idle problems

IND38T · Post by **IND38T** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 9:51 am

hey guys i might just need a little help here... my idle meter is pretty much screwing around and i have no idea why sometimes it hangs low and cuts off .... and other times it just increases slowly and doesnt want to go down.... now ive changed the idle motor already and it solved the problem for about 3 weeks but the problem is coming back now ... do u guys have any idea what the cause might be ?? ive brought it to the mechanic twice already ...

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 10:40 am

Hm, it doesn't by any chance say when you stop at a light, go all the way down to that line near 0, hangs for half a second and then stalls? Or sometimes it goes down to that line near 0 hangs and goes back up?

Have you tried doing a ECU reset? and letting the car idle for like 10 minutes after that?

I have rare idle problems, but with mine a reset and letting it idle sorta gets rid of them

IND38T · Post by **IND38T** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:12 pm

yeah it does actually! how do i do an ecu reset??

IND38T · Post by **IND38T** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:14 pm

oh that was before..... now it goes up and hangs at like 1500 revs.... but before it hang near 0 and almost stalls and stuff... i dont know .... my car's idle is going bonkers...
if any one else has a suggestion im open to it too.... oh and i still wanna know how do i reset my ecu? hehe

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:27 pm

Well. To reset the ECU, you will have to disconnect the battery for about 15/30 minutes. During that time the ECU will loose it's memory.

Once you plug back the battery, start your car and let it idle for 10 or so minutes.

Remeber if you have an automatic, then the gearbox will have to re-learn your driving style, so initialy the gearbox may not be as smooth.

Also if your keeping a tally of the number of kilometers you have done (for a tank of fuel) then you will have to note that down, as it will get wiped.

If this doesn't help, then i'm not quite sure, atleast if you find what is causing it I might get mine fixed too!

BTW, when the idle goes high, are your radiator fans working/kicking in?

Good Luck.

IND38T · Post by **IND38T** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 10:52 am

ive resetted the ecu and it stops idling so high .... but now ....
everytime i turn on the car now the idle drops and cuts off i have to rev it a few times before it decides to behave and idle at 700..... would anyone have any idea in regards to this???

kozi · Post by **kozi** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 10:49 pm

Hi, hope someone can help! My baby is also having MAJOR idling problems, Idles so low it is un driveable. After being reset it was fine for a few days, then it did it again, and later the same day the idle revs went sky high! It has been at the mechanics for 4 weeks(all xmas), and they can't figure it out. They're thinking they might have to replace the whole computer! I am in SA. Does anyone know of any FTO experts in Adelaide. I'm driving a poxy old loan car while my 1995 GPX MIVEC sits there getting dusty and grimy!

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:00 pm

Changing the ECU, is a bit extreme... I would atleast try and swap an ECU from another SA member to see wether it will work.

I understand you have tried an ECU reset, and adjusting the idle manualy?
Have you tried cleaning the stepper motor? or competely replacing that? It could be the problem....

If you need more info on the Stepper Motor, do a search with the button that has this

picture, and type in stepper motor.

Good Luck

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:03 pm

Also with a mechanic, have you tried these threads? Located in the South Australian section?

http://www.ftoaustralia.com/modules.php ... pic&t=3179

http://www.ftoaustralia.com/modules.php ... pic&t=1617

Boris

Jase · Post by **Jase** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 6:13 am

I had my idle motor replaced and it kept playing up. Ended up being a wire on the ECU.

payaya · Post by **payaya** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 9:44 pm

Resetting the ECU rarely fixes idle problems! When you do reset the ECU even in a FTO which has no idle problems, this would screw the idle settings alone!

IT would be your idle speed controller.

Test this out:

Does your car idle higher i mean over 1k when in park and nutural? Does the idle go down when the AC is on??

if so stepper motor.

YYgirl · Post by **YYgirl** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 2:01 pm

hey, mine does that, when i turn on air cond, it drops the idling......

my idling was all working fine, but i've just decided to pull the stepper motor out for a clean cause the car is making weird noises when i turn head lights and other electrics on (with the idling slightly dropping), that's why i suspected it might have something to do with stepper motor.

but not after fitting it back on, the idling seems to be all stuffed now, idling high sometimes, and idling close to 0 sometimes... i've stuffed it up some how by pulling it out and fitting it back in.......

kozi · Post by **kozi** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 5:56 pm

I have just had the stepper motor replaced and I am still having the same problem. I was going to pick my car up when the mechanic rang and said it's doing it again. Driving me nuts! 5 weeks now, and mech still talking of replacing ECU. What sort of $$$ would that cost??

Anyone else had any luck?

YYgirl · Post by **YYgirl** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 9:14 am

i know this has been posted.. please let me bitch about it too.......

my car won't start this morning..... i had to sit there and feather with the accelerator for about 1min before it started to idle properly.... it idles fine while driving, just hard to start when cold.....

kozi · Post by **kozi** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:11 pm

Yay! Car is fixed. After 4 weeks of stuffing around. Steppa motor has been cleaned out and a loose wire from ECU fixed, and all is sweet. Cost me $100. Took a day or 2 for idle to adjust after resetting. thanks for feedback everyone.

YYgirl · Post by **YYgirl** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 5:35 pm

goood on ya!.... but now can you please tell me how it works? hehe
how do you know if there is a loose wire.. or where did you take it to.

KEA7IN · Post by **KEA7IN** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:28 pm

hey,I was wondering if someone could help me? I am in the process of purchasing a replacement stepper motor for my GPX tiptronic V6 mivec engine and have been told that for all FTO engines the stepper motor is the same... Does anyone know if this is true at all?
Thankyou.

KEA7IN · Post by **KEA7IN** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 4:49 pm

I rang around a few places and got mixed answers on whether or not there is a difference between mivec and non mivec stepper motors. So i took the safest option and went for the guy who said there is a difference.

I got my stepper motor and installed it only to find that initially the revs were even higher in park or neutral, like im talkin bout 3000rpm instead of the average but terrible 1500rpm that my car was doing before. The revs now have dropped to 1500rpm again and im goin crazy. I rang up the guy i got the stepper motor of and sorta expressed my dissapointment with the stepper motor that he had given me, now his gonna send a new one for free, but im not sure if this will fix the problem?

Earlier in the forum someone said about the wire on the ECU being damaged. Did this wire run to the stepper motor directly?

JSP-INC · Post by **JSP-INC** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 4:49 pm

When i got my idle stepper replaced, it did run a bit higher than usual (1500-1800rpm) (manual) but i just gave it a good run on the freeway, and after a few days it was fine.. It should settle down but if it's idling at 3000rpm, sounds a bit highish!!

tripwire · Post by **tripwire** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 8:47 pm

hey, sadley i got the same prob. except my stupid mech said it was the airflow meter reading wrong so my air-fuel ratio was out of wack. $250 lter nothing changed so hopefully its some of the other suggestions. which wire on the ecu is it exactly? just to make sure i dont miss it.

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