Re: [Amc-list] Rambler won't idle right

[Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>]

Well you're actually better off setting things correctly, by numbers 
from the TSM, then making small adjustments afterwards. YOu can end up 
with odd combinations that seem OK but interact badly.

Vacuum advance unit is trivial to test. With a hand vacuum pump, or a 
clean hose stuck in your mouth, actuate the thing, you should be able to 
  see the advance unit pull the lever in the distributor. It's hard to 
suck 15 - 20 inches of vacuum, but you can do it. Pump it up, and with 
the tip of your tongue over the hole, it should hold vacuum 
indefinitely. If it doesn't move or leaks down, it's bad.

And it won't make it idle badly. It iwll make mileage poor.

Check every single hose if it is not soft or has cracks REPLACE IT. PCV, 
wiper motor, vac advance, all of them. Pointless to tune up with leaky 
hoses!

Pull the vac hose. Set the timing.

Set the idle speed low, then set the idle mixture screw two turns out. 
(Lightly bottom the screw, back out two turns). If it does not idle 
fairly OK to good, there is something wrong. If it wants to be OUT more, 
you have a vacuum leak. If it runs better screwed in all the way, you 
have an internal carb problem (excess gas).

One other possibility, even likely, is PCV troubles. It's basically a 
calibrated air leak. Pinch the hose shut; that enrichens it (less air).




Thomas Garner wrote:
> Hey guys,
>  Got another problem with my 64 Rambler Classic. (232 engine)
> It's actually been a problem for a while.
> 
>  First, on the recommendation from somebody on this list, I plugged off the vacuum line that is between the two back cylinders and ran everything off the vacuum hole in the center, below the carburetor. (I think this helped)
>  
>  I have a friend (older shade tree mechanic fellow)who helped me adjust the timing and then the carburetor. He gets it to idle perfectly. (He adjusts the carb, then goes back to the exhaust pipe and listens for sputter, then he adjusts and listens, etc, etc. He keeps doing this till there is no sputter from the tail pipe) 
>  Then I take it down the road and get it up to speed. After running it for a while, I notice that pulling up to a stop sign or red light, it is no longer idling smooth. It's seems to be missing and sputtering pretty bad at times. It's not consistent either. Pull up to a light and it might idle fine and then the next light it might idle rough and the next one a little rougher and the next one be fine again. I take it back and he adjusts the carb again until it runs smooth and then it does it all over again.
>  We ran through the entire engine looking for vacuum leaks, checking compression while hot and cold, new points, plugs, wires, cap, rotor and making sure the carb is good. (Two rebuilt carbs, one from Advanced and one from Ebay.)
>  
>  Neither he nor I are pro mechanics and are not certain why it's doing this. 
>  He believes it may be a problem with the vacuum advance on the distributor, but he's not sure.
>  Any ideas on what may be causing this?
> 
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> 
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