Installed HO upper/TB/bored spacer - dies going into & changing from D to R

[85crownHPP]

I finally got a chance to put coolant in and let her warm up (she never 'burped'... I guess the t-stat bleed hole works!) and set the timing after work today.
She idles nice and smooth, maybe even smoother than before, and responds to light revving well.

If it idles long enough to let the idle 'level out', it will 4/5 times stall putting it into drive or reverse, or at least act like it wants to. Your can start it back up and put it in gear fine, and it will idle fine in gear.

I have definitely been screwing around with the throttle stop, where should it be?

The TPS and IAC were not on it when I welded the throttle lever onto the HO TB shaft and let some smoke out, so it's not cooked.
It has the same TPS and IAC on it that I was using on the old TB.

Could it just be re-learning? The 85 did this at first (not as bad) after it got HO upper stuff, but it also got the conversion at the same time so I cut it some slack, lol.

I didn't have a lot of time to spend with it to investigate, it's still sitting outside at work.

[HiFiMerc]

I put an HO upper and TB with bored EGR spacer on my lopo about 3 weeks ago. It started up and ran fine, except for idling just a bit high at first. Haven't had any issues, other than having the wrong EGR position sensor on. It didn't like the one that came on it. Told me it was out of range on the low side, and actually kicked the check engine light on.

I put the throttle stop on mine so where there is just a bit of pressure on the throttle plate. Seems to be ok. Put about 70 miles on it so far with no issues.

[gadget73]

no codes related to the TPS or idle speed ?

normally the throttle stop screw is set so the engine idles about 500 rpm with the IAC unplugged.

[85crownHPP]

I didn't have time to look for codes yet, nothing set the CEL though. I took another quick look before I clocked in today - I noticed that my TPS wires got smashed at some point. They aren't broken but look like they got crushed enough to expose some copper. I can't visualize how that could have happened during the swap, but I'll be testing it again, past the damaged area this time.
Also, I may have damaged my EGR solenoid - the snap-on part that clips the vacuum line inlet/outlet to the solenoid broke, and I just zip-tied it back together. Maybe that is letting some vacuum slip past, opening my EGR at idle? I will cap it off and try again, hopefully today!
I will also be using some propane to check for vacuum leaks, in case something didn't seal well or I broke some plastic line and didn't notice.

[85crownHPP]

She seems better now!

I messed around with the throttle stop - since I didn't have tach to use for testing purposes, I just put it to where it wold just barely idle with the IAC unplugged. I 'clocked' the TPS, it was reading 0.8v, it should be 1.0v. I dunno if either of those, 'learning' or time did the trick, but it seems ok now.
The propane test-for-vacuum-leaks didn't work like it does for small engines, I guess my little torch wasn't putting out enough fuel to make a noticeable change in a V8. So I sprayed carb cleaner all around my intake gaskets and vacuum lines, didn't find any leaks that way.
She feels maybe a tad more peppy now, and definitely sounds throatier with the P71 airbox.

I installed new IAT, ECT, and O2 sensors too, and overall she runs much much smoother. She used to blub-blub-blub a little when slowed down to stoplights before, that seems to have cleared up too. The IAT sensor was covered in oily gunk, the injector holes in the lower intake were crusty-gunked up enough to barely let the fuel spray through... I hope I get some better gas mileage now!
I have a feeling when they put the re-man engine in, they just slapped the crusty lower on without cleaning it up.

[gadget73]

probably. Cleaning costs time for no significant benefit, and time is money you know. There are things that an owner will do that a shop just can't because the time involved isn't worth the money it would bring in.


The original lower from my Mark VII had the holes nearly shut too. I don't know how it got any fuel. The SystemMax 1 that went on was clean, and its a better intake as far as airflow equality so that probably played a part too but it definitely idles smoother and has better throttle response.