1986 Toyota pickup - sudden idle problems

I was performing the 90K mile maintenance on my 1986 Toyota pickup, and
decided to run some Sea Foam through it just to be sure everything was
clean. I poured about 1/4 of the can slowly into the carburetor of the
warmed up (and running) engine. It then coughed, backfired through the
carburetor, blew out smoke and died. It restarted, but since then it
won't idle at all, but will stay running very roughly if I give it lots
of gas.

I read somewhere else that Sea Foam can screw up the sparkplugs. So I
took all of them out and cleaned and inspected them. No change. The
engine will start but then die immediately unless I give it a lot of
gas and keep my foot on the pedal. As soon as I let my foot off of the
pedal, the engine sputters and dies.

Did the Sea Foam cause this? I'm very disgusted, because the engine
was running fine beforehand. Next time I'll leave well enough alone.

Jason

<jasonamiller@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1153276201.249451.294500@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>I was performing the 90K mile maintenance on my 1986 Toyota pickup, and
> decided to run some Sea Foam through it just to be sure everything was
> clean. I poured about 1/4 of the can slowly into the carburetor of the
> warmed up (and running) engine. It then coughed, backfired through the
> carburetor, blew out smoke and died. It restarted, but since then it
> won't idle at all, but will stay running very roughly if I give it lots
> of gas.
>
> I read somewhere else that Sea Foam can screw up the sparkplugs. So I
> took all of them out and cleaned and inspected them. No change. The
> engine will start but then die immediately unless I give it a lot of
> gas and keep my foot on the pedal. As soon as I let my foot off of the
> pedal, the engine sputters and dies.
>
> Did the Sea Foam cause this? I'm very disgusted, because the engine
> was running fine beforehand. Next time I'll leave well enough alone.
>
> Jason[/color]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sure sounds as if what you did was the direct cause of your present problem,
if you hadn't experienced it before.
Occasionally such things happen, when you try to make something better and
it screws things up.

(For example, if you try always to agree with your wife, and one day she
asks " I think these slacks make my butt look big.......what do you think?"
and you forget and agree with her as usual.)

Had a similar problem with my 86 PU as well. It was sitting for a while,
then I needed to use it. It started fine, left the house and was a block
away, when I remembered I had to bring something. So I parked the truck and
stopped the engine since my house keys are on the same ring. When I started
the truck again it would not hold idle, unless the gas pedal was pressed
slightly. I had to use the truck, so I drove it with one foot on the gas
and the other on the brake at stops, or else the engine would die.

I tried to use carb cleaner and did all checks, but could not find anything
wrong or out of adjustment. An old mechanic neighbor also looked at it and
recommended I have the carb rebuilt. I figured after 20 years it's probably
due for a rebuilt. I recently rebuilt the heads and timing set. I took it
to a local carb shop and they rebuilt it for $150. Ever since it's been
running great.

Chances are the jets are clogged, and the only way to clean and adjust them
correctly is to rebuilt the carb. Also change your spark plugs, even though
you cleaned them they might not be still firing correctly. $5 for a set of
NGKs is not whole lot.

Good Luck!

JW


<jasonamiller@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1153276201.249451.294500@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>I was performing the 90K mile maintenance on my 1986 Toyota pickup, and
> decided to run some Sea Foam through it just to be sure everything was
> clean. I poured about 1/4 of the can slowly into the carburetor of the
> warmed up (and running) engine. It then coughed, backfired through the
> carburetor, blew out smoke and died. It restarted, but since then it
> won't idle at all, but will stay running very roughly if I give it lots
> of gas.
>
> I read somewhere else that Sea Foam can screw up the sparkplugs. So I
> took all of them out and cleaned and inspected them. No change. The
> engine will start but then die immediately unless I give it a lot of
> gas and keep my foot on the pedal. As soon as I let my foot off of the
> pedal, the engine sputters and dies.
>
> Did the Sea Foam cause this? I'm very disgusted, because the engine
> was running fine beforehand. Next time I'll leave well enough alone.
>
> Jason
>[/color]

<jasonamiller@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1153276201.249451.294500@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>I was performing the 90K mile maintenance on my 1986 Toyota pickup, and
> decided to run some Sea Foam through it just to be sure everything was
> clean. I poured about 1/4 of the can slowly into the carburetor of the
> warmed up (and running) engine. It then coughed, backfired through the
> carburetor, blew out smoke and died. It restarted, but since then it
> won't idle at all, but will stay running very roughly if I give it lots
> of gas.
>
> I read somewhere else that Sea Foam can screw up the sparkplugs. So I
> took all of them out and cleaned and inspected them. No change. The
> engine will start but then die immediately unless I give it a lot of
> gas and keep my foot on the pedal. As soon as I let my foot off of the
> pedal, the engine sputters and dies.
>
> Did the Sea Foam cause this? I'm very disgusted, because the engine
> was running fine beforehand. Next time I'll leave well enough alone.
>
> Jason
>[/color]

It sure sounds like either the Sea Foam or your application indirectly
caused the problem. The backfire may have damaged or clogged something in
the carburetor. Look for a small circular window on the side of the
carburetor. The window's "frame" has notches on each side. The fuel level
should be pretty even with the notches. If not, then the float may be
messed up (works like a toilet tank float). It is also possible that the
backfire sent debris that clogged a jet or port.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)