Idle Problem

[BAMO]

My first post. Played with motorcycles more than cars. I have a line on a 69 stepside. It is a 6 cyl manual trans. It seems to run fine until I take my foot off the gas. Coming to a stop is a matter of shifting to neutral, one foot on the break and the other giving a bit of gas. The cost is about 1400. My question, is this anything other than a carburetor problem (i.e carb adjustment or new carb) or could this be something much more serious?

My temptation at that price is to buy it and deal with whatever may be, but on the other hand, if by the time I am done getting it running I am out 4-5k, then not so good of a deal. Opinions, thoughts?

[68gmsee]

Welcome form Texas, amigo... Lots of members from California on here.

Re: the truck. If the body is in good shape, no rust on top of the windshield areas, radiator support in decent shape and basically a sound body, I'd buy it.

The idle problem could be carb needs cleaning, vacuum leak, distributor or points problem, etc. If it's something major in the engine, these sixes are easy to repair. I've overhauled a few of them and generally 500-600 dollars and I've got a good running engine.

[cdowns]

air filter fuel filter ,points, vaccume leak, timing carb// a tune up is easy enough to do on these motors

like said the rust should be the primary concern when getting one of these trucks

welcome to the board

[mr48chev]

Welcome to the board. I'd go along with the others in that the problem isn't too serious and an adjustment or rebuild of the carb would probably take care of it.

There aren't too many places on that truck for vacuum leaks but I'd be checking that first. The pcv hose is one, the lines to the heater are another. Also check to see if the carb is loose on it's mount and the gasket is good under it. I'm not sure about that particular carb but I have had single barrel carbs that the body would come loose from the base on and cause similar symptoms.


I agree with the others in that a rust free truck is worth the work it will take to get the engine right.

[BAMO]

Thanks for the answers. Exactly what I was hoping to hear. Will have to check out the body more closely to make sure it looks good (trucks been in California (used at a local school)) so rust shouldn't be an issue).

[unclewatts]

from Lake County California! Buy that truck. The problem you describe is probably very minor. Might be a good idea to just rebuild the carb just so you know it's right.