Bit of background first: had the carby fully rebuilt while I had the old girl off the road repacing the head gasket. Before the ute was taken of the road the idle would jump up and down as it was sucking in way too much air (carby and gaskets were shot). When I pieced the ute back together there was no issue, other than having to remove the idle control solenoid. That was until....

Yesterday while in heavy traffic the ass suddenly fell out of the idle, dropped from 800rpm to 200rpm. After that it was inconsistent, settling at different speeds as I came to a stop, from as high as 600rpm to as low as just off stalling.

Why would it be doing this? The ute has been running well for over a month now and it just happened out of nowhere. I really thought I was over fiddling with this thing.

possibly you have crud in your fuel system and it is clogging the idle circuit, make sure you run an in-line fuel filter right before the carby. To see if it is a clogged idle circuit, take the air cleaner assy. off and run the engine, rev it up good and proper, then clamp one hand over the carby at the same time as opening the throttle to full. The car will want to stall instantly and it will suck your hand to the top of the carby, but the immense vacuum created in the carby should suck any small restrictions through. Take you hand away just before it stalls and if you like, do this whole thing several times. If the idle comes smooth, then crud in fuel was problem, if it doesn't perhaps start looking for vacuum leak at hoses or manifold, as this could also cause the symptoms you describe.

Cheers mate, I have a feeling it may be the fuel issue. Haven't had a good look but the second you mentioned it my thoughts went to 'why did I buy that high octane fuel from the independent servo'.

Don't need to drive it for a few days so I'll have a closer inspection over the weekend and report back. Thanks again.

just also take note if the cable is secured tightly in its position. if it's loose it can cause idle problems...

although fuel sounds like a more likely problem from the way you described the symptoms.

Buy a can of carby or brake cleaner from bursons, give that a good spray down the carby aswell.

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Aaahhh. the hidden killer

I always fuel at the same place every time, once I got to know where the fuel was good, before that I would routinely have fuel issues. It only takes a tiny amount of crap to clog up jets and ports in carbies, so running a $1.38 fuel filter right before the carbie is cheap insurance with the varying fuel standards today. You will be surprised just how quickly grit and stuff will appear in the bottom of the filter.

Why would anybody remove the standard filter anyways???

I always buy all my Diesel from a independant and its great! And Diesel has to be super clean! Ive never had a problem.

Never had a problem with poor petrol from servos either. More likely to be #### in your fule tank/lines. When i desturbed my tank and metal fuel lines in the 1000 i ended up stripping and cleaning the carb about 5 times! Just rust and scale getting everywhere and clogging the filter too!

Who removed the filter?? Mine was fine a couple of days ago, before I filled up with el cheapo petrol. It took a couple of days for idle problem to occur, so there is a big chance it's the fuel quality.

You could get the same problem at a big name servo. The caltex up the road had the lines crossed over between the diesel and unleaded. A lot of cars filled up wth the wrong fuel, which had to be drained at Caltex's expense, plus the tanks now have to be replaced.

Once the little fella goes to bed I'll head out and give the ute a once over.