I have a 302 (86block) with track heat intake, twisted wedge heads, stage 1 trick flow cam, and long tubes. I am running the Holley Commander 950 DFI, and I can not get the car to idle well at all. It surges so bad it wants to stall. I adjust the idle air control, and it idles great, at 1500...I wanna be around 950-1000. I am starting to think its either the cam, or the computer. I talked to the holley tech, and he suggested a few things, didnt make a difference. I know a couple people that have used the trick flow cam, and had very similar results...any help on the subject would be much appreciated.....

 

bump your timing down and it will lower the idle also.
or adjust your throttle position sensor
just a thought.

 

have you tried a stock computer?

nice project btw.

 

sounds like a simpler problem.

vacuum leak= surges bad. check all the openings and hoses. If you have access to a simple vacuum guage hook it up and see what its holding.

 

the TPS has nothing to do with the way it idles. The commander computer recognizes where its at in relation to the high setting to calibrate the voltage, so that's not it...I dont have a stock computer/ stock wiring harness to try, but I was thinking that route. I have a DFI, I should be able to make it work, dammit lol. A vacuum leak will give the same crazy idle....I will see what I can come up with. I just have heard nothing good about those trick flow cams, and thought it might be the problem.

 

tps Will make it surge. i just threw out a few to get you started

my advice in this thread is DONE

 

I had a trick flow stage 1 in my last car with a Vortech S-trim. Worked great with no idle problems. Had a JMS chip in it. Current car with turbo is idling at about 900 with a trick flow stage 2 cam. How about you idle air control? Is it stuck or dirty? Also, just for grins, you might check your firing order to make sure yo didn't accidentally cross some wires. Plus there are two firing orders on 302's depending on which engine you have. Another possibility is a crack in the distributor cap or internal arcing check it out and look for little burnt trails.

 

Sounds like your IAC solenoid is possibly bad or full of carbon. Take it off and clean it with carb cleaner. Sometimes you can save it by cleaning it instead of replacing it.

Hopefully you can make it to track day I'd like to see the car...

 

i had the same issues with our 73 F-100 with a 393, with the pretty much the same setup. we ended up plumbing a factory harness and ecu, and then had it chip and run excellent, i dont think that the ecu for the holley cmmander is very well designed.

 

i think its the IAC common problem on mustangs.....by the why very nice car i alway liked v8 rx7's specialy ford powered ...nice work