Trying to sell my 97 ex 1.7 vtec it was my daily driver up until about a month ago and it was fine and now i am running it and the idle will not stay put it goes up and down. My buddy did unplug a connection near the manifold i didnt see where but it leveled the idle and put my check engine on. Plugged it back in and same thing. Even Tried tapping the idle control with a hammer a few times. Any info would be appreciated!!

 

Probably the IACV. Take it off the back of the intake manifold and clean it out. If the problem still occurs, without CEL's, I would flush and bleed the coolant.

 

First off, you have an EJ8, not an EK. Yes, it matters.

Second off, like cbaber said, remove, clean, and reinstall your IACV. Hitting it with a hammer isn't going to solve anything.

 

If you have a 1997 1.7L EK I would hold onto it for dear life because it's the only one in existence!

 

Post a picture of what your buddy unplugged.