I have a tan wire that is supposed to connect to my "Carburetor Idle Stop Solenoid" on my Holley. This part is missing from the car. My problem is I can not find where to purchase an original type part. I tried C.Central, Ecklers and Delco. Has anyone run into this problem before? Any information will help. Thanks. (I'm counting on you kstyer)

Andy

The idle stop solenoid was used for one of two purposes. The first was an idle kicker to compensate for the load of the A/C. When the compressor was on the idle was incresed to keep from losing rpm. Base idle was set with the carb throttle screw.
The second use was an anti diesel solenoid. Any time the car ignition was on, the solenoid was active, and set the base idle for the car. When the car was shut off the solenoid released and the idle dropped to keep the engine from dieseling, or trying to keep running. In this case the carb throttle screw was set to a much lower than base idle rpm. All it did was keep the throttle plates from jaming in the bore, and making them stick.
You can tell which one you have by using a volt meter or test light in your tan wire. Turn the key on and see if it has power, if so it's the second option above. If not turn on the A/C, if it now has power, it's the first above. If nothing either way, it has an electrical problem.

The part may be found by going to a NAPA store. It's been a few years, but I have bought them there before. They have a book listing many different carb parts, along with pictures. The solenoid actually functions the same way either way it's used. The only difference is in the adjustment.
Hope this helps.

Ken Styer

|UPDATED|1/23/2004 1:48:27 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

My 72 did not have air conditioning. I will check with NAPA this weekend and post my results. Thanks for the help!

My 73 was setup as a antideisel solenoid. Do you have the bracket? I got my solenoid at Autozone

I'm not sure the oe type solenoid will fit, or at least the bracket may not fit a Holley when it was made for a Q-Jet. Contact Holley...I believe they will have the exact solenoid you need for that carburetor.

I bought mine from Advanced Discount Auto. Like others have said, look carefully at the part before buying. On mine I had to return the first one because the electrical connector was in the wrong place (no space).

Everything worked out fine. I had ordered the solenoid and bracket from Corvette Central, which I thought would not work. Actually, I had my brackets mixed up (with the vacuum advance bracket)so...the correct bracket and solenoid worked perfectly. The solenoid turned out to be a Delco part # D6581. Thanks for all the help.

Hold...still testing...

|UPDATED|1/28/2004 10:57:22 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

when I bought my 72 LT-1 A.C. coupe it didn't have either the wire, bracket, or selenoid. Maybe removed it, anyway I got everything from Dr. Rebuild