Weird Idle

[MusclesWit350]

Alright well I have a 1980 L-82 79K that my dad gave me for graduation present. The car sits alot, been run prolly once every two weeks or so. Now that I have it I drive it everyday or try too. I start it up in the morning and the car will idle alittle above 1000rpm then I kick it down and go. The car will run great and when stopped will idle around 700-800rpm when warm. The Problem I have is when I park it for more then a half hour then go to start it. It will fire right up but blow some smoke and idle at around 500rpm and shakes like crazy. I'll try and kick it up but it just slowly goes back down to 500rpm. Then when I throw it into gear, hit the gas and go it runs fine. Every stop after that the idle is 700-800rpm. Even when I park it after that the idle is right where its suppose to be. I dont really understand why it does this. Why does it only blow smoke when its been sitting for more then a half hour warm but throw NO smoke when I start it cold or anyother time? why does it idle so low when its started? Sorry for the long post but im new to the Muscle car world lol... My daily driver is a 97 Monte Carlo 3100 lol so the Vette is a HUGE jump lol...

Thanks in Advance!
Kyle

 

[waterboy1976]

Almost sounds like an elctronic choke issue. Or the carb is leaking fuel while sitting into the manifold and when you start her back up it loads up and puffs black smoke....

 

[MusclesWit350]

The smoke is like a whitish blue... If that helps...

 

[waterboy1976]

whiteish blue.....is oil leaking down past the valve seals after you shut the engine off.....


Sounds like you have two distinct problems....a carb issue and a valve seal issue.....check your oil every week for 4 weeks and meaure how much its burning....a little puff or two isnt major but if your downing a quart every month or so a rebuild of the heads may be in order (or at least seals)

 

[MusclesWit350]

whiteish blue.....is oil leaking down past the valve seals after you shut the engine off.....


Sounds like you have two distinct problems....a carb issue and a valve seal issue.....check your oil every week for 4 weeks and meaure how much its burning....a little puff or two isnt major but if your downing a quart every month or so a rebuild of the heads may be in order (or at least seals)

Well that just sucks balls lol... Where can I pick up a set of Heads? Maybe even some performance heads? Thanks

 

[waterboy1976]

Dont go nuts here brother... a little white puff isnt bad...you need to determine how bad they are first.....then look at rebuilding the originals or possibly upgrading. but once you start upgrading youd better get your wallet handy......do the oil thing first...watch the level for a couple of weeks and see how bad youre burning and then go from there.....dont jump off the boat before you know its sinking...

 

[Rich80]

Mines an 80 L-48 with 143,000 on her. When I start her cold she misses, shakes, and runs ruff for about 5 minutes then smoothes out to about 1000 rpm. Then if I kick her down she idles right around 600. Mine I know is age plus probably a few vacuum leaks. After shes warm she run real smooth. I get the same blow by of oil out the exhaust after she sits a few hours or sometimes when shes cold. Its the valve stem seals. For an engine that has 140,000 on her I am not complaining. One of these days when my kids are done college it will be a total rebuild!!

 

[MusclesWit350]

I was talkin to a buddy of mine and he said something about some additive you throw in your oil and it helps the value seals. Has anyone used something like this? Does it work?

 

[Tepot]

I was talkin to a buddy of mine and he said something about some additive you throw in your oil and it helps the value seals. Has anyone used something like this? Does it work?

I'm not saying it will fix your problem but I had an old lincoln town car and my sister was driving it one day and never checked the gauges and a radiator hose got loose and the car lost all coolant and she drove it that way until the engine started to knock like crazy.

I thought I had lost my engine but I've put some LUCAS engine oil treatment in it with an oil change and I couldn't beleive what I was seeing. When I started the car the engine started to knock like it was already doing and then slowly stopped knocking. Unbeleivable. I drove the car for another 2 years without any engine problems.

The same with my Truck F-150 4x4 1994. I was burning 1 quart every 2 weeks in my 302 engine. I've put a full bottle of lucas engine oil treatement when I did my oil change and beleive it or not it wasn't burning oil anymore.

I am not kidding. Try it, it won't hurt. But if your problem is not bad. don't put the entire bottle. a quarter or half should be enouph to help with your problem.

It's not gonna fix your valve problem but it will help for sure. It will certainly buy you some time to gather $$$ to rebuild your head.

try it. that 10$ bottle might keep you going for a while.

 

[waterboy1976]

try some DUCT TAPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Seriously.....as Tepot said...try that Lucas stuff...itll get you by for a while and then you can save some pennies and rebuild her....

 

[zachh]

Mine, when it sits for about 1 or 2 weeks without runnin, its takes a few trys to fire up, when it initially starts, it runs about 900rpm, runs a little ruff, rev it, it goes down to about 500 rpm, runs smooth and easy. Almost everyone I know has the same thing. Its just age, mess with it a little bit, and it may get better, or just wait and see, sometimes these problems just go away. Do the sdmart thing, start with the cheapest/ easiest possibilitys first. If they don't work, goe the next notch up. Take your time, think things through.
zachh
79 L82

Its not the fall that kills ya, Its the sudden stop!