dies at idle now and then

[xirdneh]

the Tercel idles fine most of the time
but every now and then the idle will drop very fast
to a very low rpm and usually will die ( when coming to a stop or sitting at a light)
if i give it some gas right when it happens i can keep it going
sometimes it will idle properly after that and other times it will take awhile to get back to normal.
any idea on what i need to fix?

[keith]

There is a little dashpot on the lower right front of the carburetor that under high vacuum, opens the throttle just a little to keep the idle from going too low. It has an adjustment on it to hold the idle to about 1200 rpm until the vacuum drops to normal.

[xirdneh]

There is a little dashpot on the lower right front of the carburetor that under high vacuum, opens the throttle just a little to keep the idle from going too low. It has an adjustment on it to hold the idle to about 1200 rpm until the vacuum drops to normal.

i followed the above tercel into work this morning. we work together.
he had to pull over do to loss of power.
there was some nasty black smoke coming out of the exhaust
he kept it running and i followed for a while but the nasty fumes finally took their toll and i changed lanes
i am still nauseated
either the choke is closing or the float is allowing to much gas would be my guess but who knows?
i have a spare carb and offered to switch his out.

[xirdneh]

[quote="xirdneh"]the Tercel idles fine most of the time
but every now and then the idle will drop very fast
quote]

fixed it!
pulled air cleaner housing
noticed right away that the vacuum hose to the choke opener/closer thing was kinked.
also noted vacuum hoses were hooked up in a wierd fashion.
since i had a good carb in hand i decided to replace the carb and hook up the vac hoses correctly.
the car started and ran fine
when checking the timing it was 10 degrees off (retarded side)
fixxed that too
not sure why the car was even able to run at all
but thats just the way these tercels are
they get you there by refusing to die

now the car runs great and we expect the mileage to go way up
will let you know

[schmooot]

There is a little dashpot on the lower right front of the carburetor that under high vacuum, opens the throttle just a little to keep the idle from going too low. It has an adjustment on it to hold the idle to about 1200 rpm until the vacuum drops to normal.

which dashpot? throttle positioner or choke opener?

[keith]

Its not one of the choke pull offs. It is on the Passenger side, front bottom of the carburetor and it bumps the throttle linkage to keep the idle up just a bit under high vacuum conditions.

[schmooot]

oh just the adjustment screw there. I see