Why does my Buick idle high?

J

Jason

New member
I have an 86 Buick Skyhawk that runs very well. It just rolled over 76000miles and it is in very good condition. But since I bought the car, it has always idled high. I think it could be the TPS (throttle position sensor) and I have alread replaced the MAP sensor. All the vacuum lines are attached and connected to the right place.
The reason I replaced the MAP sensor is while I was at Auto Zone, I unplugged the line going to it, and the idle drop dramatically. But it turns out that it wasn't the problem. What else could it be that would aslo be a cheap fix?
 
If it idles high only when cold (even over 2000rpm) it's probably operating normally. Many '80s GM cars were designed to idle pretty fast when cold. The idle should settle down once the car gets to operating temp and if it does I'd say there isn't a problem.

If the car is idling high even when it's at operating temp though, it could be something as simple as the throttle linkage needing some lubricant (I had that problem on an '84 Pontiac once) or it could be any number of things (vacuum problems, sensor problems etc.,). If it isn't something obvious it might be worth it to take the car to a pro and have them diagnose the problem even if you still want to fix it yourself once you know what's wrong. Figuring out what's wrong first will be cheaper than throwing a bunch of unnecessary parts at it to eventually fix it.
 
If it idles high only when cold (even over 2000rpm) it's probably operating normally. Many '80s GM cars were designed to idle pretty fast when cold. The idle should settle down once the car gets to operating temp and if it does I'd say there isn't a problem.

If the car is idling high even when it's at operating temp though, it could be something as simple as the throttle linkage needing some lubricant (I had that problem on an '84 Pontiac once) or it could be any number of things (vacuum problems, sensor problems etc.,). If it isn't something obvious it might be worth it to take the car to a pro and have them diagnose the problem even if you still want to fix it yourself once you know what's wrong. Figuring out what's wrong first will be cheaper than throwing a bunch of unnecessary parts at it to eventually fix it.
 
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