idle becomes irratic then stalls

[iowntwo]

1989 festiva L w/carb. When car sits for a while, it will start up and run like a top for 30 seconds, then it becomes increasingly irratic til it stalls. Start it up right after that and it is still irratic and stalls. Let it set for 15 minutes and it starts and runs smooth for 30 seconds. Throttle body lose and leaking so replaced w/ a junkyard carb. Also sprayed ether around the intake manifold and the idle smoothed out until the ether was gone. Removed intake manifold and checked w/ straight edge and replaced gasket. Still won't idle for long. Sugestions?

[FestYboy]

still have a vac leak somewhere, check with carb clean. also verify that there's fuel in the bowl and the pump is flowing properly.

[iowntwo]

Thanx, Festy, I'll try and find a carb rebuild kit, and check fuel pump. I agree there is still a leak somewhere??

[econoaddict]

I had a festy carb that did this, the throttle shaft was so worn it was crazy.

The bad side is that there are no more carb rebuilders around here that can fix the problem. Sent one out to a "said to be awesome" machine shop, they sent back a shaft that was trashed and leaked worse than originally.

To properly fix a throttle chaft you need some special tools that are hard to find.

[iowntwo]

Addict: You're right, my mechanic gave up, and most places don't want to fool with it. I'll keep looking for a machine shop that might take it on after I check the pump, look for more leaks and rebuild the carb myself.

[m715]

Also don't discount a problem with the spacer plate that has the preheat. They are bad about developing cracks also.
I DO agree about the shafts though. Carbs are not repaired in a rebuild for the most part, and wear is usually a big part of most problems. I try to keep a "Known Good" carb around to eliminate it as the problem because of this.

Michael