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idle problems

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Old Jul 5, 2007 | 07:37 PM
  #1  
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p.j.
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From: central ohio
idle problems

when i am sitting at a stop light or i'm sitting letting the truck idle in gear i can hear what sounds like every lifter talking. when it is in park i don't hear it so much. any ideas like maybe a vacuum leak?

and when i start it when cold, sitting for a hour or so, it idles real high for awhile and then calms down. as hot as it is outside i wouldn't think it would need to that. i have found that when i start it and the temp is in the high 80s or hotter it doesn't do it. any ideas?

i have not gotten a CEL in about 3 months. it was the egr position sensor. i changed the tps back in feb. it is an 89 351 by the way.
 
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Old Jul 5, 2007 | 08:36 PM
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I'd have someone pull the codes. Even though the CEL is'nt lit, there still may be some codes. My truck idles high when I first start it up as well. I can either tap the throttle or wait a minute or two for the temp sensor to recognize that the temperature is rising then it drops down itself. Once I restart it after it's warmed up, the resarts are fine.
As far as the lifter ticking noise, exhaust leaks can have that same sound, especially around the exhaust manifold.
 
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Old Jul 7, 2007 | 06:51 PM
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i went out today and took some soapy water and sprayed it around the vacuum lines and i think i might have found one. okay here is where i might sound like an idoit. where the two steel lines come off of the smog pump and go over top of the engine into the two things on the drivers side of the truck they split off and go up and i think into the back of the intake. but i can't see cause of the motor. when i sprayed it i got some big bubbles and after letting the engine run for a couple minutes they quite bubbling whenever i sparyed it. are these vacuum or emissions? i will head back out and check for codes in a couple of minutes.
 
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Old Jul 7, 2007 | 09:19 PM
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What you are describing sounds like the AIR (smog pump) tubes. They should be metal lines that bolt to the rear of the cylinder heads, and you should see large check valves on these tubes as well. These lines have exhaust pressure up to the check valve and if your seeing bubbles and hearing a ticking noise, that may be the culprit. If there's a way you could post a picture of the line, we'll have a better idea of which one you're reffering to.
 
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Old Jul 8, 2007 | 04:31 AM
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Originally Posted by p.j.
and when i start it when cold, sitting for a hour or so, it idles real high for awhile and then calms down. as hot as it is outside i wouldn't think it would need to that. i have found that when i start it and the temp is in the high 80s or hotter it doesn't do it. any ideas?i
That sounds like the auto-choke. Mine does the same, always has. Just warming it up for you
 
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Old Jul 8, 2007 | 08:17 AM
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jade, those are the lines that i am talking about. there is a steel cross tube that runs between them and it has a small rust hole in it and they also have rubber hoses on them that don't have a hose clamp on them.
 
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Old Jul 8, 2007 | 09:20 PM
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That sounds like the AIR tubes. The rust holes would cause the ticking sound, (exhaust leak) but that would'nt have anything to do with the high idle. If it's just doing it when the engine is cold I'm thinking it's normal, mine did it today when I backed it out of the garage and it was in the lower 90's here. If the idle remained high once the engine has warmed up, then I would think there would be a problem.
 
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Old Jul 8, 2007 | 09:31 PM
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I have an f150 with a 5.0 EFI and it idles high for a few minutes no matter what temperature it is outside.
 
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Old Jul 9, 2007 | 12:41 AM
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EGR is behind the motor back there.

my 95 idles high for a bit when you first start it up.

I always break vacume lines loose when i'm near them to make sure they seal well. Just twist them a bit.

IAC runs the idle.
Could be sticking when it first starts.

The injector pulse makes a ticking sound like that also.
 
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