mostly weekend driver for 2 years   always has ran like a champ      no problems at all   went wheeling last week  and after a hill climb   started missing and gradually got worse as day went on   had to idle  up to 2000  to make it out     

now..... ive checked all the vacuum lines(all good  no leaks), sprayed carb with cleaner,  gave it a seafoam treatment(it needed it anyway), and have beat it with a hammer  to releave some pressure  ( WOW that felt good!)     

 now  when i start it up   it does not idle up like it used to,   but will idle normally   its acting like the choke isnt working     so when i head out the road     now it sputters at high rpm   and will die when i slow down or downshift  at a stop    but   it will start right back and idle fine   until i take off and slow down again    does ANYBODY have any  ideas  .........  the next step is to rebuild the carb

It's probably because you have some dirt in the float bowl, and it move too block some little hole. maybe a good clean up will help

For what its worth I had a similar problem but only when it was cold outside.My problem started when I bypassed the hot air tube that runs to the manifold,The carb would ice up.I hooked it back up and its been running great ever since.Hope this helps.

Check for a bad connection at the ECM.

theres a ground stud directly above the battery that comes loose. it controls the carburetor circuits. check to see if its tight.

carb kit 30.00 at carquest. 50.00 napa

were you serious about the hammer?