Question about FIT Valve...

[OptimusPrimeSr]

* Sorry to be flooding the boards lately with noob stuff, but most of what I'm looking for lately is a kind of "best practices"/"what worked for you" advice.

Ok, to I had an eratic idle problem and went through everything is that very very detailed thread checking everything. Finally what seemed to fix it was tightening down the FIT Valve nylon ring thing-a-ma-jig. Anywho, occasionally, I still get the eratic idle but only after long or spirited driving.

So I'm thinking maybe I should pull the FITV off and drop it in boiling water as suggested in one thread...then tighten it down. My reasoning is that maybe it gets a little loose once it gets warm from long/spirited drives. I check it every once in a while, but haven't checked it "warm". So it probably cools and expands and tightens back up by the time I check it.

Does this sound reasonable?

[NAiL05]

How erratic does it get. Hows your coolant level that will sometimes allow it to idle higher then it might decrease a bit. My car normally idles around 750-770 and if I get on it a few times the idle will arise to 850-900 but after a while it will go back to its normal idle.

[OptimusPrimeSr]

Here are three scenarios...

1) once the car is started and reaches regular temp...idle is 8-900rpm
2) after driving a little bit (<20 minutes and speeds under 60mph)
- idle "in gear" is 8-900rpm
- idel in "park/neutral" rises to 1400rpm then smoothly drops to 8-900rpm
3) after driving for a while (20-30 minutes and speeds reaching 60-80mph)...
- idle "in gear" is 8-900rpm
- idle in "park/neutral" rises to 1500rpm then drops to 1000rpm and continues to bounce.

I've worked it all...bled the coolant, cleaned and checked EGRV, IACV (twice), FITV...and sprayed carb cleaner around intake to check for leaks.


edit: planning an upcoming oil pan gasket change...so obviously an oil change...so obviously this may be a good time to do another seafoam motor treatment. I could also try and clean out the TB more thoroughly...

[cornerkid322]

check your coolant temp sensor. this sensor helps control the idle of the car if its hot or cold, on my accord i had the same problem and found that mine was cracked. it didnt fix the problem but i replaced it and its better with a fixed one. what fixed mine was to correct the idle speed. when warm u should be idling around 700-800 rpms. send me a message if ur confused

[OptimusPrimeSr]

check your coolant temp sensor. this sensor helps control the idle of the car if its hot or cold, on my accord i had the same problem and found that mine was cracked. it didnt fix the problem but i replaced it and its better with a fixed one. what fixed mine was to correct the idle speed. when warm u should be idling around 700-800 rpms. send me a message if ur confused

yeah, I'm confused...where is this coolant temp sensor located. I'll give it a look later today if you can point me in the right direction. Thanks for your response.

[croc-note]

How erratic does it get. Hows your coolant level that will sometimes allow it to idle higher then it might decrease a bit. My car normally idles around 750-770 and if I get on it a few times the idle will arise to 850-900 but after a while it will go back to its normal idle.

hahaha My car idle at like 950-1000 RPM and I try to put it like to 800 and the car want to die so I leave it to 1000RPM :P

[Leung]

isn't it right underneath the thermostat housing?

[cornerkid322]

the coolant temp sensor is right below the thermostat housing. it would be easiest to disconnect the upper coolant hose where it goes to the thermostat and underneath the housing.... boom! there it is.

[owequitit]

* Sorry to be flooding the boards lately with noob stuff, but most of what I'm looking for lately is a kind of "best practices"/"what worked for you" advice.

Ok, to I had an eratic idle problem and went through everything is that very very detailed thread checking everything. Finally what seemed to fix it was tightening down the FIT Valve nylon ring thing-a-ma-jig. Anywho, occasionally, I still get the eratic idle but only after long or spirited driving.

So I'm thinking maybe I should pull the FITV off and drop it in boiling water as suggested in one thread...then tighten it down. My reasoning is that maybe it gets a little loose once it gets warm from long/spirited drives. I check it every once in a while, but haven't checked it "warm". So it probably cools and expands and tightens back up by the time I check it.

Does this sound reasonable?

One thing that nobody seems to mention about "tightening" the FITV, is that it is not designed to be servicable.

Tightening it is only a temporary solution. How temporary? It depends on your FITV.

Some will work for years after that. Some quit working after a few days.

The cause of the issue in the first place isn't that it goes out of adjustment.

The cause is the degradation of the wax inside of the FITV. Since it is a thermowax switch, that wax is critical to its operation. Tightening it doesn't fix the wax, which causes the problem, and therefore is only temporary.

If your wax is in bad shape, then it won't last as long.

The only ulitmate solution if it is the FITV that is causing the problem, is to either replace it, or build a block plate to remove it from the system.

[blackice]

very true ^^, i tightened mine and it didn't help a bit. ended up buying a new fitv (price made me cringe) and after that have had no more problems.

[Leung]

just how much is one?

[LinX]

Tightened mine and worked just fine. Doesn't hurt to try the cheaper solution.

[OptimusPrimeSr]

Well I cleaned out my TB yesterday and dropped the idle down to about ~700rpm. This seems to have resolved my idle problems.