86td wont respond to throttle until i press it half-way

[sean_caton666]

i start my car and now it feels like it wants to idle at like 250. does anyone know what i can do. there is also a new smell coming from the breather valve on the head, if that helps

[RunninWild]

Fuel filter?

[ORCoaster]

Just think of the fuel savings, instead of 750 or 850 you can do it for less.  Not sure what "feels like it wants to idle at 250" means.  Just that you now have a very low idle?  When that has happened to me I found the IP to have air in it or as stated a fuel filter issue.  Where the IP is trying to pull fuel to itself but can not because the filter is plugged or a hose is kinked or worse smashed under the car because that limb or rock you thought was 2 inches tall was actually 6. 

I have noted a vacuum on the line when this happens.  Search the site for vacuum on fuel line.  I actually was running a waste oil system for a while and had an inline tee on the IP side of the filter to see when I was running a low 3 to 4 psi of vacuum.  I knew at that point I needed to either warm the oil more or start thinking about filter replacement.  I am not sure if a 7 lb reading was the limit on a good filter or not. 

Someone correct me if I am off on that.

[sean_caton666]

Ok, i turned up the idle screw on the IP, thought it might have came loose. got it back to a good idle, i was just going down the road and the idle is fine but i have to give it full throttle to get anywhere.

[RunninWild]

Change your fuel filter if it hasn't been done recently then report back. Playing with the fuel screw is just compensating for another issue.

[sean_caton666]

when i change the filter do i need to prime or bleed anything? if so how?
im still pretty new at this

[ORCoaster]

Replacing this filter is not hard as it should be up and accessible for twisting and keeping the diesel in it.  That is the key thing, prefill with as much diesel you can get into it.  The IP draws fuel to itself under a vacuum in the fuel lines.  When air is introduced it breaks that vacuum.  So keeping the amount of air down as much as possible is your goal.  Some folks have a vac pump that they use to fill such a filter or the IP when needed.  I don't have that equipment so I just open the air screw at the top and drain some of the old fuel out the bottom, the filters I use have that water draining feature.  If yours does not then  be aware that the filter will be very full when you twist it off.

Once you have the filter off the flange. Lower it down and sneak it out of the engine bay over the engine.  Then top off a new filter and replace it on the flange.  Fire up the engine and give it a good amount of throttle and hopefully you will suck the air into the pump but not loose the prime.  Then the air will be pushed out the line to the fuel tank and you will never see it again.

Good luck.

[libbydiesel]

It sounds like the accelerator lever slipped a spline on the shaft.  Make sure the nut is tight. 

[sean_caton666]

what is that?

[sean_caton666]

would a video of whats going on help? if so pm me your emails and ill send one, thanks for everything so far

[ORCoaster]

Libby,  tightening the nut won't help unless he puts the lever back a notch first.  I think your walk through in the past was very good and maybe you can point him to that.

[sean_caton666]

please do point me to it

[ORCoaster]

This may help but it comes from Burn Your Money not Libbydiesel.  From a search of the site.  Very useful feature on most forums by the way. 


The top spring comes off separate from the bottom 2 so go ahead and take that one off. There is nothing to mark, you just need to remember the order everything goes on and off in. Once you have the top spring off, you'll have to look inside a long 10mm nut, about 3/4" long. Inside of it is the throttle shaft and there is a line cut in the top of it. Put a dot or a line on the piece below the nut. You can't mark right beside the nut because that is a washer and is not indexed to the shaft. You need to put the mark outside of that washer. Loosen off the springs, loosen or remove the long nut, move the shaft over 1 spline, tighten the nut and then fire it up and see if it's better. Don't hook the springs up until you have it right.

Now what Libby would have said is move the spline in a counterclockwise direction then tighten the nut.  That would be the specific difference that is not intuitive to most new owners. 

[libbydiesel]

I should have said 'check to see if the nut is tight and report for instructions if it isn't."  If the nut isn't loose it is quite unlikely that the orientation has slipped.  It also be from a failing accelerator cable or an internal issue on the injection pump. 

I believe the instructions from Burn are for an AAZ pump.  The 1.6 pumps will have a normal 10mm nut at the top of the accelerator shaft. 

[RunninWild]

Change your fuel filter before you mess with the throttle. Its a very cheap part and most likely your problem. Playing with your throttle adjustment is tricky to get back together and you're likely to mess things up putting it back together m