Questions and Answers

Ford Bronco II Won't Idle At All Q. I have a 1984 Ford Bronco II with a 2.8 liter V-6 motor and just over 100,000 miles on it. It has a manual transmission. It is having trouble idling. When you start it it will run for only a few seconds but then it will die. The only way to keep it running is to keep your foot on the gas. We have already replaced the fuel pump, spark plugs, spark plug cables, distributor cap, rotor, and catalytic converter.

We have also had a valve job done. When ever it is running it sounds perfect but it just won't stay running. We have been told that it is a vacuum leak but we have looked all over it several times and have found no such leak. What should we do?

A. If you partially block off the carburetor and the engine picks up speed, then it is running lean, due to either a vacuum leak or very lean fuel mixture.

I would try spraying carburetor cleaner around the seam where it joins the heads. also spray around the base of the carburetor. If there is no change in engine speed, try turning out the mixture screws one turn and see if it will idle.

If it does, then you will need to have the carburetor adjusted with a four gas emission analyzer. If all of this fails, then you probably have a bad carburetor.