i just finished changing my headgasket on my car and when i started it it went straight to 3k rpm then back down and keeps bouncing from 2k-3k rpm...i checked for any vacuum leaks and i see none. can anyone help me?

**EDIT**
motor is a D16Y8 turbo

 

did u bleed the coolant after u did it?

 

well i ran it with the radiator cap off while filling it...are there any other tips to bleeding the coolant?

thanks

 

put the cap on and undo the bleeder valve on the top radiator hose.

 

turn your heater on to make sure it runs though the heat exchanger

 

may want to reset ur ece too...just do the disconnect - battery terminal thing for about 15 min. ...the reconnect and run the car for about 15 min s. and see what happens

 

i had this same problem happen to me... did you also change the intake manifold gasket. i thought i checked everywhere for a vaccum leak, well, sure enough i did not change my intake manifold gasket thnking i could use it again.. and that was my problem. $12 at autozone.

remember to tighten your bolts in the correct pattern for best crush of the gasket.

 

changed the IM gasket and torqued it all to spec. ill try to bleed the coolant system but how would this explain this erratic idle?

thanks again guys

 

bump

 

I doubt the coolant has anything to do with the idle.

Did you find any disconnected wires? How do the vaccum hoses look? Any codes?

 

make sure ur map sensor plug and ur tps sensor plug isn't switched

 

I had the same problem once when I didnt bleed the coolant

 

Why did you take off your intake manifold to do a headgasket?

 

did u hit any or the sensors while taking out the head?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BauleyCivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why did you take off your intake manifold to do a headgasket?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Its so much easier to take the head off with the intake manifold, becuase some of the bolts on the manifold are a hard to get to. Atleast thats what I did.

When i didi mine there was a wire connector under the manifold that I almost forgot to connect.....Maybe you did?

 

check the ground wires the one connected to my valve cover came off one time and i notice my idle kept jumping.

 

Sounds like the coolant has an air pocket, causing for the mecanical, not electrical IAC motor to bouce around causing your idle to search insttead of being steady. I have encountered this many times and is an easy way of diagnosing a coolant leak.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BauleyCivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why did you take off your intake manifold to do a headgasket?</TD></TR></TABLE>

helms manual told me too...i thought it would be easier with the IM still attached to the head also, but the helms said otherwise..

and the funny part is the problem was that the inatke manifold was leaking and thats what caused the wierd idle...thanks guys

but now the problem is that the ignition timing is way too advanced and i cant rotate the distributor anymore to retard itdoes anyone know how to fix this?

 

Did you skip a tooth on the cam gear?

 

thats what im thinking...
so do i just loosen the belt tensioner and then just move the belt?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Racerage1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thats what im thinking...
so do i just loosen the belt tensioner and then just move the belt? </TD></TR></TABLE>

No...loosen the belt, then set the crank pulley and cam gear to TDC then slide the belt on and tighten.

And next time...don't take the IM off Helms is nice but it leaves a lot of stuff out...I mainly use it for the diagrams

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BauleyCivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

No...loosen the belt, then set the crank pulley and cam gear to TDC then slide the belt on and tighten.

And next time...don't take the IM off Helms is nice but it leaves a lot of stuff out...I mainly use it for the diagrams</TD></TR></TABLE>

thanks for the advice

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BauleyCivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why did you take off your intake manifold to do a headgasket?</TD></TR></TABLE>

i took my IM off after i pulled the head at 104,000 miles....sprayed the inside clean with intake cleaner and also cleaned off some other parts. Noticed an improvement in the 4000+ range, nothing major but still worth the time to break the manifold and gasket free...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by clm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I doubt the coolant has anything to do with the idle.

Did you find any disconnected wires? How do the vaccum hoses look? Any codes?</TD></TR></TABLE>

my h22 ran like $hit before i did the coolant bleed.

jumping idle, 2500-800 rpm.

bleed the coolant then reset the ECU. HTH

 

cars with a FITV will see a lot more issues with unbled coolant..

FITV = Fast Idle Throttle Valve..

the little thermowax Pluger thing under the throttle body..you can actually open it up and Crank it downwith locktite and you wont see as many issues.

youll get a pretty crappy cold idle..... but I never gave a **** about cold idle..