88 carbie giving me fit's high idle then stumbling leading to stall

[haulinit]

Howdy, I have just acquired a 88 manual sport model FF. Im usually very good at trouble shooting and repairing stuff, however this d*mn carb is making me want to pull my hair out! Who thought it was a good idea to put a vacuum and ecu control on a carb? Once warmed up the idle is around 2500 rpm and if you tap the skinny pedal it goes higher and stays their for a while, then it starts the second act of its BS it starts to come down in rpms in steps. Then it finishes off by idle hunting until it finally stutters and stumbles and dies. If you can heel/toe it when its in it's death throws it will eventually return to the 2500 mark then repeat the process. It however runs great going down the road, seems to have plenty of pep when doing a heavy throttle pull. I moved the dist a little bit and that seemed to help with the dieseling when the ignition is turned off.

I have checked for vacuum leaks,messed with the white idle screw,the choke plate is open once warm and pulled of a vacuum hose on the carb with no change (finger o hose has suction). I'm lost and confused. I got this for a cheap beater and putting a bunch of $$$$ into this hoopty is not an option.

Thanks guys

[bravekozak]

welcomsign

Ditch the feedback carb + ECU and slap on an Escort carb.
Problem solved.
Use the search engine to see how other people did just that.
I used to have a feedback carb + ECU. I don't any more.
Carbs don't need computers.

[UglyEd]

Bravekozak is right get rid of that medusa lookin thing amd get an escort carb aka Weber, i did and man what a difference snag an adapter from rocketman, hes on here or make ur own and grab a mid 80s escort carb off of eBay will take a little doing but its just more time consuming than anything take care

Uglyed and the Steve (89 L escort carb)

[harpon]

Of course you may not be able to change the carb, either physically or skill level wise.

Heres maybe a few other things I can suggest- My first Festiva was a stock carbed 88 I bought at 175 K and drove to 275K- plus, when the speedo cable broke, and I had to sell it after a flood.

Make sure the cable is lubricated- try some WD and oil at the ends and the gas pedal itself-

My 91 now I can pull the pedal backwards with my foot and the revs come down- but I haven't given that any attention yet otherwise- You may have some cable issue or not.

Spray the crap out of the carb with carb cleaner- the butterfly valve area especially- wont hurt and the spray will take some carbon out of the motor.

I don't know much about carbs or electrics- but maybe it's a choke problem so get a manual and look into that as best as you can

Also check for vacuum leaks- unattached spaghetti and the like-

After I moved away from California, I eventually dismantled the electronic atr sytems and plugged all the carb intakes left open- and the car never ran better

Theres lots you can still try that works- tho I'm sure escort carbs may work better- they probably sip more gas too

good luck

[haulinit]

Thanks for the replies guys, before I posted I did some reading and saw the post about the swap just didn't investigate the swap. I failed to mention that it is not a cable issue it has plenty of slack when the throttle is released. I have been spraying carb cleaner like its my job with no definitive problem spots. The monstrosity on the side of the air cleaner housing (assuming EGR) was packed full of carbon. I'm thinking a carb swap may just be the answer. I should have the resources to make a plate (experimental test mechanic by day run a fab shop/racing shop by evening). Is their any ill affects to bending over and crimping off the EGR tubes?

Thanks

[bravekozak]

I was a little neater and blocked it off. Exhaust gas recirculation robs power and mileage. It is absolutely unnecessary once the ECU isn't looking for it.

[WmWatt]

Sounds like the engine is running rich which would suggest blocked air flow rather than a leak? Clogged air filtre? You say there is no vacuum in the timing advance hose at the top of the distributor? That's the hose into which I plug a vacuum guage for quick engine diagnosis. It should have normal steady vacuum. I have to pull the hose off and push the guage into it quickly or the engine will stall and die.

[haulinit]

Mr.Brave that would be the quick and dirty solution until I had more time to tinker.

WmWatt I think this rig might have an oil consumption issue, the hose is present on the timing vac advance. You can pull one of the hoses off and no change to engine behavior, using the finger test it has a good bit of vacuum.

So for its next trick it has started think it's a diesel, you try and shut her (always gotta be a female causing trouble) off and it diesels harder than a cummins. I finally had to stop it by putting my hand over the carb to starve it of air :nono:

[bravekozak]

The ECU regulates the stock carb with over a dozen parameters and different scenarios dependent on engine load and temperature. You really need a shop manual. Good luck.

[FestYboy]

I was a little neater and blocked it off. Exhaust gas recirculation robs power and mileage. It is absolutely unnecessary once the ECU isn't looking for it.

Not true, proper working EGR does neither of these things, in fact, a good working EGR will improve milage.

Also, the tubes on the air cleaner are not egr, they are P-AIR, and are there to keep your cat alive.

As brave suggest, get an FSM or use the the diagram on the underside of the hood to verify proper hose placement.

[FestYboy]

As far as the dieseling goes, that's a matter of hot spots in the chamber still lighting off the fuel once the ignition is killed. Check your plugs...

[haulinit]

Spark plugs are brand new, I didnt gap them just stuffed them in to see if it would run.

[WmWatt]

The wiring diagrams at the back of the Haynes manual show all the sensors and actuators connected to the computer. There is an emissions chapter which tells what some of them do, or just look them up on the Internet.

The EGR valve uses exhaust to cool the combustion chambers to keep nitrous oxides in check. Its pretty easy to remove and clean. A quick test is to reach under with a finger and gently push up to see if the diaphram moves easily. If it feels sticky the little push rod needs to be cleaned with some solvent.

[FestYboy]

I mean look for carbon deposits and speckling. It's not the plug itself that's lighting off the fuel, it's the hot carbon in the chamber.

[haulinit]

When I have some tinkering cash I'm going to do a carb swap. I've been doing a bunch of reading and my heads spinning, all I'm looking for is the most straight forward swap that will provide the satisfactory results. I've read "webber","escort" (holley and webber) and 32/36 LOL which one? What years of escort are used for the swap, I've seen 81 and 83'ish escort carbs.