engine and drivetrain Stalling when idle after warm up

[theDamon]

Hi all,

I got my first 2002 last week (a UK 72 tii) so I'm new to the club. I've been reading up on various different issues that I've been having with the car and I've managed to fix or diagnose most of them thanks to the knowledge on this board.

However, I could do with a bit of advice as to how to approach the problem I've got now. Yesterday I oiled up the throttle linkage because I was experiencing a bit of stickyness returning to idle. The stickness is resolved and the responsiveness is great. The only problem is, after the engine warms up and choke is off the idle revs are next to nothing so it regularly stalls. If i drop the clutch for more than a few seconds then the revs will drop and stall. I have to try and catch it by revving. Not an easy job when you have 2 feet and are trying to stop!

I've tried putting the choke on again but it makes no difference. Perhaps there is some sort of semi auto choke so its not enabled again as the engine is warm?

Something that may be of importance is that after starting up from cold with the choke the revs are at ~1000rpm. If i turn off the choke then it will drop to virtually no revs and stall.

Due to the above and considering all i did was oil up the linkage, i'm thinking i just need to adjust the part of the linkage where it comes away from the firewall. There seems to be an adjuster there which would affect how low the throttle is after lifting off the pedal. Shall i just alter that to increase the idle revs?

One other point is that I filled it with proper leaded 4 star gas as opposed to using unleaded and castrol lead replacement. I have a suspicion that it may be lower octane than the car usually has. Would that make any difference?

Lots of questions i know! Here's a pic of the car to cheer you up.

Thanks

D

[jgerry2002]

First before you adjust ANYTHING with your linkage go to:

Go to http://www.thetiiregister.com/ and download the tech manual and video for the injection system.

The linkage must be tight as well, or you will never get the car to run correctly if its sloppy or lose. The ball ends wear out over time.

Also note that these cars do not require leaded gasoline at all.

[theDamon]

thanks for the reply, I'll check out the vid now.

The linkage itself is in a good condition as I believe it was replaced not too long ago. It feels reasonably tight and snaps back into place well due to the throttle return spring.

As for using unleaded, i'm still a bit wary. Isn't any work needed on the cylnder head / valve seats etc? One point to note is that UK gas is slightly different to US as regards to Octane etc.

[PeterVarga]

On just the Octane issue , octane is only a mesaure of resistance to predetonation and becomes important with high compression engines. I don't know what the Brits have in the gasoline since they took the tetraethyl lead out. It is rumored that in USA states with strict emissions requirements, they put a type of alcohol in with the gas for the purpose of knock retardant. I have found that my non injected '02 idles lower with the same settings with this cleaner burning gas.

I haven't got a Tii but maybe there is an idle adjust screw other than the "throttle linkage stop screw." Possibly something on the pump that increases the fuel at idle. Same with timing. If set incoreccly toward the retard side the idle drops.