You ever have a problem disguised as a bigger problem that’s hiding another problem?
Welcome.
I’ve spent the last few days hunting down a vacuum leak that started as a manifold gasket issue; graduated to a vacuum advance leak and has now ascended to the far outer reaches of what-the-f**k-is-going-on town.
So after pulling everything apart and replacing the intake manifold gaskets my idle “searching” disappeared. For about three minutes. Then came back and continued bumping up and down by a hundred or more RPM every few seconds.
Some elimination of components led me to the vacuum advance being the source of the issue at the moment, as unplugging it from manifold vacuum stopped the issue almost completely.
Tomorrow I shall pull out the trusty vacuum gauge and see if my manifold vacuum is stable or the cause of the searching and then eliminate the other vacuum operated systems (brakes and canister, that’s it) from being the cause or not.
Next week my new radiator will show up and I can solve the pesky overheating issue that’s been plaguing me since the Muncie install.