when i slow to a stop and put it in neutral or park it will tick over at ~1k for a few seconds then drop to 750 where it will stay until i put it in gear and drive off again. this happens pretty much every time i slow to a stop, so i guess thats the ECU adjusting the idle?

havnt replaced the vac unit yet, but i did put the old one back on just to hold all the bits and pieces inside the dizzy from moving around. havnt checked the ignition timing or anything yet, gotta get my hands on a strobe first. now it seems to be that it idles ~1k when its cold, then goes back...

well after taking off the old vac advance and blanking the hose, taking the dizzy apart and cleaning the rotor arm, cleaning the stepper and removing and cleaning half the plugs, it nows runs a bit better both idling in neutral and in gear, but the idle speed has gone up to ~1k when in neutral...

thats why ive left the vac hose on there, but blanked it off so it wont be pulling air in through the pipe. i figured it would make it run a bit lean if anything, as the air coming in through the vac hose wouldnt be noticed by the MAF sensor

well, dizzy is in very good condition, but the vac advance is broken. you can suck air through the hose and hear it coming through from the vac advance unit. would this cause the rough idle? any idea where i can get a new one? fleabay? also presumably i can still drive it, and it will just be...

aah thanks for that, even a dunce like me should be able to follow that =) nope, no cats on mine, its one of the earlier 3.9's i guess. just got one of my plugs out and its got a buildup of something that looks like rust all over the electrode and cathode. should i be worried? apologies for...

tried that already, its definately not binding on the block, i think its just being stubborn. also, what should the plugs look like in a healthy engine? the one i managed to get out ok looks like the top one in this pic: though mine is not quite as covered in carbon. according to the website i...

how does one check that the advance is working? ive had a gander and the hose, dizzy, rotor and everything looks in good condition, but not sure exactly how to test the vac advance?

turns out my old man has owned a few V8's in his time, and reckons he probably remembers how to check and set the timing, however we dont seem to have a strobe anymore =/ just been trying to get the plugs out to inspect and clean them, but with the exception of one or two, either the lead wont...

i was afraid someone might say that... unfortunately i have no idea how to check either of those things. and yeah the air filter is low down on the list of things to do, but the intake that is on there has seen better days.

took the PTFE out and replaced it with a fibre washer, and its back to how it was, maybe a little better than before. also took off the air filter and hoovered it out. thinking of replacing it with a decent K&N or something, any idea if this will help the old girl breath a bit better?

well, tried putting the stepper back on with PTFE, and if anything its now worse than it was =/ it wasnt very willing to start, and quicker to stall when i brake to a stop at junctions etc. also when cranking the engine the brake pad warning light came on the dash, but went out as soon as the...

right, have removed the stepper and given it a good clean up (reeeeally covered in crap) but the gasket ring came apart when i removed it, and i dont have any silicon sealant =/ would PTFE thread seal work instead?

thanks for the replies, worn out diff was what i was thinking =/ unless it really really starts to **** me off i may just run it til it goes and then replace it. weve got a toyota van at work thats had a really noisy diff for the last year or so that is still going and doesnt seem to have got...

thanks for the replies =) i shall have a poke around under the bonnet when i have a spare few hours and see what i can do. also, im going to get me a haynes manual. am i risking doing any real damage by using it before resolving these issues?

went to pick up my new (ooooold) car yesterday from north yorkshire, and though the old girl did the 300 mile trip without anything really going wrong, i did have a few things going on with my engine toward the end of the journey, namely: really rough idle while sitting in gear, almost stalls...

oh, forgot to add its an auto box, which seems to work just fine through the gears, kickdown etc

ive got a loud whine coming from under the car somewhere, but only while under load, e.g. going up hill or accelerating. while cruising on the level or coasting down hill its fine. i tried coasting with in neutral and the sound went away. any ideas? Thanks, Tom

I'm Tom, nice to meet you all