IDLE

[C928BRAN]

i have my idle turned up on my car, and it is idling kinda high in park, but when i put it in gear, it almost dies. what would make it idle so low, when you put it in gear?

thanks, craig

[Back N Black]

Why do you have it turned up on high idle, should be around 750-800 rpm. It sound like you may have a timing problem or need a carb adjustment.

[BigBlockSam]

dead cylinder

[John_Kunkel]

A vacuum leak will cause high idle and lack of power once under load in gear.

[Chryco Psycho]

it could be as simple as a stock converter & a long duration cam
more info about the combo please

[C928BRAN]

it is a 383 with a comp cam, just a small cam, nothing drastic. it does have a stock convertor. if i idle it down to where it needs to be and i put it in gear. it will almost die, starts to shutter a little, unless i idle it up. it is a brand new rebuilt engine, runs great driving it, starts so easy, just have to barely touch the key. brand new edelbrock carb. just the idle problem. i am running points, and i thought that might be the problem, and i was planning to put a petronix module in, but i wanted to get feedback first. if i advance the timing it starts to shake pretty bad too.

[BSB67]

It could be a vacuum leak.

Could be the mechanical advance is moving around at low rpm.

[Chryco Psycho]

I would avoid the Pertronics conversion , go to a Mopar system , the Pertronics has been less than reliable in my experience .
You may need to drill small holes in the throttle plates to increase the idle speed without opening the plates & uncovering the idle transfer slots to get it to idle well in gear . Check for vacuum leaks , make sure the Vacuum advance is connected to the Ported vacuum port so there is no vacuum at idle or just disconnect it altogether .
If the the springs are too light in the mech advance inside the dist it could be moveing as BSB suggests as well .

[John_Kunkel]

it could be as simple as a stock converter & a long duration cam
more info about the combo please

The Max Wedge had about the hairiest cam and tightest converter ever offered by Mopar and they idled in gear just fine.