87 Caprice carrying on

Well, for my first vehicle I got a 1987 Caprice (Love it by the way) but the previous owner only put 81,000+ kilometers on it (he basically parked it and let it sit for 21 years) and it would stall when it wasn't warm(sometimes when warm and accelarating at a traffic light after it has been idling, it never hesitates or here carrying on during normal highway or city driving) so we (father and I) increased the speed of the idle. The engine used to carry on every once in awhile but now that the idle has increased it carries on (or detonates, I think the correct term is) after every time I turn the vehicle off. We tried carb cleaner (both through the fuel and in the carb) and fuel system cleaner to stop the stalling but to no avail.

I'm wondering if the stalling is the lesser of two evils between that and the carrying on after the ignition is off and I'm looking for suggestions on what to do if I return to the regular idle and try to prevent the stalling and the on and off detonation. I'm not very mechanically inclined and my father chalks the carrying on/stalling to "just being old", but I'm not entirely sold on this detonation business. I've heard suggestions of turning off the car in drive and then putting it in park to avoid detonation or using a higher octane (which I'm gonna try regardless, just because it has a low risk factor). Because with such little kilometers on the engine, I don't understand exactly why it would be stalling or carrying on.

Again, I'll try to be as helpful as I can possibly be on describing the vehicle but I must warn you I do not know alot about the mechanics of a car and where certain parts are located, but I want to learn and keep my caprice running for awhile.

Well, for my first vehicle I got a 1987 Caprice (Love it by the way) but the previous owner only put 81,000+ kilometers on it (he basically parked it and let it sit for 21 years) and it would stall when it wasn't warm(sometimes when warm and accelarating at a traffic light after it has been idling, it never hesitates or here carrying on during normal highway or city driving) so we (father and I) increased the speed of the idle. The engine used to carry on every once in awhile but now that the idle has increased it carries on (or detonates, I think the correct term is) after every time I turn the vehicle off. We tried carb cleaner (both through the fuel and in the carb) and fuel system cleaner to stop the stalling but to no avail.

I'm wondering if the stalling is the lesser of two evils between that and the carrying on after the ignition is off and I'm looking for suggestions on what to do if I return to the regular idle and try to prevent the stalling and the on and off detonation. I'm not very mechanically inclined and my father chalks the carrying on/stalling to "just being old", but I'm not entirely sold on this detonation business. I've heard suggestions of turning off the car in drive and then putting it in park to avoid detonation or using a higher octane (which I'm gonna try regardless, just because it has a low risk factor). Because with such little kilometers on the engine, I don't understand exactly why it would be stalling or carrying on.

Again, I'll try to be as helpful as I can possibly be on describing the vehicle but I must warn you I do not know alot about the mechanics of a car and where certain parts are located, but I want to learn and keep my caprice running for awhile.


How did you change the idle?
Most likly you just have to drive the car a bit to get the bearings moveing again.

A good oil change after 100 miles of harder driveing would help too.

Cheers
Stripe

Well, for my first vehicle I got a 1987 Caprice (Love it by the way) but the previous owner only put 81,000+ kilometers on it (he basically parked it and let it sit for 21 years) and it would stall when it wasn't warm(sometimes when warm and accelarating at a traffic light after it has been idling, it never hesitates or here carrying on during normal highway or city driving) so we (father and I) increased the speed of the idle. The engine used to carry on every once in awhile but now that the idle has increased it carries on (or detonates, I think the correct term is) after every time I turn the vehicle off. We tried carb cleaner (both through the fuel and in the carb) and fuel system cleaner to stop the stalling but to no avail.

I'm wondering if the stalling is the lesser of two evils between that and the carrying on after the ignition is off and I'm looking for suggestions on what to do if I return to the regular idle and try to prevent the stalling and the on and off detonation. I'm not very mechanically inclined and my father chalks the carrying on/stalling to "just being old", but I'm not entirely sold on this detonation business. I've heard suggestions of turning off the car in drive and then putting it in park to avoid detonation or using a higher octane (which I'm gonna try regardless, just because it has a low risk factor). Because with such little kilometers on the engine, I don't understand exactly why it would be stalling or carrying on.

Again, I'll try to be as helpful as I can possibly be on describing the vehicle but I must warn you I do not know alot about the mechanics of a car and where certain parts are located, but I want to learn and keep my caprice running for awhile.







run on and stalling is usually because of vacuum leaks .. rubber must be replaced after 7-10years...cracks and poor sealing....the anti run on solenoid then must be put back to where it was...the run on is common with these systems because of the combustion chambers getting too much build up of carbon...engine runnig too rich...or bad EGR valve....or EGR not working possibly because of bad vacuum lines or pluged intake manifold....


with some time and cleaning and testing this can be repaired...

In my area old repair manuals can be found at the library...this will give you the info needed to learn what is going on under your hood... this vehicle is getting close to antique....mode

If you have to shut it off in gear (which is the best thing to do short-term), the idle is probably too high. Look for sticky linkage for the fast idle cam, that's where they usually hang up. A little carb spray usually loosens it up.

I'd be suspect of a carburetor that sat for 21 years and would think of getting a rebuild or new one. Also change the fuel pump, those are cheap and relatively easy to change.



Bob

mine st for a month and 2 days of hard driving opened everything up but after 21 years i would change every filter fuel, oil, breather, air flush the gas tank and rebuild the carb. also do a engine flush