QuestionHi, I was wondering if you could help. I just bought a pristine 1983 Cutty from my friend, here's the problem: When I start the car, it runs fine, kind of high idling, but still smooth. After about 5 minutes, the rpm's suddenly drop and the check engine light comes on. The car doensn't stall, and it's still driveable, but when I drive away from a stop, the car hesitates quite a bit, to the point I have to pump the gas pedal a bit to keep it running. Any ideas? Thanks in advance. By the way, the Cutty has a 3.8L V-6 in it.
AnswerDennis,
It really could be any number of things. I would start off with a full tune up. This would rule out : fouled plugs, burnt wires, and a worn distributor cap. From there its really a process of elimination. Was the car sitting for long before you bought it? Was it a everyday driver previously or did it spend alot of time parked? If the car had a minimal amount of gas in the tank and it sat for a while than you could have debris and or water in your gas.
The high idle and subsequent kickdown is the idle switch doing its job.
Next step would be to have the timing checked and make sure there are no broken vacuum lines or defects in the carb. Checking the fuel filter might not be a bad idea. Again just start small and work yout way up.
Worst case scenario would be poor compression on more than a few cylinders.
Reasonably, I would go with a carb adjustment and a timing check.
Dennis, if you have any more questions please feel free to ask. Don't forget to rate my response to you.
Ed McKenna
