If I place my 1984 Chevy Caprice Classic V8 in Park and shut the key off the engine continues to run and the vehicle does NOT shut Off however the engine does shut off when in Drive gear?

Answer 1

The idle is set too high. When the car is in Drive it places and additional drag that stalls the engine. The problem is common in older cars of that era since they did not have fuel injection at that time. The term is called run on, detonation, or dieseling and it is caused by heat building up inside the combustion chamber on the carbon build-up. New cars don't do this because they have no carbon build-up yet. They make stuff you can add to your gas that helps a little but other than removing the heads and cleaning off the carbon there is not too much you can do. A couple of ideas, use premium fuel since it burns much slower, try flooring it when getting on the Interstate just be careful she doesn't blow. For the meanwhile try setting the idle as low as you can without the car stalling in Drive. Shutting it off in Drive won't hurt anything as long as you remember to put it in Park afterwards of it could roll away and smack something. Sorry to say it is a common problem in older cars. It will eventually cause problems if you let it run on. vbd