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how do you adjust the idle?

2815 Views 9 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  benztece
it appears my idle is low (500 rpm in D), and my engine shakes almost violently, so I am almost always forced to go to N as soon as I stop as it seems to smoothen out the idle a bit .. (I have had all engine and tranny mounts checked out at the shop and I was told the mounts are fine.)

I took off the air cleaner assembly to access the accelerator rods, where I turned a knob that seemed to increase the idle a bit by pulling the acc cable, but there is a swicth that clicks when the gas pedal is released and if I play with the adjustment on the kbob, that switch goes into open position.

so is there a screw I can turn like on other cars where the idle speed goes up a bit without fiddling with the accelerator rods?

what is your idle when tranny is in D and you are stopped?
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The idle is not adjustable. If the idle is bad...something is wrong. You need to find out what.
It can be adjusted but I will leave it with the pros!
RE: Idle Fingers...

You can't adjust the idle. Leave it at that.
What you can do is chase down any vacuum leaks and clean the idle controller.
Remove the controller, (under the air filter), clean it with Brake Cleaner or good old gas (careful now). You will need to flush it a couple of times to get it really clean.
Reinstall it and make sure the hoses are good, the clamps on the ends are snug or my favourite, use Zap-Straps on the ends.
There is always the ignition to check (cap, rotor etc) and the high tension wires. Remove them, clean the wires, measure the resistance (should all be the same). I like to spray the wires with LPS or similar High Di-electric material. Plugs should be checked or changed.
If that don't fix it there are a couple of other things but they are more work. Go for the easy stuff first.

Good Luck
Ian P.
My car used to shake and idle was around 500
I had to change my Vacum Valve and it fixed my problem.
Trust me you can adjust the idle...
thanks, I will try to clean the idle valve

what is (and where is) the vacuum valve?
The idle is not adjustable. It can be adjusted by unconventional means but that would just be masking the problem you're having.
Clean the idle valve and also clean your throttle opening while you're at it. Look for disconnected vacuum lines also. By the way I still think this is a mount problem but I'm going to stop beating you over the head with it [;)]
My point is you can adjust the idle but that will be the last scenario.
hi,
i have a question,might sound dumb...ready?
how do you measure your idle speed.i mean, how do you read the idle speed.Is 5=500? 10=1000?how does it work?
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