On my 86 firebird (305 carb) a few weeks ago the idle dropped- at first I thought this was due to the choke coming out early in the hot weather, and once the car was up to temperature it would run alright, but the idle still seemed lower than it should have been. Then, I made a 600 mile trip and at one point when I pulled off at a gas station the car did not want to stay running, so just to make it drivable in traffic I kicked up the idle, originally to almost 2000, but does not stay up that high anymore. Also, since then, the power assist on the brakes occasionally cuts out. I found a nice leak in a tube that goes from the middle of the back of the engine (between the distributor and the carb) that goes around the drivers side to the front of the car (anybody know what this is?) and now the car is running more smoothly, but the car still seems to be running a bit off, with a fluctuating idle and inconsistent brakes. In addition to this, at the same time as all of these problems started, my fuel gauge wants to read Full, even after about 100 miles- is this related?
Any advice would be helpful.
Thanks,
-Mike