H22 in progress: Idle Issues (Video)

[kingdave9]

I've been working away at my H22. It's almost ready... kinda...

I've run into an issue with the idle. It starts out fine when I start the car, then if I give it some gas a few times the idle goes ape and surges pretty bad.

I've cleaned the 3 main items on the IM which I believe have to do with the idle: IACV, I forget the names of the other two.

I'm not great at explaining things so I made these two videos:

In the first video it takes a while for the surge to start. Here I'm randomly revving the motor until the idle goes bad. It's near the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUYhVwKyxLY

Second video, I'm playing with the idle screw, it had no effect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7Cyl4gqLuE

Notes:

• There are no Axels on the car. It's on jacks.
  
• There is 87 Octane Gas in the tank, I added 1 bottle of Octane Booster
  
• I have not done the valve lashing yet
  
• The Coolant has a bit of air in it that I'm having some difficulty getting out, I have been using the bleeder valve. It almost feels like there is little or no coolant making it to the lower rad hose (the one coming from the thermostat)
  
• Related items replaced: Oil Pan, Distributor, Spark Plugs/Wires, Rad, Water Pump, Timing Belt, Balancer belt removed (all I can recall right now)
  
• I was getting Vtec Codes but it was a wiring Issue and it's now gone.
  
• I was also getting a code 9, I replaced the distributor and it went away.
  
• There are no more engine codes coming up. With the exception of a very small amount of oil near the Driver's side on the IM, there are no fluids leaking. Rad fan has never engaged although I haven't had it running for more the 5 mins tops.
  
• I have no Vtec as you can see, but I read you actually have to drive the car for it to work.

Updated Video: April 4, 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri_iExfOHO8

Thanks in advance.

[excalibur02]

All I can say from the first video is that I can not tell what is happening...

That JDM Cluster needs to go!






J/K man

Well I have battled alot of idles from all my swaps. Its sad..

Ok well first off.

Take the throttle cable off the TB. Maybe your cable is on too tight leaving an opening for air to surge in.

Check all the nipples on the intake manifold. All the vacuum lines. Maybe something is cut or to old.

Did you tighten the Fast Idle Valve thats under the Throttle body? Take the plate off and tighten it with 2 sets of flat heads.

The Intake Air Control Valve the one that the plug goes to near the fuel rail. Is it clean? If so then try to unplug the plug and see how it reacts.

Clean the IAC valve. There are also allen head screws try playing with that.

Get the read outs on the TPS. If its not good then set it.

Plug up that breather port next to the valve cover (noticable from the 2nd video)

Plug anything and everything thats air related.

Are you trying to run the IAB box?

Hows the stock Map sensor?

Last thing you should try is to put your finger in the top hole inside the valve cover.. Only do this last. So make sure everything else is checked first.

If I think of anything else I will try to post.

Good Luck

[CB7 Fanatic]

What's up with your speedometer? I've never seen a car idle at 20 km/h.

[excalibur02]

What's up with your speedometer? I've never seen a car idle at 20 km/h.

His car is probably on jack stands. When you start the car and its elevated off the floor the axles just start to spin.

Happens all the time to my cars when its on the jack stands.

[CB7 Fanatic]

I see. I've never started my car when in jack stands. Scared it will fall down.

[kingdave9]

All I can say from the first video is that I can not tell what is happening...

That JDM Cluster needs to go!

J/K man

Well I have battled alot of idles from all my swaps. Its sad..

Ok well first off.

Take the throttle cable off the TB. Maybe your cable is on too tight leaving an opening for air to surge in.

Check all the nipples on the intake manifold. All the vacuum lines. Maybe something is cut or to old.

Did you tighten the Fast Idle Valve thats under the Throttle body? Take the plate off and tighten it with 2 sets of flat heads.

The Intake Air Control Valve the one that the plug goes to near the fuel rail. Is it clean? If so then try to unplug the plug and see how it reacts.

Clean the IAC valve. There are also allen head screws try playing with that.

Get the read outs on the TPS. If its not good then set it.

Plug up that breather port next to the valve cover (noticable from the 2nd video)

Plug anything and everything thats air related.

Are you trying to run the IAB box?

Hows the stock Map sensor?

Last thing you should try is to put your finger in the top hole inside the valve cover.. Only do this last. So make sure everything else is checked first.

If I think of anything else I will try to post.

Good Luck

Thanks. I've tried about half of those things so I will check them off one by one. I tried to read on how to set the tps sensor, I don't quite get how to check/adjust it. I'll search the forrums again tomorrow. Hehe, it's just a Canadian Cluster :P

Yes the car is on jack stands. I did a compression test tonight. All cylinders were 210 except #2 which was about 200. (I have a USDM H22) I'm not sure I had the unit tight enough, but no real low numbers so that's good. All the spark plugs were a bit black, looked like a fine layer of carbon, they weren't oily though.

The main thing in the first video is just the last 30 seconds or so when the idle starts going bonkers. I was trying to show that it starts ok, it revs fine until I give it some gas and let it run about 3-5 minutes.

I was told the coolant might be air locked so I took the cap off the rad and started the car, nothing happened for about one minute, I opened the bleed valve and it started spewing like crazy finally. I'm starting to wonder if it was overheating, the longer it was on the more it seemed to struggle.

I'm going to work on the above mentioned issues tomorrow and fire it up again. I'll try to make a better video too. Thanks again.

[CB7 Fanatic]

My car was running like poorly (not as bad as yours) too. I would have sworn that my plugs were good because they're only about 5,000 miles old. There was what seemed like a fine layer of carbon on them. I swapped out my $25 pulsar plugs with $2 NGKs and it runs like a champ. Now I need to investigate what's causing the buildup so fast. Just throwing that out there in case you're making the same assumption I did.

[excalibur02]

check the ecu also.. I experienced an idle when I used a auto ecu on a manual car. But it doesnt idle when its a manual ecu on an automatic car.

[GearBangnAccord]

Get a spray bottle w/ water (or carb cleaner optional) and soak the IM, use alight ans look for and leaks (water being sucked in or change in idle using carb cleaner).

Seems to me like u got a leak dome where as for the start up idle FIV is ur best bet.

[kingdave9]

Alright thanks guys. I've been working through most of the above suggestions. The idle is starting to improve. It's still surging but it takes a while before that occurs now.

I now have Vtec which is nice! However I believe I gimped my driver side axel when I put it in so I may be replacing that. The car feels kinda bumpy now.

I'll try and get some pics up soon and maybe another video.

[texasvtak]

If the car is on jacks, Im guessing its not sitting absolutely level. This screws up the coolant bleeding process. If the front end is sitting high, the coolant bleeder valve is lower than it should be in relation to the rest of the coolant system, making it pretty much impossible to fully bleed all the air out. Go ahead, ask me how I know this

[N9netwoAccord]

If the car is on jacks, Im guessing its not sitting absolutely level. This screws up the coolant bleeding process. If the front end is sitting high, the coolant bleeder valve is lower than it should be in relation to the rest of the coolant system, making it pretty much impossible to fully bleed all the air out. Go ahead, ask me how I know this

this is opposite of what i've done.. i've raised the front end of the car with the radiator cap off, and letting it idle until the fan comes on twice, making it so all the air will go to the highest point (the open cap)

not saying you're wrong just saying thats the first time i've heard it screwing it up

[d112crzy]

How long have you let the car idle for? If it's just idling, and especially if its cold, it will take about 30 minutes or more for the thermostat to open. You can't really fully bleed your coolant system without the thermostat being open. It leaves the room for air bubbles once it goes down the lower hoes or into the heater.

You need to set the idle PROPERLY. Playing with the idle screw only messes up your idle. Jump the service connector, turn car on, unplug iacv, set idle RPM via idle screw. Turn car off, plug iacv back in, unplug service connectors and start car.

[veyvey]

If the car is on jacks, Im guessing its not sitting absolutely level. This screws up the coolant bleeding process. If the front end is sitting high, the coolant bleeder valve is lower than it should be in relation to the rest of the coolant system, making it pretty much impossible to fully bleed all the air out. Go ahead, ask me how I know this

ok how


You need to set the idle PROPERLY. Playing with the idle screw only messes up your idle. Jump the service connector, turn car on, unplug iacv, set idle RPM via idle screw. Turn car off, plug iacv back in, unplug service connectors and start car.
this is the correct way i just did it on my h22 worked like a charm

[kingdave9]

Thanks for the replies.

I've now got the idle just fine when I start the car. However if I drive it around for about 5-10 mins the idle starts going nuts again.

Also I haven't seen the rad fan come on once and it's not that cold here. My temp gauge never goes above the normal temp but somethings fishy and when the idle is surging it seems like the car wants to stall.

Could this be a bad Thermostat Or just a bad rad fan? (I'm going to check the resistance on the fan)