I just got a '83 Camaro and boy am I excited. It's my first car and I've always wanted a Camaro. ~74k Miles, and excellent condition. (engine is from a newer Camaro, not sure what year, maybe '84) 2 BBL carb, V6. New water pump, oil filter, oil, air filter.

Anyways, it's got some problems.

So when I first got it it was running fine. Idle was higher than normal (1100+ rpms).

Then a little later this started happening. I can start the car and let it idle on high(choke idle?) which is around 1500. Then I tap the gas to bring it down to normal idle. The rpms just go all the way down and the car dies.

Here's what's been done:
1. Set timing to standard 10deg. It had been around 16 before.
2. Tried to set idle speed. Little bit of craziness about what hoses to plug and how in the world to get to the curb idle screw while the air cleaner is on. After a bit of tweaking, got idle speed to 900, but car still dies.

The only way it's driveable is if I set the solenoid idle speed really high(1200).

Mostly the car dies when I just barely tap the gas pedal.

Since getting the idle to 900, I've really messed with the two idle screws so it's not quite normal .

I've checked the distributor and the coil per Chilton's.

I'm rather new to working on cars, but catch on pretty quick.

Thanks for any help,
-Kleb

 

get a new carb or rebuild the one you got. that sounds like partially clogged jets to me, also go over all the vacume lines, and replace as necessary.