Car cutting out while idling

Can't remember if I was in 1st or in neutral, was waiting on a hill down towards some lights and it cut out on me. I absolutely sh*t my pants since the last time it cut on me it didn't start again for 6 months, and that time it happened in December at 3am 150 miles from home with a hefty towing bill. But this time, turned the key and it started right back up lol. The engine does seem very quiet right when I'm slowing down and as I come to a stop I can barely hear it at all. It's not doing it every time and if I put my foot on the gas it's okay.

I don't understand, it was fine the last 2 times I took it out. maybe it's because it's hot and humid outside today the car isn't getting enough air? The other thing I thought of, I replaced the distributor, did my best to fit the new one exactly the same way the old one was, but maybe I turned the idle down too low? Which direction makes it idle faster and should I try advancing it a little bit or will I just f*ck it up more?
 
So with a bit of research done but still not really understanding, rotating the distributor to advance the timing doesn't affect idle speed? When I swapped them I was fairly confident I had it the same as the old one, but I changed for an aftermarket one and they didn't line up exactly the same like a OEM-for-OEM swap would have

One site said to advance the idle on the throttlebody by warming the car up fully and then locating an adjustment screw. Can anyone show me a picture of the location of the idle adjustment screw? I figure I can just leave everything as it is with the distributor and turn the adjustment screw up a scooch. I don't know what I'm doing with timing and I don't want to advance it too much and create knock or go the other way and have no power or bad fuel economy or whatever... but I can't keep my foot resting on the gas at traffic lights it's driving me mad having to not only do that but to fight with the gears every gear change also (see other thread lol)
 

frank

Club Member
the idle screw is a black nylon allenkey screw on the rear corner matt, it just bypasses the throttleplate
 
Dont forget to pull the tps connector before adjusting idle to set it in base idle mode.
Also check your timing. If you messed with the distributor it can be off.
 
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