Unstable Idle

[audidude@sprynet.com]

It's always something! After curing a bad vacuum leak that caused my 87 CSTQ's 
engine to die when I slowed to a stop and moved my foot off the gas pedal, it 
never ran better. That lasted about a week.  Then, without warning, the engine 
developed a case of the "blips." That is, with the trans in neutral, sitting at 
a light (or wherever) with my foot off the gas, the engine would rapidly (about 
twice/second) cycle between 1400 and 1700 rpm, just as if I was sitting there 
continuouly blipping the throttle. Kind of disconcerting. 

So what causes an unstable idle...a bad or malfunctioning idle stabilizer, as it 
turns out. I remembered reading some time ago that they could be cleaned, so for 
lack of anything better to do I pulled the stabilizer off and cleaned the 
accessible internal areas with spray brake cleaner, followed by WD-40. So far, 
it has cured the problem, and the idle is perfectly stable.  We'll see how long 
it lasts.

FWIW
John Winkelman
Reply to:   audidude@sprynet.com
Alternate:  john.d.winkelman@tek.com