Low rough idle.

Jun 19, 2006 2 Replies

My '90 (short nose crank) miata suddenly developed a low stumbling idle (200 to 500 rpms) with intermittant surges to 1,500 rpms and then back to stumbling. It runs smoothly at anything above 1,500 rpms and pulls hard to redline through the gears.



The end of the crankshaft seems to still be firmly attached, the timing is steady and the crankshaft pulley bolt is still tight.



The car has 77,000 miles on it and has been supercharged for the last



50,000 miles. There are no obvious vacumn leaks and the symptom developed over the course of a 60 mile drive. Spark plugs and wires are about
15,000 miles old.

Any ideas?



Roland Smith Wrightwood, Ca


There is a vacuum plug on the intake manifold near the firewall; the loss of this plug can cause the symptoms you describe. It's a rubber item that can become cracked or lost over time. You have to look for it; it's not highly visible. There are various plugs available that slip over this unused metal tube (about 5mm diameter?) that you can buy from your local hardware store.

Rule this out before you start changing a lot of stuff.

Ken

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