Ah, I see...LOL

 

Yep... I gotsa '91 myself and may need parts later...

 

LOL...true

Anyway, the idle still changes all the time. Not sure if a thermostat has a darn thing to do with it but its bugging me...lol. When I get off of the free way the idle goes up and will surge a little. When I'm in town the idle is about 800-600rpm. When/if I hot rod it it goes even lower. So, whats up??

 

I forgot about the dash-pot

I'm going to remove it and go for a drive in the morning and see how it works. Yay! I've got school tomorrow

 

Same problem still happening.

 

Well, new air filter fixed the power band issue. At 3k it would surge (go back and forth) and now its smooth. I figured it was because of my compression...lol

 

You've got to be kidding me! You're saying the air filter's been this big problem all along?! How long had it been since you've changed it?

Ugh...internet mechanics. One might as well be workin' blind folded....

 

Guess none of us can charge much now, eh?
oh well.

 

You're closer to him than I am. I say we find out where the young lad lives and force him to buy us beer!!!

....and a cigar!

 

No you fools

It fixed a weird power issue (while driving and trying to go fast) I never said anything about it since I thought it was the crappy cylinder.


Anyway, I've still got the idle problem though. If it can't be fixed because of my compression...then so be it. But it worked fine before the tear down...lol.

The idle is a little rough at 600rpm. It feels "alright" at 800. It still shakes a little.

So, what do you think with my changing idle all the time?

 

I was kidding about the fools part...lol

 

--- fool? ---
you though we were ignoring you?
The idle should be around 750. Where'd you get 600 from?
My Firebird 400 CID idles at 650 in drive.

 

Well, because my idle ALWAYS moves. It never stays the same...thats what I'm trying to figure out. I've got my mind set on my rigged t-stat (remember my over-heating problem!) When I drive slow, barely touching 2k rpm my idle will surge. When its hot out my idle will be less. When I drive in traffic my idle will be less. When I hot rod it, it will idle around 550-600rpm.

I'm NOT going to get out of my truck and adjust the idle every time it changes...that is just rediculous

 

well here's a suggestion- let's get a consistant idle speed, irregardless of what it is, let's get a consistant speed- something stable to work from.
I don't care if it's 2000 rpm or whatever... just one idle speed that doesn't change more than 100 rpm no matter what.
We'll work from there.

Once we're stable somewhere, we'll work on bringing it down where it should be.
Trust me, I'm as tired of this as you are... maybe actually even more so. I hate being beaten.

 

The problem isn't a low idle...it's because it's never stable. Sits in my driveway and idles at 1500, turn the screw in and it goes to 1000. Last week (when it was in the 80's to 90's) it would idle 650-750. Drive on the freeway and it would surge once and then when I would stop it would idle at 1100 or so.

Are you sure this has nothing to do with the stupid thermostat?

 

Quite possibly could be the thermostat not operating properly. But that's hard to say absolutely, without doubt. After all, if the coolant does warm up properly and does not overheat, it would seem that the thermostat is working.
What is the temperature rating on the t-stat?

Do you know anyone with an infrared thermometer? It might be an interesting adventure to shoot the cylinder head temperatures by each spark plug while it's running and at different times to see if the head is generating abnormally, localized (by the cylinder) high temps and is affecting how the engine runs.

 

I was thinking that my thermostat does not open since I drilled a hole in it (since it wasn't) and when the coolant gets cool in the radiator it goes into the engine and the ect sensor reads and says its a different temp and then changes the idle...something like that.

I have an infrared thermometer and used it to verify that it was over-heating.

So, your saying that the "good" pistons could be cooler or hotter than the #3 piston and that could cause the idle to go ballistic? Something along those lines though.

 

Well, now that you mention it, yeah, that's what I was thinking- that the weak cylinder is in some way affecting the cylinder head temperatures to the detriment of the engine performance. (I think I mentioned that idea somewhere else in this thread, but I'm too lazy to go back and find it. )

But never-the-less... cylinder head temps WILL affect engine performance. A hot engine that has not yet blown the head gasket will run noticebly better, smoother even, than a cooler / normal stock-temp head.
And the cooling system CAN mask cylinder head temp variations quite easily.

 

Are 22re's supposed to be this ty? I probably would have had better luck with an american pos. I can't believe my brothers has lasted 250k miles. The last 100k miles have been "untouched" and it still purrs. Why do I ALWAYS get stuck with a pile of . For some reason I can't blow it up? Any tips? Apparently holding my foot to the floor for 30 seconds won't.

I'll be back...hopefully with a different attitude

 

Hold your foot to the floor for 30 seconds with an 'american pos' and tell me what happens.

Ultimately, a used car is subjected the the whims and fancies of the current and previous owner(s). Some people take care care of theirs and others don't.
Just because yours is causing problems does not mean it's a design deficiency or something of the like.

Given you replaced the head gasket and still have a compression problem, I may be more inclined to blame you for not fixing a problem (that could've been fixed when the engine was apart) than I would be to blame someone for blowing the gasket up in the first place.

*edit- sorry if I come across all agro and emo. It's just harder to fix a problem when something else is wrong.