Author Topic: Loping idle, stumbling (Read 2955 times)

arcter · « **on:** June 10, 2010, 10:21:22 PM »

Ok guys so we finished the head gasket job and also resurfaced an e36 head and did a valve job on it and installed that head. Everything's back together now but I noticed a few things.

First of all, the car has a 'loping' idle. It seems to stay in the same place more or less but it sounds like it's going up and down, kind of like an old car would sound like (like a 302, but not that bad).

Also, sometimes the car will start to stumble and idle really low, often when I take my foot off the gas and push in the clutch. I had this problem before sort of but not this bad.

Any ideas?
Thanks!

EDIT: A bent valve wouldn't be a possibility would it? I had a valve job but the guy told me not to lie it down on the head surface because the valves were sticking up. The guy who worked on my car had to work on the cams and I'm worried he might not have been very careful, although I would trust him for most anything.

arcter · « **Reply #1 on:** June 11, 2010, 09:46:13 AM »

By the way, we didnt disconnect the computer while doing the head stuff so would that keep the settings in tact and make it not have to re-learn them?

BlueBMW · « **Reply #2 on:** June 11, 2010, 10:53:24 PM »

I was just going to ask how your cylinder head replacement went... hmm not sure what your loping idle could be though. Have you checked the usual? Loose lines, vacuum leaks, ICV etc?

arcter · « **Reply #3 on:** June 11, 2010, 11:15:59 PM »

Hey Blue. A mechanic by my job looked at it today and he said he found the timing was off by 1-2 teeth. It was running fine other than the bad idling problem so hopefully he's right. He didn't think it was anything serious. Sound like a possibility? I'm hoping that clears it all up, because man, I was happy to be back in the car for the first time in about a month yesterday. Made me realize how much I missed it.

By the way, very clean car in your sig!

BlueBMW · « **Reply #4 on:** June 12, 2010, 07:32:46 AM »

Timing off a tooth or two would do exactly that. It would run but not quite right! That should clear it up for you!

Oh and that car.. its looks good until you look close and see all the hack bodywork done to it lol. Someone repainted it and while it does look pretty good, I wish they would've done a better job with the repairs that were made. I can see little waves on the rear quarters and the r/f fender doesn't line up right. The valence is tweaked and the front sub-support is a little mangled underneath. But hey its a 20 year old car, cant complain!

Hopefully you'll be up and running good soon! I know I missed my car when I was out of town for just a week!

arcter · « **Reply #5 on:** June 12, 2010, 11:09:45 AM »

Ah well any 20 year old car will have some flaws. I know mine does, but overall it looks damned good. I wish I could get it into showroom condition, but I'll worry about making it run perfectly first