and in that case, would the first thing to address be upgrading the old primer pump to the new solid one?
Or are there other highly likely spots where air gets in?

How's your idle speed? If it's ridiculously low, it may be bucking and trying to stall.

What should the idle speed be?

usually it's the various rubber hoses and wrong clamps .

Gotta use the correct metric size Diesel rated fuel hoses, I see inch sized hoses too often and wrong hose clams too .

Flex each and every 3MM fuel return hose on the injectors, any wetness there will cause this .

You want to be somewhere around 650 RPM in gear with your foot on the brake.

hmm ok great thank you.
so, if it's not anywhere near there... what generally do we start assessing?
i'll be able to test later today but just very curious if idle rpm has to do with fuel delivery at all..

Idle RPM will affect operation of the lift pump, but more importantly it affects how well the engine runs. If the idle speed is too low, the engine has a tendency to stumble and can stall in certain conditions. Your blipping of the throttle is a symptom of that. If air were an issue, it would be a MAJOR air leak and you'd clearly be able to see large amounts of air in the return line.

Thanks.
And what do we adjust to increase the idle speed?

Well i'm hoping when i do my simple test that the RPMs at idle look healthy because this rundown for the idle adjustment seems like quite a potential can of worms!

? How can a $20 tachometer , a deep 14MM socket and 3/16" flat bladed screwdriver be a 'potential can of worms ' ? .

it's dead simple .

Ive got idle at about 750 rpm. After a full warm up drive its around maybe 780 ish. Of course we’re dealing with analog meters that are old as well.
But it looks like my idle is not too slow.
Whew. Feel like i dodged a bullet with that one.

Haha fair enough.
But i saw some comments in that thread basically stating “THIS IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN YOU REALIZE”
Certainly will scare the new guy.
:)

DIY Repairs
 

There's always lots of negativity from those who don't actually know how to do things, several here clearly know what's what and have told you to go for it .

Fear can be both a good motivator :'no one tells ME I can't do that ! '.

Also a way to inhibit folks : 'oh jeeze, I'll screw it up -so- badly I'll have to junk it ! '.


Idle speed is more important than many realize ~ it directly affects driving pleasure and safety, too fast and the car wants to zizz right along after you've let off the throttle because you're trying to figure out what that mess up ahead is etc.

Others, like me who like to drive hard and spiritedly , like having no more idle RPM's than necessary to improve compression braking .

I also dislike slush boxes that jump into gear too hard because of 50 RPM's too high idle speeds .

Ok here’s something else now ! Haha
Im assuming my shifter bushings are causing this..

When i put in park and shut off, the vehicle will drift and i need to use the parking break.
I can hear it trying to catch over and over as the car moves, and the sound is coming from just below the shifter and center console.

So am i correct? Is this my shifter bushings truly hitting their last days?

This just started yesterday..