92 mx3 Idle stalls when in gear

[Mx3_Granny]

Car runs great except when it's put in gear it drops in idle. IT will almost die, but not quite, then it will creep back up but remains too low. It has a new battery, the alternator is putting out good voltage. It also has a new maf sensor and has been recently tuned up with new plug wires, cap and rotor. I tried increasing the idle but that just changed the neutral idle, it still will almost die when put in D or R. What should we check next?

[Typhoonk]

weird. Mine does the opposite - when I put it in gear it used to jump
to 1600 rpm or more

I had to adjust the idle while the car was in gear.
Jumped TEN and GND in the test connector then....
Had a friend sit behind the wheel with the car in first and the clutch in - watching the rpms for me. I adjusted the idle till I could get the idle around 1000rpm. Then tested it so that my neutral idle was not too low.

After a lot of trial and error and test drives - I got it at about 700rpm at neutral idle and 1000 to 1200 rpm in gear sittin at a light.

I also took my throttle body, and idle control valve off and cleaned the whole thing with intake cleaner then put it back with all new gaskets - then made sure my intake tube from the maf had no holes in it.

Good luck

[Mx3_Granny]

oops. I forgot to jump the ten/gnd wires when adjusting idle. Also, I was just adjusing the cable. I think I will use the mixture screw this next time.

[Yoda]

Car runs great except when it's put in gear it drops in idle. IT will almost die, but not quite, then it will creep back up but remains too low. It has a new battery, the alternator is putting out good voltage. It also has a new maf sensor and has been recently tuned up with new plug wires, cap and rotor. I tried increasing the idle but that just changed the neutral idle, it still will almost die when put in D or R. What should we check next?

This is not a good sign. This has nothing to do with the Engine or ECU. This is a Automatic transmission problem. This indicates low line pressure in the ATX. First check the ATF level if it is OK. If the fluid is OK what color is the fluid? Pink/red - normal, Brown - overheated, Milky pink water contanimation, Dark or metallic particles - internal wear which would probably mean having the transmission serviced, Other that this it it could be a malfunctioning AT control unit, Inhibit switch, stuck control valve, or a defective Solenoid valve.

[Mx3_Granny]

Thanks for the advice Yoda. We will check out the tranny fluid. I noticed the car makes a clunk noise (front left) when put into drive. I figured this is probably a worn CV shaft. The car has a lot of miles but seems to shift fine.

[lycanthrope]

i noticed that you didn't state that the plugs had been changed, check them for build-up, also, signs point to a vacuum leak as well, a leaky valve-cover gasket will give you vacuum loss, go ahead and clean/replace the pcv valve, they are easy to clean with gumout, cheaper and easier to buy and replace...

good luck...