Still dealing with a nagging poor running, stalling problem...

The sender has cylindrical threads (not tapered), so no teflon tape. You will need a new crush washer, though. There will be coolant. I would just put a rag under the sender. As you pull out the old sender, plug the hole with your finger as you fumble for the new one. Do this with a cold engine so there is no residual pressure in the system.
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To add... is there a trick to getting the connector off, or should it pull straight out? Mine isn’t being cooperative.
 
They are not known to cooperate... There is a metal wire clip that holds the connector in place, and I have not found an elegant way to undo it. I use a pair of picks to lift the wire on both sides of the connector. There is a rubber seal in the connector that easily falls out, so look for it as you unplug.

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Ok... report time. Hesitantly, and with fingers crossed, I think we might have gotten it right.

The part arrived from Midwest Bayless about an hour ago. I had a few minutes, so I headed out to the garage. In trying to remove the connector, I ended up pulling the wires out-- oops. Took a bit of fiddling around trying to find an angle to get the wrench onto the old sensor. Got it out, got the new one in, and only lost an ounce or two of antifreeze in the process! Had to work a bit to get the pins back into the connector, and got the connector reinstalled.

Go to start the car, and it doesn't want to start... it just really, really didn't want to start. Just cranked and cranked with no popping or attempting to catch. Gave it a shot of ether (which I hate doing) and it finally started. Idled fine, at about 800rpm, when cold. As it started to warm up, the idle dropped to around 500rpm, and it wanted to stall... but didn't. I goosed it a bit, and it came back to life. Used a piece of duct tape to hold the idle around 1000rpm, and it proceeded to run fine for the next 30 minutes. As soon as I removed the tape, the idle dropped back down again, and it wanted to stall (but didn't!). I also stopped and restarted it a couple of times, and it started back up fine when warm, which it hasn't been doing.

When it finally stops raining (it's rained every day here since the middle of June), I'm going to make an appointment to get it inspected, and say a little prayer than it makes it there without leaving me stranded!

So I'm left with 2 questions...

- I've read the section of the FSM that talks about how to adjust the idle, and I don't really understand what it wants me to do. I'd welcome any explanation. I'd like to bring it up to run about 1000rpm when warm-- it seemed happy there.

- As noted in one of the early posts in this thread, the temp gauge doesn't move as the car warms up. I do have a spare dash, and can swap that in to see if the gauge itself has gone bad, but I'm open to any other troubleshooting ideas you guys might have.

As always, thanks for your patience, responsiveness, and willingness to help.
 
There are two places that need to be adjusted to get the idle right: The idle screw (controls the amount of air that bypasses the throttle) and the throttle stop screw. In addition, you should make sure the throttle is not hanging up on the throttle switches (black box opposite the throttle stop screw). Do this with a fully warmed up engine, and use a proper tachometer (do not rely on the one in the dash).


  1. Start by loosening the screws for the throttle switch assembly.
  2. Undo the jam nut for the throttle stop and tighten the screw a few turns to increase the idle (just to make sure the engine does not stall in the next step).
  3. Loosen the jam nut for the idle screw and screw the idle screw all the way in.
  4. Adjust the throttle stop screw until the idle is 100 RPM below where you want it to be (so, adjust for 700 - 800 RPM), then tighten the jam nut. You'll probably find that tightening the jam nut changes the idle just a tad, so fine tune the stop screw as you tighten the jam nut.
  5. Open up the idle screw until the idle is 100 RPM higher than what you had in step 4, and tighten the jam nut. Again, the idle will probably change a bit as you tighten the jam not, so readjust as needed.
  6. Turn off the engine.
  7. Adjust the throttle switch assembly so that the idle switch is closed at idle. You can hear / feel the switch open and close, or you can use a meter to test for continuity.
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As for the temperature gauge, I would suspect the sender and wiring before the gauge. Have a look above the #2 spark plug, and you should see two gizmos. One is the thermo-time switch for the FI system (two wires) and the other is the sender for the coolant temperature gauge (one wire). Is the wire for the temp sender connected?
 
Before you attempt to adjust idle speed with the idle screw as outlined above, you should make sure the idle passages are clear. These passages are pretty narrow and clog up with gunk easily. Carb cleaner sprayed down into those passages works pretty well to clean them out.
To clean out the idle passages remove the screw Start by placing a screwdriver into the screw, to hold it in position when you back the jam nut off. Then remove the jam nut. Once the jam nut is off, turn the screw in, counting the number of turns, until the screw bottoms out. Remember the number of turns so you can return the screw to the same position after the passages have been cleaned out. This will allow you to begin the adjustment procedure from the same setting the screw was in before you removed the screw to clean things up. If you're lucky the original setting will be spot on!
 
ng_randolph said:
As for the temperature gauge, I would suspect the sender and wiring before the gauge. Have a look above the #2 spark plug, and you should see two gizmos. One is the thermo-time switch for the FI system (two wires) and the other is the sender for the coolant temperature gauge (one wire). Is the wire for the temp sender connected?
Click to expand...
Aha! Wire had come disconnected.

It finally stopped raining, but it’s 90+ and very humid right now. I’ll fool with the idle in the next few days.
 
To confirm, this is all done with the engine running, correct? I shouldn’t be turning it on and off in between steps, right?
 
Minor adjustment of the throttle stop seems to have gotten me where I needed to be. Is there any reason to touch the rest?
 
Im having a very similar problem. Car starts up normally but after driving about 2-3 blocks, it starts to bogg down , wont rev , and wants to stall. After a few minutes of restarting and keeping it running , it starts running normal and is completely fine?!

So, does this point to the $16 Coolant temperature sensor or the $200+ Cold Start Fuel Injector valve?
 
Todd968 said:
Im having a very similar problem. Car starts up normally but after driving about 2-3 blocks, it starts to bogg down , wont rev , and wants to stall. After a few minutes of restarting and keeping it running , it starts running normal and is completely fine?!

So, does this point to the $16 Coolant temperature sensor or the $200+ Cold Start Fuel Injector valve?
Click to expand...
The coolant temperature sensor, the cold start injector only runs for a few seconds after starting. Unless it is leaking.

Try unplugging the cold start electrical connector. It will start harder but it should still start.

I would recommend going through the FI Procedure manual, your problem could be quite different from his.
 
Update: I changed the Water Temperature Sensor and that seems to have fixed the issue. I’ve taken the car out on a few drives from cold start and it seems to be running fine now. Thank you, to fellow forum members. I hope this thread can serve to help others in similar situations.
 
Thank you very much for following up on what caused the issue and how it was resolved.
 
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