Hi guys, im having trouble. Its an 87 Cutlass Salon 5.0l (307) auto. Just the other day i got in it to let it run for a while (as i dont drive her that much). But she will not idle. If i keep my foot on the gas and keep it above say 1000rpm shell run. Ive done the simple checks, gas is good, spark seems fine, but she just seems to start missing and die when i let off or try to keep it running at low rpm. Choke seems like its working ok, but i can move the blade on top of the carb and keep it somewhat running.(i guess im choking it manually to keep it running). Any ideas? I know this is a broad subject, but finding guys to work on these cars are getting hard these days. She is all original under the hood nothing has been took off , and all the vacuum lines were replaced by me a couple years ago because most of them were dryrotted.
87 Cutlass Salon 307 wont idle....
- Thread starter Raven87
- Start date
- Status
Carb probably needs some adjusting. Might want to do a 'smoke test' for your intake manifold gasket too. If your intake manifold gasket is bad same symptoms. I would start w/ the carb and if you can't get solve the problem there it could be the intake then. If it's the intake manifold / it's gasket you shouldn't drive the car until it's fixed or you might get stranded then. One really cheap fix it could also be but probably isnt: spark plugs. Really cheap thing to try if you haven't re-done them in a while.
when was the last time you took the car for a good long drive? The gas that we have these days have alot of additives that can leave deposits if left to sit.
Last edited:
I try to drive her at least once or twice a month.(pitiful i know) I do start it and let it run for a good 30 mins at least once a week. I thought about the gas, ive done poured about 5 gal of 93oct in it to be sure. After work im going to go home and tinker some more, buddy said check all my vacuum lines so im going to start there. I will let you know though. This has been like an overnight thing too, she has always started and ran so good, then BOOM.
No, i dont own a dwell meter. How would you check , i may be able to borrow one.
I would disconnect the fuel feed and plug it up, then start the car and let it run till all the gas is gone from the carb. That will clean out anything that may be interfering with the valve from seating properly. I've had a carb that was running great until would not idle from being rich and that trick cured it.
Ok, got home from work, tinkered....Still no answers. Distributor is ok not loose. I cannot find any vacumm leaks. Went ahead put a new fuel filter in the carb, no effect. Got mad.......Took the top of the carb off, checked inside to see if it was gummed up, full of trash, Nope. Made sure float still floats-it does.Put back together, no effect.Got madder, pulled plugs, they all look alike-kinda a whitish-orangeish color(not carboned up)......
Heres what i do know - once you get it started(and its not hard to start turns over nice and sloothly like always), if you work the choke butterfly you can keep it running that way. OR if you hold the main throttle and try to maintain a low RPM, she just seems like shes missing like crazy, but it smoothes out when you rev it up some( +1500 RPM). I did notice that if your behind the car, its very rich(eyes watering). It was the other day too.
Im starting to wonder if its ignition related.....cap and rotor still look new(replaced maybe 4-5 years ago along with plugs and wires)and like i said shes lucky to get maybe 500 miles a year.
I do know it has the 7 pin ign module, looked at it(seems like the original). Would the module or the pickup give this effect? maybe weak coil?
Heres what i do know - once you get it started(and its not hard to start turns over nice and sloothly like always), if you work the choke butterfly you can keep it running that way. OR if you hold the main throttle and try to maintain a low RPM, she just seems like shes missing like crazy, but it smoothes out when you rev it up some( +1500 RPM). I did notice that if your behind the car, its very rich(eyes watering). It was the other day too.
Im starting to wonder if its ignition related.....cap and rotor still look new(replaced maybe 4-5 years ago along with plugs and wires)and like i said shes lucky to get maybe 500 miles a year.
I do know it has the 7 pin ign module, looked at it(seems like the original). Would the module or the pickup give this effect? maybe weak coil?
Last edited:
- Status
Similar threads
