Idle very rough then stalls

Seems to be a fuel problem and the carburettor is the main suspect. Try pulling the chike half-way and see if the engine stalls upon starting.

Have the engine compression checked to see if they are within specs.

Check the valve clearances as well.

You would need a compression tester for the job and some parts stores loans them out.

One thing just struck my mind. You could be having a fault with the ignition system and the misfiring is due to mising sparks. At the distributor, check the ground wire for the contact point. If it is broken or missing, it could cause the symptoms described.

The engine valves. If the clearances are too tight, compression would not drop much but it sould affect the idling.

At the contact point, there is a separate wire for grounding the contact point plate and the distributor housing. Quite often this is taken for granted and some are even removed and not installed. When you remove the distributor cap and rotor, check for a wire attached between distributor housing abd the central plate where the caontact point is held by a screw. If there are no wires, the contact is only using the bearings of the plate to ground the circuit and this can cause stalling, difficult starting, hesitation, misfiring and lack of accelerating power.

You're welcome. Let me know how it goes.

To verify if it is a fuel problem, when engine could not be started, remove the air cleaner and while opening the throttle, check if the accelerating pump is spraying fuel into the carburettor. If no, spray some starting fluid into the barrel and see if it starts.

If fuel is not the problem, pull off a plug wire and attach a spark plug or plug tester to it and crank the engine. Note if there is any sparks and if it is bright blue or dull yellow.

DIFFERENT GUY, SORTA WATCHING THIS

SAY IT WORKS BETTER W/ CHOKE PULLED OUT HALFWAY?

WHILE IT'S RUNNING AND MAYBE ACTING UP...TRY STEADY DRIPPING FUEL INTO THE CARB W/ ONE OF THOSE WATER BOTTLES YOU CAN GET WITH A "POP UP SQUIRT TOP"

IF YOU CAN GET THE DRIP JUST RIGHT (TOO MUCH, WILL START FLOODING IT), AND PERFORMANCE IMPROVES, JUST BY ADDING THAT LITTLE BIT OF FUEL, YOU MIGHT LOOK INTO YOUR FLOAT ADJUSTMENT...FLOATS TOO HIGH, USUALLY MAKES IT REAL RICH OR STUMBLING LIKE FLOODING----FLOATS TOO LOW, WILL NOT ALLOW ENOUGH FUEL TO "MIST" OUT OF THE VENTURI, AT THE PROPER BUTTERFLY OPENING.

EVEN THOUGH I'M SORTA JUMPING AROUND ALL OVER THE PLACE, MANY THINGS CAN AFFECT THE RUNNING OF YOUR CAR....IF YOU ARE NOT DOING PROCEDURES EXACT AND BY THE BOOK, YOU MIGHT BE CHASING YOUR TAIL!

INSURE YOUR CARB IS SCREWED TOGETHER WELL, ATTACHED TO THE INTAKE WELL, AND THERE ARE NO OTHER VACUUM LEAKS ARE GOING ON.

MAKE SURE YOU CAN DROP INTO YOUR IDLE CIRCUIT, AND ARE NOT RUNNING OFF OF YOUR MAINS (IDLE SPEED TO HIGH)

YOU ARE TIMING CORRECTLY, AT CORRECT IDLE SPEED, WITH YOUR ADVANCE DISCONNECTED (WHATEVER THE BOOK TELLS YOU TO DO)

INSURE THE SPRINGS ON YOUR MECHANICAL ADVANCE WEIGHTS, ARE NOT BROKEN, AND THE WEIGHTS ARE NOT PERMANENTLY "OUTWARD, ADVANCED" (WHEN YOU DON'T REALIZE THIS HAPPENED, YOU WILL THINK YOUR TIMING IS TOO HIGH, AND YOU WILL READJUST, TO COMPENSATE....NOW IT WILL BE CORRECT AT IDLE, BUT THE WEIGHTS ARE "THROWN OUT", THE WHOLE TIME AND YOU WILL GET ABSOLUTELY NO MECHANICAL ADVANCE)

DO YOU KNOW HOW TO USE THE TIMING LIGHT, AND WATCH YOU MARKS, TO INSURE BOTH MECHANICAL AND VACUUM ADVANCE WORK AS THEY SHOULD?

WHEN INSTALLING POINT'S, ARE YOU STRICTLY GOING BY "GAP", OR ARE YOU CHECKING WITH A DWELL METER TO VERIFY "DWELL" IS CORRECT, SORTA PERFECT "DWELL", IS WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE, "GAP" IS JUST A CLOSE GUIDE TO GET IT THERE

I'M A JEEP KINDA GUY, I DO NOT KNOW YOUR RIG WELL AT ALL, I UNDERSTAND TUNING, PRETTY WELL, AND IF "ALL THINGS" DON'T MESH UP, SOMETHING MIGHT SUFFER!

ON MY 1946 WILLYS JEEP, I FOUND THAT "VENTED POINTS" DO NOT WORK WELL IN MY JEEP (THAT IS, POINTS WITH ANVILS WITH HOLES IN THEM) PLAIN JANE REGULAR OLE POINTS WORK BEST FOR ME!

UNTIL RECENTLY--THIS "POINTS ELIMINATOR SYSTEM", REALLY IMPROVED MY ENGINES PERFORMANCE (I RECKON I MEAN SMOOTHNESS!)---THIS COMPANY MAKES DIFFERENT VERSIONS, FOR DIFFERENT RIGS...I WENT TO THEIR HOME PAGE AND GOT THE #, FOR MINE. THEN I CHECKED EBAY AND OTHERS FOR GOOD PRICES. GOT THE SYSTEM AND 3 OHM COIL FOR ABOUT $120. GOODIES IN THE DISTRIBUTOR, AND THE COIL, IS ALL....NO BRAIN BOXES OR NOTHING! SEE PICS AT BOTTOM.

I'VE BEEN DRIVING JEEPS SINCE '81, WHEN I STARTED DRIVING, ALL CARB, SORTA LEARNED MOSTLY, GUIDED BY REPAIR MANUALS

https://www.2carpros.com/questions/2005-ford-focus-power-steering

IF YOU MIGHT WANT ANOTHER'S OPINION, OR TECHNIQUE ON TUNEUP ON A RIG LIKE YOURS, CHECK OUT "HOW TO" ON "YOU TUBE".......YOU CAN "HOW TO", ANYTHING ON THERE! EXAMPLE, CHANGE MY SEARCH WORDS, MAY GET BETTER RESULTS

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=HOW+TO+TUNE+UP+A+SUBARU+JUSTY&aq=f

YOUR TURN

THE MEDIC