1989 Ford Escort GT Manual runs at idle until put in gear, any advise?

I recently purchased a 1989 Ford Escort to get back and forth to work with. This vehicle has been sitting for some time and I have replaced many things on it. I replaced the starter, the battery, the ignition switch, and a few other small things. When I start the vehicle, it runs smoothly, as it does when I push in the clutch, until the gear selector passes into the gate for first gear, then the RPMs drop dramatically to around 100 and idle become very erratic. The vehicle eventually dies if I do not press on the gas to keep it at a higher idle. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I am stumped.1989 Ford Escort GT Manual runs at idle until put in gear, any advise?
clutch is not fully disengageing1989 Ford Escort GT Manual runs at idle until put in gear, any advise?
Most likely the clutch cable needs replacing.
Your clutch isn't disengaging all the way.
possibly needs a cluch adjustment or bad fuel or bad feul pump.....
does it take some effort to put it into gear, like it's slowing down the synchros? I'm thinking it may be a broken clutch fork if that's the case. If, with the clutch in, you are able to shift easily in and out of gear, then possibly the idle speed controller motor.
check to make certain that there is nothing being moved by the action of the gear shifter, no wire, or rod or something that would cause that as this sounds quite strange.





If it is front wheel drive then look carefully at how the shifting rod moves when being shifted into gear, ask a friend to help you so you can watch the motions when the shifter is engaged and dis-engaged as to see if it is interfering with some other function - moving some other part.
Try this test. Start the motor with the gear selector in the neutral position note idle speed using the tachometer. Engage the clutch and note any changes in idle speed when shifting into 1st gear. Next repeat the above procedure but shift the gear selector into 5th gear and observe the tach reading and idle speed. Compare the tach results when you shift into 1st gear vs shifting into 5th gear and note any changes. Post the results. It could be a transmission problem or an engine problem such as vaccum or ignition timing. this test will help to identify the problem