All the hoses are good.

There are very few hoses on a 1200 (compare to most cars). If you replace a hose, do it one at a time.

I would not replace all the hoses, mine were 40 years old and still good. Just inspect them and replace any that are burned, loose-fitting, or cracked.

Let us know what you find. If all the hoses look good, there are additional things to check. It's pretty easy to check and even if you have a mechanic do the work it'll be good to know.

Thanks for the reply! Do you have an image of a diagram of all those hoses by any chance?

Hi Laura, that is a very common problem with automatic transmission cars -- a small air leak will cause those symptoms. So most likely one of the little black hoses on the engine is cracked, causing problems with the air/fuel mixture ... bad enough to cause idle problem, but not bad enough to prevent the engine from running above idle.

If you find a cracked hose, new hose only costs about $1/foot at O'Reilly Auto.

In the photo, #C is missing the hose (fell off). #A hose end is cracked.



As you can see from the photo, black gunk around the carburetor is also common. It won't cause the idling problem.

I've been experiencing a rougher idle the past few days. Now my car will start right up but will not idle unless my foot is on the gas and once it's off it will die immediately. Anyone have an idea of what's wrong? I'm also seeing all of this black gunk around the carb too.


Thanks!