Where to look?

[VTEC_Inside]

I hate to add another thread in a sea cluttered with various carb problems, but I searched and couldn't find anything similar to my current issue.

Its a minor one, but...

The car cold starts fine, choke opens fully fine, and generally idles/runs fine. Well maybe a little bit shaky idle.

The weirdness is that if I'm cruising along and step on it a bit to get the engine under load then shift, the revs will rise up and hang there for a sec before dropping.

It also seems to momentarily flood if I step on it a bit more agressively. It will very briefly lurch and then take off like a bat out of hell. If I WOT to 5000rpm, it doesn't hang there when I shift, it will pause again as I floor it in the next gear though.

The only other current issue is that the throttle controller isn't working properly. It will raise the RPMs as I'm starting the car, but doesn't seem to do anything once the car is running.

I've measured the vacuum at idle to be about 21inches. It does blip to 0 if I tromp on it. I'd have to check again, but I think I recall that it took a sec or two to stabilize back at 21 again.

Of course its gotta be a vacuum leak, but where to look. Most hoses appear to be in good condition, but I did find one bad one last time I was under there that LOOKED fine. Just wouldn't hold any vacuum.

[VTEC_Inside]

Throttle controller is definitely the culprit, either directly or indirectly...

Idle stop screw for now...

[ghettogeddy]

sounds like a prob i have but it dies after it warms up unless i keep my foot on the gas

[A20A1]

so you think your throttle contrller is leaking?

Or do you think your vacuum leak is causing the throttle controller to be sporatic.

[VTEC_Inside]

I believe that there is a vacuum leak that is causing the throttle controller to spaz out. Its gotta be a very small one though because the car seems to idle fine, well as good as it can be. The reason I think the controller itself is fine is because for whatever reason it started working fine right after I changed the forward fuel filter, but it only for about an hour. Fluke or something I nudged in the process, I dunno...

The car had a power loss again 2 days ago. Not as bad as it had been where it slows right down, but nonetheless a significant power drop. Once again, whatever happened it recovered again shortly after I pulled off the highway.

Today it did something really interesting. As I drive through a good sized left hand corner at approx 90kph, the car lost power just as I was straightening out again. It is likely that this was caused by the fact that I'm running on E and that there was nothing around the pickup though. Strangely enough its the same sensation as when the car dies off on me.

The fuel pump and filters are new, the float level is about centered, etc...

Next nice day I'm going to clean up all those vacuum devices on the drivers side inner fender. Maybe find a leak while Im there.

I just wish it would do something consistently. Its actually running really good most of the time now, if I could just isolate the cause of this intermittent power loss.

I priced a carb rebuild kit $95CAD. I don't know if I want to or if I should bother with that just yet though as it runs fine most of the time.

[speedpenguin]

I have a possible idle control problem as well, I'll list it here, along with my other carb problems, maybe you can use them as hints.
1)When I idle, I tend to idle very high, like 2K
2)I used to be able to fix this by putting my foot under the accelerator and pulling it up. When I do this now, it will drop to about 1K, climb back to 2K, drop back to 1K, and repeat this indefinitely.
3)Sometimes when I'm doing about 70, the motor will start to cut on and off, like I'm low on gas or the alternator died, that kind of thing. This happens way more often when it's cold.
4)I have a miss going on in my engine that a mechanic who checked out my car told me was caused by the carb and that the carb needed to be replaced, I don't know if this is true or what exactly is wrong with the carb that would make it do that.
Can anyone :help:?

[VTEC_Inside]

1+2) The only time I've had a high idle that wouldn't come down its been choke related. If you are able to drop it by pulling up on the accelerator, then you need to adjust your accelerator cable. I did this once and took up a bit too much slack, it would then idle just over 1000rpm, but come down if I pulled up on the pedal.

3) The only time I've experienced hesitation, I'm 98% sure it was PCV related. Its fairly cheap and easy to change to eliminate this as a potential problem.

4) Perhaps my logic is flawed, but I wouldn't think that a miss would be carb related. Anythings possible, but....

[carotman]

I would check the vacuum hoses definetly

Or get really mad at your carb and convert to EFI like I did

[VTEC_Inside]

I would check the vacuum hoses definetly
Or get really mad at your carb and convert to EFI like I did

Lol, the scarey part is that the instructions keep looking like less and less work every day.

[A20A1]

clean your carb and linkages.

remember to check the gaskets under the carb and the intake manifold gasket... its good to have a low idle when checking for vacuum leaks or it may be harder to see a change in idle when you spray over a leak.