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Topic: The Sport is having idle issues... (Read 1113 times) previous topic - next topic

The Sport is having idle issues...

Since I installed the E303 cam,I've had real idle issues with the Sport.It has that "lope" to it,which I expected due to the cam,but about half the time,when I come to a stop,the car wants to die,and it can't hold a decent idle.the other half of the time,it idles like a champ.Here in a short while,I'm going out to check (I mean for the third or fourth time) for vacuum leaks.One problem I did find,was that the hose to the FPR was off.I hooked it back up.No telling how long that had been that way.Any ideas for me?
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

The Sport is having idle issues...

Reply #1 –
Set the idle at 850 IN gear and quit worrying about it...

Got tired of mine dieing at various times(like especially when I finished heating the tires at the track) and it's set to 950... Condition will also aggravated by a stock torque converter, a looser converter lets the engine idle with less drag...

The Sport is having idle issues...

Reply #2 –
The converter.....I forgot about that.I do have the stock converter and the tranny has a shift kit as well.Perhaps the 5 speed swap will cure a lot of this then.I'll follow your advice and set the timing "In gear".Thanks a lot.....again.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

The Sport is having idle issues...

Reply #3 –
Vinnie, I had a heck of a time with idle issues when I had the E303 cam.  When it did idle, it sounded great!  However, it was erratic, stalling coming to a stop was common, so was surging.  I have a 5 speed.  It was really a pain with that!  At low speeds in gear, it would buck and surge.  It made it pretty hard to drive smoothly.  I wasn't able to get that combo to work well in the T-Bird.  I did not get it dyno tuned, but I did do a mail order chip, which was no help ($250 down the drain...).

Based on what I have read, you intend to do a 5 speed swap soon, you may experience similar results with the direct lock up of the clutch.  It could cause bucking at low engine speeds.  The plus side you can bump the idle higher (than you can w/an automatic) which may help with stallng.

A solution may be to have it dyno'd and a chip burned for it. 

My solution was a custom cam.  The difference was dramatic! 

Price point between the two options is similar.  I have spent the money on both options in the past with a couple different engine/car combinations.  In my experience the custom cam was the best money I ever spent on a HiPo upgrade!

A lot of people are put off by the custom cam thing.  It's one of those "you don't know what you don't know" things.  I thought I knew a lot about cams (read everything I could get my hands on for years!  I was an expert on magazine articles.  Played for hours w/Dyno 2000 cam combinations).  After talking to Jay Allen I found out I didn't know anything.  Trusted his information and expertise.  I will never put together another engine combination together without his input and products.

As confirmation on Turbo50's comment that a loose converter could help.  I swapped that long block into a Mustang (though it was carburated) with a loose converter, it really tamed it down!  I was able to have the idle around 850 RPM.  The loose converter let the engine come into it's power band quickly, eliminating any bucking or surging.  It ran hard too!  Consistant 12.2's.  So it's not that the E303 doesn't make power!  I just found it a pain in 3,500 lb fuel injected street car w/a 5 speed.

Hope you have good luck sorting it out.  You've done a lot of great upgrades on your car and you have been particularly generous sharing your experience with the members of this board!  Hope you may be able to benefit from some of mine.

Mark

The Sport is having idle issues...

Reply #4 –
Quote from: vinnietbird;218365
I'll follow your advice and set the timing "In gear".Thanks a lot.....again.

:slap: [SIZE="3"]READ AGAIN[/SIZE]


Quote from: TurboCoupe50;218362
Set the idle at 850 IN gear and quit worrying about it...


and i'll repeat it set the [SIZE="3"]IDLE[/SIZE] at 850 [SIZE="3"]IN GEAR.[/SIZE] not the[SIZE="3"]TIMING![/SIZE];)

oh and just in case so you don't go and do something silly and set it while it's in gear. that would'nt be a very safe thing to do..Tom means when it's in gear it should be at 850 rpm's ;)
Quote
there's only about a half a dozen man made objects that are herd by the human ear below 40Hz,a pipe organ,thunder,the space shuttle lifting off,a jet airplane taking off or landing,a large canon,an atomic bomb ignited in your back yard and the heat wave afterward oh wait you would be dead so you would'nt hear it scratch that!,and maybe beating your hear against a wall less then 40 times a second..rap music is'nt one of them!thats 40-60Hz@100+db the moving air is under 40Hz

The Sport is having idle issues...

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Blown306Cougar;218369
:slap: [SIZE="3"]READ AGAIN[/SIZE]





and i'll repeat it set the [SIZE="3"]IDLE[/SIZE] at 850 [SIZE="3"]IN GEAR.[/SIZE] not the[SIZE="3"]TIMING![/SIZE];)

oh and just in case so you don't go and do something silly and set it while it's in gear. that would'nt be a very safe thing to do..Tom means when it's in gear it should be at 850 rpm's ;)

The IDLE......That's what I meant.My flub up.I knew what he meant,I just can't respond well.Maybe it's the Darvaset I'm taking for my tooth pain.LOL.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

The Sport is having idle issues...

Reply #6 –
Quote from: vinnietbird;218386
The IDLE......That's what I meant.My flub up.I knew what he meant,I just can't respond well.Maybe it's the Darvaset I'm taking for my tooth pain.LOL.


pain!:rollin:

you have never met my friend the FU@K stick!

so named by Steve"cougarking"and labled as such..

last year at cat jam i could barely walk.. it took help from a few friends like steve,crystal and zack ..just to name a few and about 12 beers a night to help me get around..

meet fu@k stick!
Quote
there's only about a half a dozen man made objects that are herd by the human ear below 40Hz,a pipe organ,thunder,the space shuttle lifting off,a jet airplane taking off or landing,a large canon,an atomic bomb ignited in your back yard and the heat wave afterward oh wait you would be dead so you would'nt hear it scratch that!,and maybe beating your hear against a wall less then 40 times a second..rap music is'nt one of them!thats 40-60Hz@100+db the moving air is under 40Hz
 

The Sport is having idle issues...

Reply #7 –
He's a skinny fellow.LOL.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..