Rough Idle...any suggestions

[drew935]

It started just last week as I would be at idle and the idle would start to fluctate a lil. Rough idle as I came home today and the exhaust smelt like a rotten egg. I can hear the valves making a lil noise and it sounds like I might have to pull off the valve cover to do a lil investigating. It died twice and then was hard to start after a 20min break. The EGR valve sounds like a good place to start and inspect. IACV? PAIR? Any other suggestions? :eek: :(

[kandyflip445]

I'm assuming you have a SR right? Or do you have a RMS13? If you have the KA still I'd look at the AIV. But that doesn't sound like what your problem is.

[drew935]

still have the ka in there

[kandyflip445]

Then you don't have a RPS...

[twitchy]

we have to make this rough idle thing a sticky

[240sx2jz]

hey man did you check your vacuum lines? i know that can def screw up your idle, what exactly is the fluctuating rpm that ur dealing with. could also be a coolant sensor.
dane

[drew935]

coolant sensor? CTS? Fluctaing btwn 500-900 rpm. Car drives ok. I poured some seafoam in the brake vacuum line and that helped but still has either a misfire of some sort at idle or it's mechanical. Swapped the fuel filter from my friend's car but still the same. I'm not sure about the vacuum lines as I believe that that would raise the idle. But will check that soon enough.

Oh yeah Kandyflip, please keep the replies to the subject.

[240sx2jz]

what about the tps, check the voltage readings against manual specs.

[RUTH'LESSDET]

can somebody post the correct way to do vacuum lines or a sr and possibly even a ka

[240sx2jz]

when u say correct way to do vacuum lines do you mean check for them leaking? if so there are a couple ways...you can pressurize the whole system using a compressor and piece of pvc capped off with a fitting screwed into the cap and pump her up to like 5-10 psi and listen for vacuum leaks (this works great for intercooler piping and throttle body leaks) or you can use brake cleaner (make sure its the flammable kind) and spray around all the vacuum lines and listen for a difference in idle...or if you dont like th brake cleaner you can use a fine water mist and listen for the car to choke out and stumble

[sked707]

sounds almost the same thing i'm dealing with. my check engine light was on so i checked the computer for codes and keeps giving me a code 32 (egr function). i changed all vacuum hoses going to the egr and bpt valve w/ new ones,changed egr control solenoid valve w/ a different used one, sprayed insides of throttle body with carb cleaner. slight improvement but still no luck. weird thing w/ me though is that it only happens after engine is warmed up. if i take it for a test drive and hit a bump on the road it dies. freakin' weird..

[sked707]

oh yea BTW, i tested the egr and it looks like its working correctly. my car stalled one time and after about 10-15 minutes of trying to start it the engine turns over but with a loud tapping coming from the valves. the next day what i did was take the valve cover off and spray some wd-40 on top of the valves and let it soak for about 15 minutes or so. drove the car after that and it was fine for a few months until the car overheated on me due to a torn hose and now the problem has resurrected. im still looking but hope this helps.

[Mr Takara]

change fuel filter...check plugs/wires...clean intake filter or replace...check and clean all harness connectors...clean tb with some carb cleaner..adjust tb cable..adjust aiv screw...that should help.

[Dweezil]

Mine was doing the same thing, and after inspection, I had a hole in my air filter. I replaced it and the only thing I can think of is the MAS was getting jacked up from the turbulence because it's fine now.

[drew935]

swapped the fuel filter. Unhooked the o2 for some readon and now it won't start. Checked the ecm and hooked the o2 and got a code 12, maf. Swapped the maf. Now the car won't start. Checked the plugs, they were soaked. Cleaned them off. Still won't start...What should I do next. :smash:

[idlafie]

sounds almost the same thing i'm dealing with. my check engine light was on so i checked the computer for codes and keeps giving me a code 32 (egr function). i changed all vacuum hoses going to the egr and bpt valve w/ new ones,changed egr control solenoid valve w/ a different used one, sprayed insides of throttle body with carb cleaner. slight improvement but still no luck. weird thing w/ me though is that it only happens after engine is warmed up. if i take it for a test drive and hit a bump on the road it dies. freakin' weird..

If your car died when you hit a bump in the road, it's possible that one of the pins in your wiring harness connectors are shot. Check the ground wires that connect to the engine block above your 02 sensor - there should be a secondary wire that runs from the engine block to the firewall. Make sure that secondary ground wire is still there & the connectors are still good. You also might want to check the ground wire for the crank angle sensor on the distributor. See if there is a short anywhere in that wire.
Anyhow, hope this helps..
ID
'95 SE

[idlafie]

swapped the fuel filter. Unhooked the o2 for some readon and now it won't start. Checked the ecm and hooked the o2 and got a code 12, maf. Swapped the maf. Now the car won't start. Checked the plugs, they were soaked. Cleaned them off. Still won't start...What should I do next. :smash:

Check the pins in the MAF wiring harness. Make sure they are clean and not covered with crud. If they are covered with crud, take a "contact - cleaner" type spray & clean them off. After you've cleaned them off & coated them with dielectric grease, reconnect the wiring harness back to the MAF. Check the ground wire on the MAF & make sure you have a good ground. Then have someone start the engine. If it won't start, then try wiggling the wires to the MAF & see if the car will start while you are wiggling the wires to your MAF sensor. If that doesn't work, then try re-checking your ECU to see if another code has kicked out .
Anyhow, hope this helps.
ID
"95 SE

[twitchy]

im going to try and reset the ecu tomorrow, my problem is rough acceleration between 2 and 3 revs only on the throttle only sometimes (although every couple minutes now)

i know my O2 sensor needs changing but the check engine light never comes on and it still runs like shit (either perfect or jerky on-off power loss),....what could this be if the C.E. light doesnt come on??! my idle is getting sloppy too I just dont know

[phrozen]

im having some problems too, all the money u spend on little parts, u can buy a newer motor with less milage for like 400 bucks and swap it in(problem sloved) im having some retarted problems but i have 206k ntohing bad yet but im goint to swap a 95 motor and rebuild my 91 in the mean time for my next project. adjust ur idle and pull off ur plug wires 1 by 1 if the car is about to stall then that means the wire is good. check ur timing too ur maf might b3 dirty or bad, it can be alot of things. kinda trial and error but if u start pricing out how much parts are its more then u think espicially if u dont get "kragen/autozone" brand.. i dotn get that shit waste of money but yea clean ur TB, maf, lines, replace ur air filter, adjust ur idle, check ur timing, could be ur CTS, could be ur EGR, o2sensor clogged, cat clogged. al those things could cause bad idle, different symptons but it could be one thing or all of em just trial and error unless u have someone look at it

[nissYHralli]

aside from everyone elses ideas, you might want to check or tamper with the AIV, IAT, TPS and clean the throttle body if it hasn't been mentioned already.

[drew935]

ok reason I couldn't start it was that I had the ecu still in diagnostic mode. Idle was smooth but it was in open loop because MIL was still on. Checked the codes again and came up with 55, no malfunction in the circuits. So I'll try it again tomorrow and clean down the throttle body. So if everything pans out then it was a bad maf. :faint: :coold:

[Crab Walker]

swapped the fuel filter. Unhooked the o2 for some readon and now it won't start. Checked the ecm and hooked the o2 and got a code 12, maf. Swapped the maf. Now the car won't start. Checked the plugs, they were soaked. Cleaned them off. Still won't start...What should I do next. :smash:

That sounds like me exactly. Has anyone else had this problem and fixed it? tell me what exactly you did to fix it... :confused:

[nas240man]

clean out your throttle body

[drew935]

my maf went bad or so it seems. I retested the old one without the filter, works ok. Now the second maf is all good. Just need to clean everything else now w/ seafoam.

[sked707]

hey people i think i fixed my problem and it was due to a loose or bad EGI PUMP RELAY!! i was fiddlin' with the relay while the car was running and turns out it stalls when i moved it a bit. replaced it with another used one, moved it, no problems. put the old one back on and moved it and also no problem. probly just loose but i left the new used one in there and after driving it for a week and a half already i've had no probs... hope this helps someone!