M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
DISCUSSION => Engine + Driveline => Topic started by: stillmatick on January 16, 2011, 09:01:54 PM
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How can you tell if is bad? Because leaving my car idle for a long time the rpm needle jump any where from 1k and under and some other days car idle fine. I'm for sure there's no vac leak. Is there a way to test idle control valve??
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I have similar symptoms in my car. I cleaned my ICV with Seafoam and a toothbrush.. a lot of carbon came out. I put it back in, and it did not solve my problem. I am going to try and clean my o2 sensor tomorrow and see if that takes care of the problem.
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I have similar symptoms in my car. I cleaned my ICV with Seafoam and a toothbrush.. a lot of carbon came out. I put it back in, and it did not solve my problem. I am going to try and clean my o2 sensor tomorrow and see if that takes care of the problem.
let me know if that's the cause.
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Due to torrential downpours today in SW Florida, I was unable to work on the car.. (no garage to work in.) I'll let you know soon if the o2 sensor does the trick.
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I am having the same issue. Did the mess under the intake mod, and have cleaned my icv twice. Been idling fine, but yesterday the same idle surge symptoms returned. Although no t as severe as before I did all the vacuum lines, I'm tempted to think the valve in the icv gets temporarily stuck. Any ideas?
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I've done mess under the intake, NEW injectors, new plugs, COP kit, K&N.. all new hoses/fuel lines and cleaned ICV.. still having the occasional surging idle. It is very frustrating, but I have read a lot about the m42 o2 sensors and it seems to solve this problem.
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I assume is my o2sensor causing the weird idle.
Idle air control valve is getting 7.7 ohm reading on meter which i think is right or suppose to be at 9ohm.
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My idle issue is very odd. Sometimes, the car will idle terrible right at startup.. cold or hot. Other times, it will idle perfectly like a brand new car (cold or hot). Then sometimes I will be at a light, and it will idle fine, and then drop to like 400rpm and then start bouncing up to around 900rpm. I have not found any good circumstances for a diagnosis.. it is so random. The only thing I can think of is the o2 sensor at this point..
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My idle issue is very odd. Sometimes, the car will idle terrible right at startup.. cold or hot. Other times, it will idle perfectly like a brand new car (cold or hot). Then sometimes I will be at a light, and it will idle fine, and then drop to like 400rpm and then start bouncing up to around 900rpm. I have not found any good circumstances for a diagnosis.. it is so random. The only thing I can think of is the o2 sensor at this point..
mine does the same except cold start and gas mileage is bad which can only lead to bad o2sensor.
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Yeah, my gas mileage is definitely suffering. Will attempt to clean the sensor in a couple hours if the weather holds.
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On second thought, I am just going to replace the sensor. I don't think I will be able to clean it sufficiently.. they are pretty sensitive measurement electronics, so I will probably only make the problem worse. Plus, if it's anything like the rest of the parts I've replaced, it is original.
I found this part on Pelican: http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/smart/more_info.cgi?pn=11-78-1-727-451-M14&catalog_description=Oxygen%20Sensor,%20318i/is/iC%20(1991)%20
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Ok so, finally got under there and pulled the o2 sensor. It was caked in carbon and looked quite terrible. I still tried to clean and replace.. nothing has changed.
I then moved back to the intake (all new hoses and a cleaned ICV) to thoroughly re-inspect for any possibly intake leaks.. nothing was found. I removed my AFM and looked to see if anything looked out of the ordinary.. looked like there was some kind of "grease" or something inside the AFM!
So I wiped it all out, then used some seafoam to clean off the little electric thing poking out of the top of the AFM. Replaced, and still having the crazy idle.
I already ordered my o2 sensor. I got it from http://www.autopartswarehouse.com instead of pelican.. it was like $78 for a Bosch one with an "extended" wire.. I'll just wrap the wire and have no problems.
I also did a stomp test and it came back 1444 - No faults found. Hopefully I can sort this out soon before I go crazy.
I'll keep this up to date when I replace the o2 sensor.
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i got my o2 for 97 with free ship from here
http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?sid=m3hs5tihnbdfjom1zcfsz045&makeid=800003@BMW&modelid=1011249@318I&year=1991&cid=19@Emission%20System&gid=5132@Oxygen%20Sensor
sometime when o2 sensors goes bad it doesn't show cel.
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Ok so, finally got under there and pulled the o2 sensor. It was caked in carbon and looked quite terrible. I still tried to clean and replace.. nothing has changed.
I then moved back to the intake (all new hoses and a cleaned ICV) to thoroughly re-inspect for any possibly intake leaks.. nothing was found. I removed my AFM and looked to see if anything looked out of the ordinary.. looked like there was some kind of "grease" or something inside the AFM!
So I wiped it all out, then used some seafoam to clean off the little electric thing poking out of the top of the AFM. Replaced, and still having the crazy idle.
I already ordered my o2 sensor. I got it from http://www.autopartswarehouse.com instead of pelican.. it was like $78 for a Bosch one with an "extended" wire.. I'll just wrap the wire and have no problems.
I also did a stomp test and it came back 1444 - No faults found. Hopefully I can sort this out soon before I go crazy.
I'll keep this up to date when I replace the o2 sensor.
bought my o2 sensor from here
http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?sid=m3hs5tihnbdfjom1zcfsz045&makeid=800003@BMW&modelid=1011249@318I&year=1991&cid=19@Emission%20System&gid=5132@Oxygen%20Sensor
97 with free shipping.
sometime when o2 sensor goes bad it will not pop up cel.
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bought my o2 sensor from here
http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?sid=m3hs5tihnbdfjom1zcfsz045&makeid=800003@BMW&modelid=1011249@318I&year=1991&cid=19@Emission%20System&gid=5132@Oxygen%20Sensor
97$ with free ship oem size with plug.
sometime when o2 sensor goes bad it will not pop up cel.
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Alright.. busy day today. Seems I have successfully stabilized my idle, for now. Can't be too excited now, because I'm still going to wait a while before I declare it a success.
First, I used seafoam. I used 3/4 bottle (not on purpose, but whatever) in the vacuum line from the brake booster while running. Ran a 3/8" hose and popped it right into the bottle to suck it up. Turned the car off. Added 1/3 bottle into the engine oil and let it all sit for about 10 minutes. Turned the car back on, white smoke like none other. I drove it for about 10 miles until I did not see any more smoke coming out. It was pretty funny though, people were not riding my ass, they probably thought my car was going to explode.
Second, did an oil change. I used Amsoil 5-40 European formula. (Coming from Mobil 1 15-50, which I wasn't too thrilled with.) Ams is great, would highly recommend.
Third, installed NEW o2 Sensor (Took me about 5 minutes, and that's only because I had a hard time lining up the damn plug.)
Four, started car for the first time.. IDLE BEGAN JUMPING AS USUAL (I was about to be livid) and then it fell to around 600 or so and purred like a newborn parrot. Idled completely fine. Took it out for a spin.. about 5 miles. Took it easy for about 5 minutes once the oil was warm, then laid into it.. it drove great. Then took it easy around town. Stop and go, the idle did not jump or spaz out.. thrilling.
So, as of right now.. problem solved. Any questions, feel free to ask.
Good luck!
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Well my problem is fix,rpm needle is very smooth and steady when idling or letting off gas.
Brian318is,you shouldn't use seafoam because additive stuff will damage the car instead helping it.
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It's been about a week now.. and FOR THE MOST PART, my idle has been stabilized. However, from time to time, it will start to bounce. It may not even be every day, maybe 2 times this week.. it's driving me crazy.
Other than that, it's been good.
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guys, check your TPS sensor wires, pull back the rubber boot covering them. I checked mine and 2 of 3 wires were not even really connected anymore and occasionally making contact. I found that if you remove the TPS sensor connectors all together it idles, just high 1000-1100 rpm.
I too and still having idle issues, though, after rewiring my TPS, its not with a factory cable setup though, so i dont know if i 100% solved it. I replaced my ICV last year so im hesitant to replace it again. the only sensors that I haven't replaced are the o2, crank, and tps ,and cam.
I also have an issue where around 3700-4000 rpm rpms sometimes drop and then go up like the car had stopped getting fuel (which is what lead me to the tps)
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well my problem came back lol guess i check out the tps. it only idle high around 1000-1100 rpm or lower.
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I dont know how you E30 guys are holding up but the wires on my e36 are getting old and cracking etc where they connect from the DME to the idle control valve and the crank sensor, and the TPS!!!! I have since rewired the ICV and the TPS but am looking at new crank sensor.
Because of this, my car was idling up to 1300, and thenwould drop to 1000, and then up again and down again, repeatedly, non stop, crazy