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1980 - 1986 Bullnose F100, F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Early Eighties Bullnose Ford Truck

idle question

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Old Mar 27, 2010 | 11:13 PM
  #1  
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idle question

I have an 81 F150 Ranger XLT with the 300 and a C6/ 9in rear with 3.00 gears.
I think that the idle is screwed up. It idles pretty high when in park, and low when in drive. It stalls out on a up hill incline.

it idles around 1000 in Park and about 450 in drive

what is the problem here, and how would you fix it?

FYI, it has a new carb, fuel pump, and fuel filter.
 
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 01:35 AM
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Im havin similar issues on my '82 with a 300-6 with a rebuilt carb. Goes great when its cold then idles high in park and normal in drive while hot, but smells "off". Some tips would be great, anyone else have some ideas?

P.S. ALL of my (automotive) mechanical experience is with E.F.I.
 
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 01:29 PM
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Make sure your vacuum line going to the dist is plugged into the correct port. Unplug the line and cap off where it came from, and set the idle down to around 800 or lower. Then check where you unplugged the dist vacuum line and see if it has vacuum. It should not. If it does, find a port on the carb that does not have vacuum until you you rev the engine.

If your dist is hooked to manifold vacuum(vacuum all the time) it will cause the engine to act this way.
 
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 02:59 PM
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From: Illernois
I too have somewhat of truckerboys problem. It idles high in park and it idles almost perf in park.

So i went out and checked the vac line to the dist. My line is ran from the drivers side of carb to the dist. But does it sound normal that when i pull my vaccum line off the dist that the idle slows down from when its put back on?

Too me shouldn't it be the opposite way?? Thanks.
 
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 09:35 PM
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But does it sound normal that when i pull my vaccum line off the dist that the idle slows down from when its put back on?
If you have vacuum on the line, yes that's normal, because it's advancing the timing. If you put a timing light on the engine, and pull the line, you will see the timing retard. This is what slows the engine.

If you find a port with no vacuum, then it won't do this. There is also the possibility you can have the idle set too high, and it makes the ported vacuum port that the dist is supposed to be hooked to, start having a little vacuum.

If you want to test this theory and see if the idle problems go away, just unplug the vacuum line to the dist and plug the port on the carb, set the idle speed, and then pull it into drive, and then back to park. If the vacuum on the dist is the problem, your idle speed problem will go away with the dist disconnected.

You can actually drive it this way with the dist line disconnected. It will not do any harm to the engine at all. It will just decrease your fuel mileage some.
 
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