1987 classic help

I have a 1987 caprice classic, bought it off a friend. i fixed alot of stuff but i cant figure out why it wont idle high enough to not cut out when i'm sitting still, i put a K&N air filter in it, i dont want to mess with the screws in the carb but anyone have any ideas?? also my air fuel is so rich alot of black smoke when i floor it, none at idle. and one more i replaced a parking lamp bulb and now my left turn signals dont work(they used to before i took old bulb out) the green arrow is dimly lit anything my car is on and when i put the left turn signal on they dont flash just stay lit. thanks for any help you can offer

Welcome Aboard!

There are many potential reasons for a low idle RPM and rich mixture at heavy throttle. More information is necessary. Are the "Check Engine" or "Choke" warning lamps on? Once the engine is warmed, can you hear the mixture control solenoid clicking on the carburetor? Is the choke plate opening fully? Does the engine start normally cold and hot?

As for the parking lamp, make sure the bulb is installed properly (inspect the bayonet pins and orientation) and is the socket grounded properly?

There are many potential reasons for a low idle RPM and rich mixture at heavy throttle. More information is necessary. Are the "Check Engine" or "Choke" warning lamps on? Once the engine is warmed, Is the choke plate opening fully? Does the engine start normally cold and hot?

The only check engine light on is the brake, not sure yet why but not the choke light

i haven't ran the engine too much i'm replacing the leaking valve gasket this weekend with a neighbor but sometimes while starting it cold i have to give it some gas to crank over

can you hear the mixture control solenoid clicking on the carburetor

not sure what sound i should hear this is my first carbureted motor


As for the parking lamp, make sure the bulb is installed properly (inspect the bayonet pins and orientation) and is the socket grounded properly

i got it to work it was a bad new bulb

well i figured out when i stop at a red light i can put in neutral or park and it wont conk out but all the other drive gears make the motor conk if i dont give it any gas...... this wouldn't have anything to do with a transmission would it?

It's not as likely that the TCC solenoid is sticking on an '87 so the trans is less of a concern. More probably the idle RPM and/or mixture are incorrect.

Once you get the valve cover gaskets replaced and you can spend some time with it, check the hot idle speed setting, the high idle setting and test choke operation. You really should have a tachometer, voltmeter or VOM, adn a dwell meter would be helpful for setting the idle air bleed lean stop on the carb.

okay i found my problem i had a crack in my carb, and the guy before me turned the idle up so high so it would run at idle. but i just put a new carb got it tuned and everything runs great now cost me 819 dollars tho, but now i have some more problems....

1) when the motor is cold like when i wake up in the morning it takes awhile to start, not long like 5 seconds.(i'm thinking it needs a new starter not sure), but then the motor wont warm up by itself, it will stall unless i'm giving it gas, then when i try to shift to reverse it will stall unless i'm giving it gas. but after running for 3-5 mins it's fine untill i let it sit for another 6 hours or so.

2)when i shut it off it tries to crank over like it's starting twice then dies because no fuel i dont understand this at all

3)And my brake light is on, i'm gonna replace my pads maybe rotors if they're bad in the front. And my drums in the back and bleed my old brake fluid for new brake fluid but i want to know do i really need to replace the back drums if i dont use my e-brake?

Any help thanks

both 1 and 2 are either carb or tune up related. When you swapped carbs did you tune it up? The plugs are probably loaded up with carbon, which will cause both the hard starting/bad running when cold and the run-on/dieseling when you shut it off. If you replaced the plugs, wires, cap and rotor, and reset the timing when you did the carb, you may need to adjust the carb itself. If you bought a reman unit, they come from the factory set to base settings, but they could be thrown off from handling, and a little tweaking is sometimes in order.

I just dropped it off at my mechanic, to adjust the carb and check it out. so i'll post when i get it back to see if it's fixed

87 Box Classic,

Let me know what what you find out about the stalling while in gear when coming to a stop. My 87 caprice 305 is doing the same thing. It was also idling rough but that's been taken care of. Now I still have to shift the AT into neutral when coming to a stop. In the upcoming days I'll be replacing spark plugs and wires as well as checking dwell, timing, and idle. Thanks to this site, and a few cans of chemtool, the rough idle was found to be caused by a leaking carb to manifold gasket. Not only sucking air, but also deteriorated enough to clog a vacuum passage on the bottom of the carb as well. Also used some seafoam to de-carbonize the heads. Wow, that was 10 minutes of fun. I've always wanted to try my hand at crop dusting!

87 Box Classic,

Let me know what what you find out about the stalling while in gear when coming to a stop. My 87 caprice 305 is doing the same thing. It was also idling rough but that's been taken care of. Now I still have to shift the AT into neutral when coming to a stop. In the upcoming days I'll be replacing spark plugs and wires as well as checking dwell, timing, and idle. Thanks to this site, and a few cans of chemtool, the rough idle was found to be caused by a leaking carb to manifold gasket. Not only sucking air, but also deteriorated enough to clog a vacuum passage on the bottom of the carb as well. Also used some seafoam to de-carbonize the heads. Wow, that was 10 minutes of fun. I've always wanted to try my hand at crop dusting!

TCC solenoid - I had this happen to my car with the original TH2004R trans 4 years ago.

the inside of the cap was rusted scrubbed with alum foil and runs perfect now

Unrelated but is your car a 2 door?

no it's a 4 door