What's wrong?

[Tercel4WDwannabe]

My T4WD has been running a bit rough lately. I know there's an exhaust leak near the front (because I can hear it) and just in front of the muffler (because I saw it/felt it - consequently, I put a pop can around the hole with hose clamps and it sounds less worse now). It idles between 400 and 700, bouncing back and forth and chugging while idling, trying to stay alive. This is all stuff I've been putting up with because I'm probably going to garage it soon and buy a new car, but I've got new problems until then:

If I do a lot of starting and stopping and I drive more than 30 miles, then turning the car off, then trying to start it back up again I encounter a problem. I try to start the car up and give it little gas when I do, it starts, but then the needle just drops and the car kills when I let off the gas. This only happens after I've been on the road for over 30 minutes, (I stop and get a coffee or whatever, then try to start her back up again and it starts acting up.) After that, I find myself on a commute somewhere - after already driving a bit - and the only way I can keep the car moving is if I giver it gas. Then, no matter what speed, when I put the clutch in the RPM needle drops and the car kills. When the car is in gear, it won't kill. I find myself having to restart it and throw it into gear in stop and go traffic which obviously is no good and it needs to be taken care of. Another thing I noticed is that whenever the car wants to kill, when it gets to that point, the battery light comes on.

I'm clueless because I really don't know too much about cars, so hopefully by my description someone can clue me in. I know it won't leave me stranded forever somewhere because I can always wait 30 minutes and it will be fine again. It just seems like the heavy driving and starting and stopping is the catalyst for the kill.

What's wrong? Something with my Vac? Carb? I have no idea.

I'll probably keep her, maybe just for a winter car on the bad days, but it would be nice to get through a couple more months without this problem, so any quick fixes are worth a try. Thanks much.

[xirdneh]

check the vac line that attaches under the air filter housing
it comes from the base of the carb and plugs in under the housing on drivers side
if it fell off car will idle bad and/or die

[Petros]

yes, sounds like a vacuum leak. No reason to replace the car, the fix is simple once you find it. If it is not the large vac line into the aircleaner as Xirdneh points out, remove the air cleaner and inspect all the vacuum lines for loose lines or leaky lines, do it systematically because there are a lot, follow each one to make sure it is plugged in a both ends and there are no holes or leaks in the lines. if still no luck plug the vac line that goes to the air cleaner (a screw or bolt works well); also raise the idle speed by turning the screw on the carb next to the crank where the throttle cable meets the carb. Than start the car and use a can of carb cleaner to spray over all the lines and components. When the engine slows down when you spray it in a certain place you found the vac leak location.

finding a vac leak is usually not that difficult once you know where to look for it, but they cause all kinds of annoying trouble with the way it runs.

Good luck.

[Tercel4WDwannabe]

Thanks guys, I'll head out tonight and check all the lines. Any idea why the battery light comes on and stay one when this happens? Even while running?

Also, I was told amateurs shouldn't mess with carb cleaner. Anything to worry about there?

[Tercel4WDwannabe]

Ok, I found a disconnected hose coming off the passenger side of the carb. It wasn't a rubber hose, but a flexible vent hose, so I hose clamped it back on. Not sure if that will make any difference or not, I guess we'll just have to see. I also turned the idle up to about 900 RPMs and it seems to be idling a bit more smoothly. Until then, thanks!

[ARCHINSTL]

Presuming you have a Federal car, check the color-coded and expanded vac diagrams I posted as a sticky on the Repair Guides Forum. I expanded it for clarity and room.
Tom M.

[Petros]

your idle was too low, that is why the alternator light comes on. If you idle it around 700-800 min, you should not have the light come on. My engine is highly modified with different cam, high compression, etc. so I idle mine around 1000, any less it wants to occasionally stall out when I come to a stop.