Re: High Idle problems

[rdh@sli.com (Robert D. Houk)]

   > Mike make sure you turn that screw way down (think mine backed out to the
   > tune of 6 or 7 turns), you should be able to stall the car (almost) as you
   > reach the limits of the stabilizer...

   6 OR 7 TURNS?????  Mine (hers, whatever) only turns a TOTAL of 1.5, stop to

Yes, many turns. On mine, a half turn is 50-100 rpm effect, on average.

   stop.  I turned the screw in as far as it would go, then turned it out as far
   as it would go, and 1.5 turns was the total distance from top to bottom.  Now,
   I didn't crank hard on the screw, figured that when it got tight that was the
   end of the usefull adjustment area.  Anyway, turning this screw had a very
   negligeable effect, RPM's fluctuated about 100 from all the way in to all the

There's no "stop" on backing it out, it just unscrews completely and comes
out. I hope we're talking about the same screw . . . on mine ('83 UrQ), it
is on top of the throttle body, in a casting that completely encloses the
screw, pretty much centered "above" the throttle plate. This is *NOT* the
screw on the throttle that physically acts at the throttle stop to arrest
the throttle movement at idle.

The idle air adjust is a brass screw (mine...) with a slight taper to the
screw head, and a fairly deep slot. It is about 1/4 inch diameter, and 
about an inch long. There is an O-ring (and groove) near the top of the
screw, above the threads and below the slot. The "bottom" of the screw
is not "pointy" (like a "needle valve") but rather flattened.

Odds are, your O-ring is shot by now ...

   way out.  Is it possible the screw got all messed up inside some how?  I did
   spray carb cleaner over the screw, but nothing happened when I did.  Someone
   mentioned that air was supposed to bleed in around this screw, I think.  If

Not quite (although that's what I thought for the longest time...). The idle
air adjust bleeds air around the throttle plate. It does NOT bleed in out-
side air, so it is "good" that carb cleaner didn't get sucked in. (Paren-
thetically, I'll add that I use water -- it's cheaper and just as effective.)
The O-ring keeps outside air out, thus bleeding just "metered" air around
the closed throttle plate, so "just right" amount of gas is injected.

   this is the case, shouldn't the idle have fluctuated when I doused the screw
   with carb/throttle body cleaner?  Maybe I have more problems than I thought...
    I centainly didn't get anywhere near stalling the car, RPM's dropped to a low
   of 1,750 when I had the screw turned all the way in.  Damn, this is a
   nightmare...

On mine, when I bought the car (used), the O-ring had basically disinte-
grated. Some years later, when I tried to adjust the idle (on a new head,
which is another $tory), I discovered the idle air screw was FROZEN in
place. I had to drill the <xxx>er out. Fortunately, replacement was sub-
stantially less than the usual $500 minimum . . . and came with a new O-
ring as well . . . By the way, .30 Caliber brass cleaning brushes (avail-
able at just about any gun store...) are just right for cleaning out the
threads, just chuck it in your conveniently-at-hand reversible electric
drill, and brush it in, reverse, brush it out, repeat a coupla times.

					-RDH