Help! Can't figure out why it's running like this?!

You have to remove the throttle body and you’ll need a vacuum pump, feeler gauges and DVOM. The bottom picture is where you want to start

 

Be good idea to clean out the throttle body, too. And any other sensors in the intake ducting

 

I have feeler gauges. I also have a vacuum pump, but it is for A/C systems. Not sure that's the kind I need for this. What is a DVOM?

 

I have cleaned all of those and cleaned the TB as well.

 

Okay y'all, I have a much more pressing issue now.. My truck has an electrical issue where is randomly shuts off. It was only doing it if I had the headlights on and I put it in drive, but now it is doing it anytime I'm in drive. Gonna have the alternator and battery tested and see what results I get back.

 

Battery and alternator are good. I have water in one of my headlights. I've had a few people suggest that could be the issue

 

Having those electrical issues could also be causing your idle issue. Have you tried cleaning up all your grounding connections? Start at the alternator and ensure that it’s connection to the engine is clean. Then follow the positive terminal - I’d recommend disconnecting, cleaning and then retightening all connections. Do the same for all connections from the battery to the chassis. Poor grounding has been known to cause issues much weirder than yours as it affects values returned by the sensors, EMC itself, and even the voltage going to all your solenoids & all other electrical peripherals

 

DVOM= digital volt ohm meter, multimeter. You need a hand pump for the throttle opener

 

I took my battery out to start there, and the ground cable basically fell out of the terminal connector that grounds it to the body.. The amount of crap work that previous owners have done to this thing is astounding. They did some sh!t wiring for sure. All is well now though. I used brand new connectors and use wire and it looks professional now. It also works like new.

Okay, I do have a DVOM! As for the hand pump, I'll need to get one of those. It almost feels like a fuel issue. I have to hit the gas to get it to start up, or it will take a bit to actually start. I don't like cranking on a motor for too long for the sake of the battery and the starter. Wondering if there is something in the fuel delivery system that isn't happy until its totally warmed up. TPS would be a great place to start to make sure it's all in spec. I'll try and get a vacuum pump this weekend

 

Seriously though, thank you all for sticking with me on this. Your advice and direction is extremely helpful. I can do a lot of the work, but the diagnosis is where my expertise falls short.

 

Throttle position sensor controls fuel too. Also check your regulator with that vacuum pump. If your diaphragm in the regulator is leaking it will cause it to run rich and idle poorly. Ask me how I know lol.

 

I had a '95 with similar rough idling, but I could tell it was electrical (lights/gauges would dim on low idle). Eventually I figured out it was the distributor cap - easy check and easy to replace. If you haven't already, it could be worth a look.
The others here definitely seem more knowledgeable, though. Just my 2 cents.

 

I will make sure to test both of those!

The lights don't dim, and I have replaced the cap less than a year ago with all plugs, wires, and rotor. If nothing else fixes it, I'll check to make sure I didn't get busted parts

 

I forgot to let y'all know that the date went well last week! We have a second one scheduled

 

Dude!! Thank you so much! I wish I could get the video to post on here, but the diaphragm is definitely leaking. I could tell at the tailpipe that is was running rich, but I popped the vac hose off the regulator today and fuel started coming out after about 15 seconds! Gonna get a new one tomorrow. Then I'll check the TPS as well just to make sure. After that's all set, I'll check my timing again and I imagine this should fix the issue! I'm guessing the times that it wants to die are the times that little droplets of fuel get into the intake and cause it to run rich. It's pretty random when it acts like it's gonna die so it all makes sense! I'll definitely update you once I get the new one on. This should also fix my long crank time issue. It has essentially bee "flooded" whenever I go start it up due to all the extra fuel getting in the intake!

 

Y'all are absolutely amazing! Got the new regulator in today and it runs like an absolute champ! I can't believe it was something that simple I'm so glad I reached out on here before pulling the heads. That wouldn't been extremely unfortunate. I think I'm gonna hold onto the head gasket kit though for when I put some performance heads on