1979 Lincoln Mark V starts up, stalls while sitting at a light.

[79BillBlassV]

Hi, i just bought the 1979 lincoln mark v a week ago, and just replaced my Carburetor, spark plugs, wire set, and distributor. The car will start right up and drive perfectly, except when I stop at a light. After a few seconds of idling, the engine will shake some, then shut off. I've tried giving it some gas to keep it from shutting off, but it still does. Once it shuts off, it takes a couple of tries to get it to fire up again and won't stall out anymore after that. I'm not sure what could be the cause for it to shut off.

[Dan Szwarc]

Did you change the fuel filter?

My 77 occasionally stalled and it was a failing ignition switch.

[79BillBlassV]

No, I haven't replaced the filter. I'll look into both that and the ignition.

[tomo]

It might be your automatic choke setting is too rich. Try moving it one notch towards lean. If that doesn't fix it, you will have to diagnose it in the driveway. Look for fuel dribbling down the throat of the carb or a bind in the choke mechanism.

[Mike]

Did you do any adjustments to the carb? They're not a throw on and go part.
But I agree a choke problem is also top of the list.

[TonyC]

If after those diagnoses the problem still persists, I'd recommend overhauling the PCV system–replace the valve and filter. I once had a 1985 Caprice that had the same symptoms; and after going through all the above diagnoses to no avail, I replaced those items and the problem was gone.

---Tony

[frasern]

You have a 400 with the choke stove in the intake, see if air will blow through it, they sometimes get clogged. Or get an electric choke kit.