December 30, 2011 08:07PM
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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 183 |
Hi Folks,
Just wanted to share the success I had with a variation of the old "penny in the Idle Control Valve" trick (which I think I learned on the old BEN site). While all the parts shops are closed, my ICV decided to pack up. The idle became an angry pulsing from 1400rpm to 1600 which drew stares at every set of traffic lights. Also, the car became terribly shunty to drive at low throttle. The familiar ICV hum was gone and its electrical resistance was way out, so I'm pretty sure it's the ICV. Anyway, for a temporary fix until I can get a new one, I blocked off one end of the ICV with electrical tape. Then made a carefully calibrated hole in it until I was happy with the idle speed (obviously it's too slow when cold and too fast when warm, but it's sooo much better than before). "ICV Penny" purists may correctly point out that the elec tape could deform over time thus putting my hole out of calibration, but it should be fine for a couple of days so I haven't bothered looking for an Australian coin equivalent to the penny... Gotta love it when you can use McGuyver tricks like this to get yourself home on a rainy night. |
December 30, 2011 09:05PM
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Admin
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 944 : Lake Havasu City, Arizona |
January 01, 2012 08:35AM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 799 : O Porto |
January 01, 2012 06:43PM
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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 183 |
January 06, 2012 10:56PM
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Registered: 13 years ago
Posts: 30 |
I had the same problem. Mine was simply the stop screw on the throttle valve. Just make sure its adjusted properly, it might be opened a little too much. Back the stop screw out so the butterfly shuts all the way on its own then use the screw to keep it open just a bit so it wont jam shut. I wouldn't doubt it if you have the same problem I had.
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January 06, 2012 11:34PM
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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 183 |
Thanks for the tip, Art. Actually, the replacement valve (elec tape was only needed for a couple of days luckily, otherwise I would have started looking for currency to deface...) is starting to go wierd. And the "old" valve was brand new 2 years ago, so I was a bit miffed it started playing up so soon. Turns out I'm running at 15 volts, so ICV failures may have actually been a symptom, not a cause. Time for a new voltage regulator*, hope that fixes things before the high voltage fries the whole fuel injection system! * would you believe that BMW Australia charge $400 for the alternator REGULATOR?! Yikes! No thanks. (so one is heading towards me from the USA for one tenth of that price) |
January 07, 2012 09:12PM
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Registered: 13 years ago
Posts: 30 |
January 08, 2012 01:40AM
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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 183 |