'97 Honda ACCORD. I was out this morning and this is the shiit that I witnessed for the first 15 minutes I cranked up my car:

RPM Bounce: 1750 - 2250 for 3 minutes
RPM Bounce: 1500 - 2400 for 2 minutes
RPM Bounce: 1250 - 2250 for 1 minute
RPM Bounce: 1250 - 2000 for 1 minute
RPM Bounce: 1150 - 1850 for 1 minute
RPM Bounce: 1150 - 1750 for 5 minutes before I got tired of waiting and pulled off.

I removed the IAC from behind the intake manifold and cleaned the gunk off the netting on the left hole of the IAC. I also sprayed some chem-tool into the right hole of the IAC and blew out the debris with a can of compressed air. I put the thing back on and there was no change.

While the IAC valve was out, I noticed a 5 point "adjuster" on the left side of the IAC (passenger side). I miss took it for a hex wrench hole, but the 6-point hex key wouldn't work. I went to AutoZone, Advance Auto, Sears, and Home Depot trying to find something to work there. Well, I was able to find hex bits (6-point) and square recesses (4-point), but NO 5-POINT bits!

Is that 5 point thing an adjuster? Does Honda use a special tool for adjusting/resetting it? My buddy says GM's have a spindle thing that needs to be pushed in or something and then let the computer reset itself to the new spindle position or something. But does my IAC work the same way?

The part is only a moderate cost of $71 from NAPA or Autozone or Advance Auto. But if there is a way to adjust it, then I'd feel much more confident in my "reliable accord" if it just needs an IAC Valve adjustment every so often.

I mean, I am at 171k miles. But that's beside the point. HONDA's supposed to be the kind of vehicle that you "put gas and oil in and you'll be fine."

 

Fast Idle Thermo Control Valve

Valve is on the underside of the throttle body. It is supposed to open and suck in more air when the engine is being started in cold weahter. Once engine is at normal operating temperature, the valve should close.

To check, remove the air intake duct from the passenger side (yeah, the big duct from the air filter) of the intake manifold/throttle body. Inside the throttle body, (with good lighting) you will see a hole at the bottom on the firewall side of the throttle body opening. Once the engine has started, place your finger over that hole to see if there is suction. If so, then the valve is not closing properly. You will probably notice the car returning to normal idle when your finger is over the hole.

A new valve is $69 from your dealer--$53 from http://www.hondaautomiveparts.com. However, replacement is not extremely easy as it may involve draining the entire cooling system (at least the radiator) and removing the intake manifold.

 

you DO NOT have to drain the radiator i lost minimal coolant and the instal was a snap it only took about an hour. i did this last night and it fixed the idel problem

 

thanks for the drain tip.

where did you get the part from? i just ordered from http://www.hparts.com for $49.54+$6.62 yesterday. i wonder if they have to order it from honda, then have it shipped to me.

the dealer in town was going to have to order it and they said it would have to be prepaid and would take 4 days!

Also, I am getting about 280 miles to the tank (about 15 gallons) in the city. That seems kinda low. I hope that goes up when I get this part replaced.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Originally posted by JiggaFan
Well, you probably won't need the part. I did mine this morning. You'll need a 12 mm to detach the 4 throttle body nuts/bolts. then you'll need a 10mm to detach the 3 bolts holding the Fast Idle Thermo valve to the throttle body.

When I finally got the throttle body off and removed the thermo valve, I noticed a rattling inside. I looked at the new part and saw where the springed part inside the valve was in pllace and pressed up against another pin. But on my valve assembly, this spring was rattling around inside. So I assumed it was broken from the piston thingy it pressed against.

So I opened up the new valve assembly and was about to install it when I noticed some threading on the inside wall of the thermo valve. It was then that I could tell that the spring was supposed to be pressed up againste the pin inside the valve assembly. I thought they were joined together and that joint had broken on my faulty valve.

So after i found the threadings and determined that they were not one piece that had broken, I took apart my old thermo valve. I used the Phillips head screwdriver to unscrew the cover on the side of the thermo valve (that faces the cabin when installed). When I got the first screw off and loosened the other screw, the cover slipped out of the way. I was able to turn the base of the spring assembly with my hand to thread it into the valve. Once again, the spring and the pin thing were joined. I used a flat head screwdriver to finish twisting the base of the spring onto the threads until it stopped. I probably should have used lock-tite, but I don't have stuff like that on hand.

After I had the spring threaded in place, I put the cover back on the valve assembly, reinstalled it, and taaaaah-daaaaah! No more freaking annoying idling.

Now it turns out, I was using a push mower yesterday to cut some grass. I had to choke the push mower to get it started the first time. After it started, you could hear the engine loping just like my car engine was doing. But when I turned the choke down, the loping in the engine was gone.

Apparently, this is how the Fast Idle Thermo valve works. When it's a cold start for the engine, the valve opens up to "choke" the starter. But because my valve's spring mechanism had come undone, it couldn't "close the choke" so that the car would go back down to normal idle. So it was "choked" all the time. Probably led to a significant ammount of excessive fuel use as well.

Once again, that annoying Check Engine Light has been extenquished! :D </TD></TR></TABLE>


Modified by JiggaFan at 10:51 PM 4/24/2003

 

What the heck? Are you asking and replying in the same thread?

 

nope. just adding the conclusion for anyone else who may run into this problem.

on many boards, I've searched for a subject; found the exact subject I was searching for; but never found a conclusion/solution.

well, I don't want any of my threads to be like that. So here is the solution!

 

When i read the post i was thinking the same thing. lol

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by showgunz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What the heck? Are you asking and replying in the same thread? </TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JiggaFan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">nope. just adding the conclusion for anyone else who may run into this problem.

on many boards, I've searched for a subject; found the exact subject I was searching for; but never found a conclusion/solution.

well, I don't want any of my threads to be like that. So here is the solution!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, that's very good, congrats, sorry i didn't read your post before, i could have help.

 

Oh, ok. Thanks for clearing that up. People might find it useful if you say "solution found" in your thread subject. When I read the first post, I thought this thread was from someone who was asking for advice.