kneeslide

i parked up my EG3 civic for two days and when i returned, the idle was all screwed up, it wouldnt stay running and even when i adjusted it to a high idle it was still dipping down real low and i was losing steering when the engine died at junctions etc. i spent a week looking for the diagnostic port and CEL service connector which is not in the usual place in my JDM car for some wierd reason. and 2day i went to a mechanic friend who within 5 minutes was able to point out the IACV 'idle air control valve' as being the cause. when he blocked the feed pipe inside the standard air filter canister (approx 10-12mm diameter pipe to the right of the carb intake), the car ran like normal. meaning the IACV wasnt blocking the feed pipe correctly. he thought it might be stuck or dirty and poured some easing oil in, said if it does'nt help get a replacement one. it helped for a while but went back to its old tricks. i took out the valve again at home and on further inspection (this is hard cos its a sealed unit), i spotted a tiny piece of rubber stuck in the valve seat that wasnt allowing the valve to close, it must've got sucked in cos of the stupid air filter set up the previous owner had. ten minutes, one vacuum cleaner and a few small screwdrivers later, my problem was solved!!
i have seen wire mesh fitted to later model IACV's and i thought a piece of wire mesh held over the feed pipe in the air filter canister would prevent this happening again but im running a standard air filter set up now so im confident i wont have a problem with it again. this problem may not have shown up on engine diagnostics or CEL codes so you cant beat a bit of common sense and old fashioned logic sometimes!! cheers