ashyers

From what I follow in the thread, you have a couple of issues. Here's what I'd do to get some kind of baseline where the car will idle: * pick a base idle w/o IAC control that's a bit on the slow side * set that idle with the engine hot using the idle screw * balance the throttles and readjust the base idle (it's going to change when you balance the throttles, go for the smoothest slow idle with balanced air flow numbers) * make sure the idle is stable and there's no interference due to the throttle cable * now look at your TPS setting, if you don't know what the original setting was when the map was made you may have to do some digging in the fuel/spark/IAC maps to see what the mapper used. If you just want to cut and try dial the TPS to 0. * the idle should not change (there's no IAC) * now hook up the IAC and if things are close you should witness some form of idle control I don't think ditching the IAC at this point makes sense, you may as well get it working. Worst case scenario you ditch the IAC and tune the idle with fuel/spark/coolant/air temp. It won't be as consistent as using the IAC, but it will work. The trick here is I don't know what the mapper intended with the base TPS and IAC settings, but it looks like you have access to the Pectel unit so that's just time and patience reading over how the idle mapping was done. Andy

Here's how IAC's have worked on the Fords I'm familiar with. The throttle is typically very close to closed and set so the IAC's "plunger" is running at the midpoint of its travel enabling it to maximize its ability to control the idle speed via bleeding air around the throttles. If I understood what you said in your post you are using the throttle cable to control the idle speed. I believe this may be your issue. You need a positive stop, the cable won't provide that. If there's nothing sticking I'm thinking that your butterflies are not coordinated with your IAC and you're bleeding too much air leading to high idle. If the butterflies stop is inconsistent you're going to have a hell of a time getting things dialed in.

A couple of thoughts: Did they stick at all on the bench? I suspect they didn't or you wouldn't have bolted 'em on :)! Have you tried it w/o the throttle cable connected? If they are free then it seems like the cable is toast. Sometimes if exposed to heat the lined ones stick. When it's revving up can you close the throttles to their stops by hand and get the idle under control? It looks like you tried it with the IAC removed any more details there? If it's messed up (stuck open) it may cause the engine to rev up and behave like the throttles are open.

In my experience they are used for balancing the throttles. I suspect yours were being used to try and pull a smooth vacuum signal, possibly for the FPR. I'd just cap them and map the car with no vacuum signal to the FPR. Where were they connected?

Is it lacking spark or fuel?

I'm unable to see any image you posted, but I'll take a guess at rear anti roll bar hardware. Andy

Andy69, Racks will often stick if involved in a hit that deforms one of the teeth, then it's time to bin it. If you're planning on rebuilding the rack I'd mock it up with some light oil and check for sticking. If it passes make sure you have both the rack and pinion magnafluxed before final assembly. The results of a sheared tooth are never good. Another possibility is that the rack has adjustable pinion depth. It's possible that the pinion is not secured and the tooth engagement is changing when you're steering leading to binding/unbinding. May want to check that out. Andy

BlueBDA, If the lower most photos are your car, I'd say you have a narrow track since I don't see the hex shaped spacers on the Bilsteins. Andy

Steve, The stock T9 doesn't have a drain plug...gulp! Did you add one? Andy

Steve, The item in the 2nd photo looks like a VDO pressure sending unit. Is it connected to a braided line plumbed to the oil system? Andy

It's cool to see Moroso, I used to go drag racing there when I was a kid! Those tires look like they would be fun to drive, not fast, but fun. The visual of the push with cycle fenders is pretty graphic! I have 16" HPC wheels on the car now that I need to keep the sump off the ground on local roads, so this limits tire choices to 205/45-16. I am thinking about some 888's to replace my aged Proxes R1R's. Andy

John, The treadwear ratings track the speed ratings. Maybe the H rated tires use a different compound than the V rated ones??? Andy

Dave, I'm trying your suggestions. Front Toe: 0deg Front Camber:-2deg RARB: Disconnected I'm not going to an AutoX until the 14th, but the difference is apparent on the street. 0 toe makes steering slightly vague on center, but frees things up a bit, and the feel is good. There were no issues with tramlining on the freeway. The lack of the RARB was apparent when zipping to work this morning and rounding a bumpy turn I take daily. Less skip, more grip. I'll have to check the tires after the AutoX and see how the camber has affected wear. I didn't go the full 2.5deg. I wanted to try 2deg first. Andy

Dave, Just edited the posts above. I put the car back on the pad yesterday and found out my notes were from one of our first iterations of toe changes. The setting is actually .04deg/side or .032" total in, so not far from what you're recommending. Andy

Sander, This caught my eye "Change to a thinner oil so the car will reach operating temperature in daily driving." Do you know if the car has a thermostat? From your description of it's cold weather behavior is sounds like it doesn't. I'd suggest checking that out. Running the engine cold won't do it a bit of good. Beware of attempting to control engine temp with oil viscosity, that may get you into trouble! Andy

Bruce Springsteen comes to mind...but the Cadillac Ranch is not as close as I thought. Is it the lights????

"Merino wool! You can wear it for a week or a month and it never stinks!" I have to back Sander up on this, when he stopped by both Hilde and I remained conscious. If I knew then what I know now...:ack:

Don't forget your preferred driving apparel! I'm particularly curious how you dealt with the long stretches in the desert areas without getting fried.

Sander, Glad you have things sorted! You're making great time. Andy

Sander, Hilde and I are happy you were able to drop by and enjoy dinner with us. It was a pleasure to meet you and the stories of your trip were great! Hope the remainder of your journey is trouble free and the only adventures you have are self induced! Drive safe and stay in touch. Andy

Chrysler used a neat trick to set sensor gap, they applied a piece of paper to the end of the sensor and you installed it with the paper hitting one of the teeth and tightened the mounting hardware. This set the gap. Once the engine turned the paper was knocked off and you were good to go. Simple and accurate. Maybe this would help to set the spacing for your car????

Check the harness for any damage and check the pins to the ECU. Hopefully the ECU is programmed correctly for the trigger set up. Do you have the ability to access it?

SanderGA, I'm in Oakland, if you want to drop by on the way up to Sears Point for a bit of socially distanced grilling and a rest you're more than welcome. Andy

How far up the coast do you plan to go?

Dave, HOLY CRAP is that a bunch of tire!!!!!! I agree that outside rear is working ! That's a great photo, pretty informative about the setup's behavior. Per your advice I think I'll try this: Front toe: 0 to a RCH in, just enough to keep it on the "in" side of 0 so it doesn't dither. Front camber: I'll play with camber. Per my notes it changes .25deg/turn so I'll measure toe before and after camber changes and then figure out how many flats I need to add/subtract get the toe sorted out. * Disconnect RARB (edit, forgot!) Alignments I have covered. I'm to picky/cheap to shop it out and I've done a few. The toe bar setup you made looks like it works well. Where did you anchor it to the chassis? It's great that you don't need to pull the nose. Andy