrated at time , but now I revisited the work & somethings were not 100% correct
My accelerator linkage is not opening all the way , but it does close properly ! Also the manual choke was a little off ... etc...etc...
I vaguely think I moved my distributor ( for some good reason @ the time , ha ) months ago , so today after doing several adjustments to al the idle screws , and accelerator pump I still could not get the rpms down , some I moved my distributor to see if that would do it ..........it did..... & brought the vacuum down to 15hg which I do not like !!!
Tomorrow I plan set my timing & float level . If this does not work to my satisfaction , I am going to take off carb & manually set the throttle plates and go from there !!!!!!!
This is my plan ..........
Any advice.........

 

To all that read this..........Hello
This afternoon Took off carb after fuel pressure gauge would not connect to my fuel lines !!!
I may have found the problem , My throttle linkage was not allowing throttle blades to close completely . I did check this thoroughly yesterday but evidently I somehow missed it .
It still may not be the problem because I disconnected the linkage fairly quickly , but it did appear to about 1" of slack still in the double return springs I have
To my amazement the throttle blade were almost perfectly set I say this because I turned the curb idle screw 5 or 6 turns several different times . How they ended up back perfect totally amazes me...............unless they never moved
Anyway will go through carb tomorrow & change a squirter & maybe a jet cause I think truck has been running rich
Wish me luck..............Thankx as always...........

 

Following along, I'm new to these old carbureted engines so no input from me, but fingers crossed that you solve your high idle issues

 

Kenny called it. If you have to move the carb linkage back to hook it up it's to tight.

 

Glad you guys are keeping up !!!
Well just now I adjusted the accelerator pump cam lever & it seems to have too much slack but I followed the instructions as best I could 4 or 5 times at least !!!
I have a book on Holley carbs rebuilding & tuning by Jeff Williams . I rebuilt the carb before and reassembled it right but I realize NOW that I adjusted the pump cam wrong ( I believe )
The book says to turn carb upside down after you close the throttle blades with the curb idle screw making sure the choke cam screw is not binding the throttle lever . Then you open the the throttle blades completely open while you adjust the pump lever with a .015 feeler gauge . I do not remember opening the throttle this way the first time I adjusted the accelerator pump lever . I may have , I do not remember for sure !!!
After following the instructions as best I could several times My accelerator pump arm does not actually engage until about 1/2 inch movement of the throttle . This is much later than I have had it , but this may be why I have thought I was running to rich & plugs were always black from carbon........I also only ran the engine at idle so I thought this was why I had so much carbon...
Anyway does a 1/2 " of throttle movement before the accelerator pump arm moves correct ??? I have an orange pump cam in the #2 position .
Any & all help greatly needed............oh my.................again....................ha