High idle in park

85 3.8 carb. When i put the bird in park the ilde is high unless i kick it down. Any suggestions?

new plugs and wires, oil change (get synthetic this time)

OR, you could address the root of the problem, THE THROTTLE KICKER (idle speed motor). but its always good to keep those MAINTENANCE items up to date too.

Yeah you should change the oil and change the spark plugs, mine used to do that alot. I changed the spark plugs and it's fine now.

new plugs and wires, oil change (get synthetic this time)

excuse the thread theft... but what exactly does synthetic oil do? Is it better for a '91 Fuelinjected 3.8. I read that it was good for highmileage engines. What are the pros and cons (if any)? Appreciate it.

Synthetic oil takes longer to breakdown and is able to withstand a lot more abuse.

alot of abuse like city stop and go! That is what I need to switch to.

I have an 1988 thinderbird witha 5.0l, i have replaced every part including egr, idle air bypass (numerous times), plugs, wires, oil, and egr spacer gaskets. All had no effect. The car has had the problem for 5 yrs. I am in the midst of converting the car from SEFI to Mass Air. I read an article that the cruise control amplifier in 80's fords caused all kinds of problem in unwanted acceleration without warning and there was a recall on the T-birds as well, but I never knew about it. Mine would actually go to 35mph from a full stop without me touching the gas. I also read that if you clean the throttle body, you remove a coating that can cause high idle. The new 65mm BBk throttle body I bought has a warning to this effect. Sorry I couldn't help you, but I am fighting the same problem.

85 3.8 carb. When i put the bird in park the ilde is high unless i kick it down. Any suggestions?

Not sure if this will help you much, but when I used to own my '85 T-bird 5.0, on the side of the CFI unit, there was an adjustable screw for the choke that controlled idle speed. You might want to adjust that screw (not too much, it's been preset from the factory) and see what goes. It normally does that when the engine is cold to warm it up faster. As soon as the engine gets up to speed, the choke will let go and let the engine run on its own power.

Not sure if this will help you much, but when I used to own my '85 T-bird 5.0, on the side of the CFI unit, there was an adjustable screw for the choke that controlled idle speed. You might want to adjust that screw (not too much, it's been preset from the factory) and see what goes. It normally does that when the engine is cold to warm it up faster. As soon as the engine gets up to speed, the choke will let go and let the engine run on its own power.

Freak, Thanks, but I tried that also, still no help. I even checked the EEC-iV wires and replaced the computer, still nothing. One extremely frustrating problem, and like you said it usually only happens when the car is cold.

Get the idle air control thing replaced. That's what I did and it idles just fine now. I'm not sure if the difference in engines matters for this problem or not though since I've got the 2.3L four. Just an idea.