Hey everyone.

Please chime in if you think you know what is going on with my car.

Sunday I replaced the cap and rotor along with cleaning the throttle body. WOW did it make a difference. I forgot how much a scored cap and rotor robbed power. But, then on Monday evening on my way home it started to idle like crap. 400RPM and rough I kept thinking it was going to stall be it hasn't yet. Well it seems to have gotten worse. It falls to 400 and rough idles there until I give it a little kick. It runs fine at higher RPMs, like a top.

Note known issues:
1. I have a leak right now between my primary and secondary. (I need to crank my HS header bolts down again.

2. My idle was running high (1400 - 1600 RPM) for a while. This was a reason for replacing my cap and rotor. (I did my wires recently too and my plugs about 8K ago.)


I haven't gotten a chance to check the voltage on my MAF yet so I don't know if it needs to be regrounded.

Thanks for the thoughts.

im certainly no mechanic but... ive heard of a few people having to adjust the idle screw after cleaning the throttle body. i suppose removing all that junk affects how much air passes by the throttle plate. just try to adjust your base idle. se-r.net should have a procedure for that. i wouldnt suspect the MAF but its probably a good idea to check it anyways.

Good Luck

Did you take the TB off to clean it? If so, you may have a leak in the gasket.

No I don't take it off. I use the toothbrush and paper towel-cleaning route. It doesn’t get too dirty only near the bottom around the plate.

Id bet money its just the idle was high from the air leaking around the TB from when it was dirty. now that its nice and clean and closeing well its idle is crap. Put it into timeing mode and set the idle to where its susposed to be. This has happened to quite a few people

What about timing???

I was thinking that too. I'll have to get it some professional help I think. :(

Thank you for the input guys!!

This is the first time the car has given me any trouble at all. Guess 98K I can't complain. :)

Well just got the call. It was the ground to the MAF! With the new rotor and cap I guess the computer was trying to correct the idle but with the messed up ground, it was getting bogus info.

But what do I know.... Is this logical thinking or am I way off base?

Thanks everyone for the replies. Just wanted you to know we have another happy ending...:D


Live and learn.

Originally posted by Horus

Note known issues:
1. I have a leak right now between my primary and secondary. (I need to crank my HS header bolts down again.

2. My idle was running high (1400 - 1600 RPM) for a while. This was a reason for replacing my cap and rotor. (I did my wires recently too and my plugs about 8K ago.)





1. It is unlikely the bolts will become loose, they will just fall off. You will usually need a new bolt, b/c they tend to strip out.

2. That is a common side effect of cleaning the throttle body, and it will go away. If it doesn't though you can adjust the idle manually by pulling the TPS and turning the idle screw.