Idling Problem

[jayjay99]

I know I've seen posts here somewhere about getting this but I've had it a few times when I start the engine it idles really low and I have to rev it a bit to keep it from stalling, after a little drive (as in a few meters) it's fine. Common problem? Easily fixed?

[WildCards]

I've had this today, thought it might be a little crap fuel going through. No ideas though really.

[Wodjno]

It is normally your Stepper Motor.(Idle Control Valve) Doa search for it, theres plenty of info. Normally it just needs cleaning and re-oiling as it gets sticky.
Could be other things to, butthis is the most obvious i think. :inquisiti

[jayjay99]

Stepper motor, and where do I find that on the car? /help Now I know how you must feel with installing windows, easy for me, /help for you

[jayjay99]

i'll do a search, cheers :)

[jayjay99]

Right, I've had a look, there is alot on it! I think I can locate it, that shouldn't be a problem, it's just the dismantling, cleaning, and re-oiling, any tips? ie what oil etc. Also, what's the TPS? I saw that mention a couple of times.

[jakester]

TPS is Throttle Position Sensor.

As for cleaning the stepper motor, I used brake cleaner.

[ghanda]

Jay - Is it just at start up, or after a fast run, when you come to a standstill do the revs drop so low that the TCL light comes on?

[caishanvr4]

Mine has the same problem, no tcl light on mine tho as its a type v, but it usually happens when im starting up after the engines warm :inquisiti

[jayjay99]

Jay - Is it just at start up, or after a fast run, when you come to a standstill do the revs drop so low that the TCL light comes on?

It's just at start up, never after a run. No lights come on unless it actually stalls. It happens most often say when I've been sitting in the car listening to the radio or something before I start the engine so at first I thought it was me draining the battery but it's happened quite a few times now when I just get straight in the car and start it.

[WildCards]

Mine is just fater a run (I think) when the motor is warm, like Caishanvr4 as said.

[Louis]

Jay - Is it just at start up, or after a fast run, when you come to a standstill do the revs drop so low that the TCL light comes on?

Hi,
I got this today, first time ever, after a 40 mile standard run to work, when I stopped all ok, the when i turned back on, low erratic idle and flickering tcl light, I thought maybe I need to reset the idle, ( disconnect battery and reset ecu???), what did you think it was, with the description you gave?.
cheers Louis

[ghanda]

I don't - I'm still trying to find the cause!!

So far I've checked all the hoses, changed the idle stepper motor and had the O2 Sensor checked out - even changed back to a re-circ from a VTA DV...but still no joy

[jayjay99]

I'll have a go at the stepper motor this weekend, give it a clean up and what not, I'll use some brake cleaner to clean it, shall I just use engine oil to re-oil it before I replace it? I don't even know what it is as such, I take it that it's just a normal motor with cogs etc :huh2:

[WildCards]

Camskill are doing a new stepper motor for £80 ish at the minute. RRP is £400 and odd according to their site, so it's abit of a bobby bargain IMO.

[jayjay99]

That is a bit of a bargain, but I don't really wanna buy one and it do nothing. As Ghanda was saying, he's changed his and done a number of other things and still hasn't found the cause. If I gave it a clean and it was improved I'd probably be straight on there for one.

[WildCards]

That is a bit of a bargain, but I don't really wanna buy one and it do nothing. As Ghanda was saying, he's changed his and done a number of other things and still hasn't found the cause. If I gave it a clean and it was improved I'd probably be straight on there for one.

That's what i was thinking tbh, but wanted to flag it up just in case.

[jayjay99]

cheers, I had a look on there, if I do I might get the oil filter, sump plug washer and the fuel filter at the same time, ready for when I need them.

[ariddell]

Mine does this too of occasion, always when restarting when warm, generally after a spirited run but not always.

I don't get the TCL light flickering but the revs will be low and it will hunt and feel like it is about to stall. Giving it a little bit of gas and letting it rev to 1500-2000rpm for a few seconds will settle it down...

Not something i am hugely worried about, only happens occasionally so i had put it down to an engine management programing glitch. Am going to get Mitsi to update the ECU to the latest versions next time it is in for a service to see if it cures it.

[I-S]

You have checked that the battery is good and all electrical connections (including grounds) are tight and clean? I had low idle and near-stalling when my battery was bad.

[Louis]

I have had the car serviced by mitsy dealer since I got it, I stopped this as I no longer have the warranty and I am doing servicing myself and the bigger services at a mates garage, So it has been about 9000miles since my last dealer service, (just coming up for my second service).
My usual invoice from mitsy for a 4500mile service has various things listed, but one of the items on the list is "reset idle", when I asked about this on one occassion, the mechanic told me that all they do is disconnect the battery, reconnect it after 10 mins, start the engine and leave it running with NO ancilliaries switched on, after about 20 minutes switch on the a/c and leave running for another 20 mins, and thats it.
That is what the mecanic told me. Now when I did my first service about 9000miles ago, I did not bother doing this as I did not think it would make much difference!, BUT now I am thinking that maybe I should do this when I service, I will be doing my second service next week and will try it then, I will let you know how it goes, when was the last time you did this?? if ever?,

This is the first ever, one and only time this has happened (as yet), so it may be that this is something that needs done at the 4500mile service.

[jayjay99]

I'll give that a try, can't hurt, I'll get my battery checked at ATS to see if it's any cop too, IMHO it looks like it's seen better days. All that, a clean up of the stepper motor and surrounding area and with a bit of luck it should solve the problem.

[WildCards]

I'll give that a try, can't hurt, I'll get my battery checked at ATS to see if it's any cop too, IMHO it looks like it's seen better days. All that, a clean up of the stepper motor and surrounding area and with a bit of luck it should solve the problem.

My battery is a really odd shape. Prolly the one from Japan, I might change it when i do a service next weekend, so i'll do this too.

[conaboy]

Is anyone further forward with this problem?

My car does the same thing, happens rarely but always when the car is restarted when warm.

Cheers

[WildCards]

I had a leaky dump valve, stopped the leak and the erratic idling seems to have corrected itself. We'll see how it goes, but at the minute the whole car is runninf better.

[jayjay99]

Is anyone further forward with this problem?

My car does the same thing, happens rarely but always when the car is restarted when warm.

Cheers


I get it then as well at times, ghanda told me to check the fluid in my battery another possible problem, I haven't done it yet (I know, I know 2 sec job) but it might be worth you checking that out too.

[conaboy]

I get it then as well at times, ghanda told me to check the fluid in my battery another possible problem, I haven't done it yet (I know, I know 2 sec job) but it might be worth you checking that out too.


Ill give that a try and see if it stops

cheers

Michael

[colVR4]

I get the same problem but haven't worried about it. AFAIW its not a major problem and is probably due to hot parts somewhere causing a bad fuel/air mix at low revs, probably in the inlet manifold or something.

Don't know if that it the cause but seems the most likely. The other cause could be not letting the turbos cool sufficiently before turning off the engine after a 'spirited' drive, not sure if this could cause these symptoms or what prolonged neglect like that could do.

[Sports GT]

I have idling problems too but It has to do with the MAF.. when the MAF is plugged.. the car starts.... but it stalls, dies out after a while... when it's unplugged, the car runs fine, drives fine, idles fine... but when we drove it earlier with the MAF (yes it had been running for a few days with the MAF) it was accelerating but when you come off the gas, the revs drop all the way down and the car stalls..... Need Help.

[Sports GT]

Bump! No solutions anyone?.. nobody ever had that problem?

[Nick Mann]

That's the wrong way round?!?!?!

My car runs like a bag of poo when the MAF is unplugged.

[jayjay99]

MAF? that is?.....

[colVR4]

The idle stepper motor may need cleaning. If you do a search there are lots of threads on the subject.

** ignore me: just read the thread where you said that had already been tried **

I only get this when the car has not had a chance to cool, so I am convinced that it is probably just the inlet getting warm and spoiling the air-fuel mix. Once you get some more fuel through it to cool it down it returns to normal. That makes sense to me anyway.

[Sports GT]

Well if the idle stepper motor is dirty I don't expect it to idle period... it works fine without the MAF (Mass Air Flow) Unit plugged in... I think the MAF is the problem but I want to know if anybody else has had MAF probs and what they did about it...?

[jayjay99]

........without the MAF (Mass Air Flow) Unit plugged in......

Cheers, :happy:

[Johnny1974]

I ve had the same problem where it starts fine but after a while it won't maintain at idle speed and would then stall. I took it in to a garage and it is now fixed:happy:

Below is the system read out from there puter-:

OXYGEN SENSOR 78 mV
AIR FLOW SENSOR 25 Hz
AIR TEMP. SENSOR 36.0 c
THROTTLE POS SNSR 624 mV

Then they gave a description of-:

Allsystems tested with no faults found including TC, Engine control unit showed that the idle control valve was too high. This is a fairl common fault on this.

We have adjusted the stepper motor BUR if this problem persistsit will need a new idle control valve.

My car has been running fine now for over a week, I hope this might help in some way.

[mpau009]

My car has been running fine now for over a week, I hope this might help in some way.

I had a similar story, but mine turned out to be a crack in the BOV recirc pipe, showed the same errors, plus one other one, rather than a sensor problem, it was because unmetered air was getting in and stuffing up the fueling.

Adjusting the TPS fixed it for a while, but it came back, I was told it would need replacing, and thats when i found the leak.

[Sports GT]

My problem was the Fuel Control Relay... the car was simply starving at idle cuz the pump wouldn't stay on... so we wired the fuel pump to an ignition wire so it's on as long as ignition is on.. everything is fine now, apart from the gearbox... which is from a damaged Evo... we're gonna have to open it up :(.. don't want to do that... might try to new oil to see if it's the syncros