idle drop revised

[jasonlee]

Hey everyone, so I replaced plugs wires, cap and rotor. car runs well, but idle sits about 1000-1200. Took it to my mechanic and was advised that it is the distributor vacuum retard that has packed it in. I was give a quote for the part, but was wondering is this common, any hard in driving it until the part arrives. Any insight is appreciated.

thanks,
Jason

[bkreigsr]

Originally Posted by jasonlee

Hey everyone, so I replaced plugs wires, cap and rotor. car runs well, but idle sits about 1000-1200. Took it to my mechanic and was advised that it is the distributor vacuum retard that has packed it in. I was give a quote for the part, but was wondering is this common, any hard in driving it until the part arrives. Any insight is appreciated.

thanks,
Jason

No harm in continuing to use the car. (other the embarrassment of stalling in front of a line of traffic, ouch)
Glad you didn't succumb to the 'turn on the A/C' solution.
Turning on the A/C only mechanically bumps up the idle. This means your car's idle circuit has other problems, which fortunately you found.
As to frequency of repair, I've got over 300,000 air-cooled miles and have yet to fall victim to the 'faulty distributor vacuum retard' syndrome. They do go bad, maybe I've just been lucky. Is your mechanic reasonably sure he's identified all the vacuum leaks?

Bill K

[jasonlee]

thanks. I trust my mechanic and straight shooter and a long time air cooled guy. A little sticker shock to say the least, but was surprised as the car overall runs well.

[High Life]

1982 Porsche 911SC with CIS? - Why not adjust the idle bypass screw and/or the idle mixture screw to dial in the idle?

Assuming your system, control, and residual fuel pressure is within spec, of course.

[jasonlee]

it is a CIS, I would assume my mechanic would try that, but I can certainly look at it. Everything was in spec last time I checked, so making the assumption it still is

[High Life]

my understanding of the vacuum advance / retard is that they wouldn't be the primary culprit for a high idle situation. I could be wrong- but here is a good explanation to which I understand how it works..

Understanding Vacuum retard