Update—Problem solved (mostly)…
Last week my neighbor and I were reviewing all the advice given here and going through everything that I had tried, etc., brainstorming again about what might be the problem, since nothing seemed to have helped. He suggested that I try some different plug wires. I reminded him that the plug wires were only a couple years old with very few miles on them, and the first thing I did when the trouble began was to check for spark, and I had what looked to be good spark at each plug. He stayed with the idea, so I pulled out some old plug wires I had on the shelf (I only had 4 to trade in), and much to my surprise, the truck started right up. It was still idling a little rough, but it would idle on its own. I ordered a new set of wires (with real wire) from Filling Station, and installed them yesterday. The truck now fires right off just barely touching the starter pedal, and will run and idle without touching the accelerator. It’s still not idling as smoothly as it did before the trouble began—I suspect I disturbed the good adjustment I had on the carburetor when I took it off and cleaned it. I’ll keep fine tuning.
After checking for spark, I didn’t suspect the plug wires, especially since I installed new wires just a few years ago; the truck has really not been run much. I was also surprised that neither my NAPA store nor O’Reilly’s had correct plug wires for the 235, nor were they able or willing to try to order them—pretty amazing, and sad…The kid at the counter acted like I had landed from another planet!
