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[87Dippy]

Hello just joined today, very pleased to find a site for diplomats. I have a few questions about my car, ever since i bought it about 4 months ago it has been acting weird and breaking down. When i went to a stop sign and stopped than hit the gas my car would die if i gave it too much gas. i had the carb cleaned and rebuilt, also a few other things the mechanic did. that fixed that problem but still i have barely any power going up a steep even smaller hill. i feel like it should have way more power than it does. i have to get to like 45 before i hit the hill and by the time im half way it up it goes about 15 and doesn't kick into a higher gear. also just started happening after we fixed the stalling problem was that my pedal or throttle or whatever was sticking and pretty much driving itself i didn't have my foot on the pedal for at least 10 mins and the car accelerated by itself until i pulled over put it in park and hit the gas hard like 4 times and it finally let go and went back to idleing normal. just wondering any thoughts if its a throttle cable, fast idle solenoid, fuel sending unit, or the baffles in the gas tank or what it could be? please if you have any ideas let me know id appreciate it.

[Dippy.org]

[79dodge4ever]

does the throttle cable pull the carb all the way open when you push it to the floor with the engine off?
sounds like either the mechanic didn't adjust throttle or done very poor carb rebuild

[fifthcrunch]

I think 79 has got it.  Take off the air cleaner.  Block the gas pedal to the floor with a piece of 2x4 against the seat and look down the carb.  The throttle plate should be all the way open.  It probably isn't.  So the throttle cable should be adjusted.

[87Dippy]

ok just checked and the throttle plate is all the way open any ideas on what else it could be?

[79dodge4ever]

ok just checked and the throttle plate is all the way open any ideas on what else it could be?

sounds like fuel delievery problems, weather it be a poorly rebuilt carb or a bad fuel line (lines won't necessary drip)

take line off front of carb, unhook coil wire and sit it away from carb (sparks can jump) put the fuel line in a glass jar and crank the car for about 10-15 seconds,
note how much fuel is in the glass jar and the clarity of it; good fuel from a clean tank should be very slightly yellow in color; if it looks like urine its been sitting and or getting dirt in it

[87Dippy]

i have a feeling it has to do with my choke because it doesn't close when started and slowly open when its running im no mechanic and don't know too much but that seems wrong. would that cause it to stick and idle high. its like my foot is pressed on the gas when its not. it could drive by itself sometimes, it accelerates slowly but goes without pushing the pedal.

[Malcolm from Canada]

What's the  doing during all this acceleration ?


I asks, on account of it having a kickdown adjustment as well and worse yet;


The transmission's etxerior linkage actuation depends on a bell crank that rotates on a spindle that is NOTORIOUS for seizing to the spindle and/or getting very hard to kickdown.


This can really p!$$ on your acceleration efforts in a big way.


Malcolm

[87Dippy]

dam that's the last thing i wanted to hear is that it has to do with the transmission so whats the best option here brand new transmission or what? i mean the cars in great shape interior and exterior wise it has 140000 on it i believe or 40000 only 5 numbers on the odometer, so i plan on restoring it any way. Let me know what you think, thanks

[lsm360]

I don't think he is talking about needing a trans rebuild or new one, but just the exterior linkages.

Something that struck me was your mention of it not upshifting. Wonder if it is starting off in second or even third gear due to sticking valve body in trans. Did car sit awhile? I would do a trans filter and fluid change. Also try manually downshifting and upshift and see if it is indeed shifting thru the gears.

[87Dippy]

yea that's starting to make sense because when i bought the car he said it sat for about 2 years. im hoping its something simple like that and not some huge issue but i guess ill try those things and if that's not it back to where im at now. i appreciate your help everyone thanks

[Captain Caravelle]

First off....
Welcome aboard!

Well here's my two cents.....

If it was sitting or mechanically neglected it's going to need some maintenance.

Issues could be....
Gummed up carb linkages
Bad gas,
Clogged fuel filter,
Possibly fuel pump?
When was it's last full tune up?
If the carb linkages are sticking then it might not be kicking down to curb idle resulting in high idle but clogged lines or filter could result in not enough fuel delivery when you're actually driving.
Then there's tranny linkages that might be sticking.

Realistically you can't expect a 28 year old car to perform flawlessly without keeping on top of the maintenance.

I daily drive an 87 Fifth.
Sounds to me like it might just need some basic upkeep.

Just my thoughts....

[87Dippy]

oh yea i agree but like i said it sat for 2 years i changed the fuel filters and the fuel pump, i haven't changed the spark plugs but i have them and plan on doing em tomorrow. I've done 3 oil changes in 6 months flushes the radiator fluid and was gonna look into a transmission flush or just changing the fluid and filter but i heard that it can mes the transmission up even more? either way im gonna get a new gas tank, fuel sending unit, choke thermostat coil and check into the transmission problem more.

[Captain Caravelle]

I would do the basis first before I go throwing gas tanks and such at it....new plugs, wires, cap and rotor first.
Might make a huge difference right there.
A tank full of premium wouldn't hurt either.
Old gas runs like old ass....
I run nothing but premium in mine and they all love it.

[fifthcrunch]

There can be a problem with the fast idle solenoid.  They stick sometimes, which will raise the idle speed.  They can be adjusted.  But that wouldn't explain the really poor acceleration/no power.  I would suspect the carb rebuild.  If the car still has the lean burn (computer on the air cleaner, etc), this carb can harder to do right.  Sounds like the main jets are plugged up, which would mean taking the carb back apart.  Another possible cause is a spark plug gap that is too tight.  Were the plugs changed recently?  The questions raised about trans kick down adjustment make good points, but that kind of thing will give poor initial acceleration but then straighten out as the speed increases.

[Prospect62]

I had a similar issue with my old 87 Gran Fury - it would NOT kick down into "passing gear" when I needed more RPM's, no matter how or when I mashed the go pedal. It would just bog and actually slow down even though I was pushing the accelerator.

Turned out the kickdown linkage (mentioned above) was not adjusted properly and very tight. Seems as though it wasn't working much at all. I ended up replacing the 2 barrel carburetor with a 4 barrel which required a new kickdown linkage and adjustments. That solved the issue.

With the issue you describe, my vote is the kick down linkage (or "throttle valve" linkage as Mopar calls it) being messed up somewhere along the line. If this is the problem, make sure it is addressed quickly - from what I understand, having a non-functioning throttle valve system is a good way to fry a Mopar transmission in short order.