Idle Issue, now hard shifting after cleaning throttle body
 

Hey guys,

When I start my car, the idle goes wayyy up, then down, then up etc for about 10 seconds. Any time I come to a stop sign or go through an drive-thru etc, it idles very rough and has died a couple time in the laft 4 months.

My thought was spark plugs and/or ignition coil(s), but I'd like to try anything else before spending money on something that might not be the problem. Anyone have an idea? I saw maybe cleaning the throttle body might help...

Is it throwing any ECU codes?

Before you start throwing parts at it, make sure the TPS is adjusted properly, that cost nothing but 1/2 an hour of your time :) There are instructions in the "How To Document's" up top ^^^

I agree, i would check TPS, see if your throttlebody is clean, if all that checks out make sure your air filter is ok, sounds like it's starving for oxygen one way or another.

I just had this happen on my '92 yesterday. I was checking the adjustment of my TPS. When I finished I started the car and the idle immediately shot way up, then it dropped down real low, finally it died. I thought I had messed up the TPS adjustment. The problem was due to a large hose that I had pulled off the throttle body to get better access to the TPS. I forgot to reconnect the hose. :mad:

Reconnecting the hose fixed the problem. Check all the hoses around your air intake, throttle body, and intake manifold. There's a bunch of them and the ECU is not happy when it gets big gulps of air, and it's not expecting it.

Good Luck

Grr
 

Well, I cleaned out the throttle body and now have a new problem. First, I noticed the idle is way up now. In park, it's at 1000. In gear, it's at 1500 rpm. I used to have a problem with shuddering when letting off the gas, and that actually went away.

However...! I now feel like my transmission is going to break every time it shifts...it's shifting extremely hard. Any idea why?? I checked, and rechecked my hoses to make sure I had them all on. All the bolts are tight...Check engine light came on for about 10 minutes, then went off. Checked tranny fluid, and it's good. Checked to make sure everything is plugged in tight and in the right place :( :(

I had this problem for a while and just fixed it. I had pinched a some of the rubber intake when installing it on the throttle body. And I also had 2 cracks in my plastic intake that I fixed. Idles perfect now but Id clean the MAF and make sure theres no air getting in past the MAF through a leak or crack.

Forgot..
 

It also seemed to have lost power mode. When the check engine light was on this morning, it stayed on solid for about ten minutes...then blinked for a few and went off completely. The gear shifting is seriously terrible...I drive to work an hour away in the morning, and I feel nervous driving it back home tonight :(

Check the trouble codes to see what is causing the CEL.

Have you checked/adjusted the TPS like I suggested before? A mis-adjusted TPS could cause weird idle, no "Power", and odd shifting.

I'll try that
 

Turns out the TPS wasn't plugged all the way in :D I'll check the codes and update. Thanks for yor help!

Checked codes
 

Well, looks like I have two bad oxygen sensors, and the erg valve looks to be stuck open as well. Would the O2 sensors cause it to idle rough enough to die once in a while?

...
 

anyone? ;)

I had bad O2 sensors so I unplugged then for a while till I got a new set. The car ran heaps better with them unpluged. I have idle problem and I use to much fuel every time I unplug the current O2 sensor the fuel ecomony improves be 2-3 litres per 100 k's which is about a 20% improvment.
Tony