ArchangelX

Alright..

Everyday for the past 4 days, I've went out in the early morning, and tried to fix my modulating idle problem. I've also searched here for the fix and the answer, and tried all the solutions. Still no dice.

The latest I've attempted is:

Alright..I set it back to the factory spec marker (although it's still not touching), and opened the *** up one half from closed, and let it warm up for 20 minutes. The bouncing did stabilize, no problem. But that's what usually happens after a few minutes. I then cranked on the A/C and lights, and did the 20 again.

STILL...no dice..because as soon as I jump in and drive it, the idle goes screwy again.

I have found that if I place my A/C on at the 1 setting in full cold, that the idle quits modulating after TWO revs..which is pretty nice, and is the only thing keeping me sane right now.

BUT, that isn't fixing the problem and wastes gas.

My power mods are:

SSP Pineapple Racing Rebuild
Power FC w/ Commander
HKS downpipe
RB Dual Tip

All gaskets, bla bla, are brand new on my engine, I've had everything replaced. I've got the PowerFC on it's basic settings..no changes except the monitoring settings.

Can someone please help me? What the heck am I doing wrong? Do I need to close the *** before I drive the car again?

ArchangelX

By the way..my car is idling at 1,000 to 1200 rpms, also. Pics soon to come of what the TPS looks like...

The problem isn't my high idle..I know how to fix that, but it's the modulation of the throttle when I place the car into neutral. It's been a week already.

93BlackFD

your powerFC is probably still learning the idle, takes about a week

three diff settings it has to learn, electircal load, a/c load, and no load

check your sensor output for ELD to see if it thinks there is an electrical load, mine seems to think so all the time

ArchangelX

Kayz...

Ya..I know about the week long thing...It's just I've been driving it non-stop..and it hasn't really shown any signs of improvement.

ArchangelX

Summa biznitch. Just finished trying for the fourth time on that 20 minute this..20 minute that thing.

Sucker still fluctuates CONSTANTLY. It's driving me nuts. Ugh. This is really marring the whole "woot..I got a rebuilt RX-7 thing".

My wife thinks it's a POS **** because it doesn't idle right.

Snook

iTrader: (12)

omg you blew the motor!
joke.
but yeah getting the idle perfect is hard. You have to look at the car to fix it so get someone around you who knows or take it to a shop.

good luck

Trexthe3rd

Check the water temp and fuel temp reading on the PFC and report back on what they are. (cold to warm up)

xstacy7

just curious...have you eliminated your aws and your pcv?

ZoomZoom

iTrader: (2)

There is a wax valve that gets full of gunk and needs to be cleaned out or worse case replaced. I have this problem as well and have narrowed it down to this. It can also be the TPS is set too high and the ECU cant rear the Voltage. You will need to look and see what Voltage the TPS sensor is showing on the Apex Commander, I have to look and see what voltage should be between but I have my ECU out being tuned right now. You can take the Wax valve apart and clean it out. Its below the throttle body. You need to take the intake elbow off to get to this. The reason the idle bounces around is that Coolant doesnt get to it fast enough if its gunked up. Hopefully it can be cleaned instead of replaced as its a 400 dollar part. I will try to get you more info on how to clean the valve. I need to look around for my Shop Manual.

ArchangelX

Yeps...the block off plates are installed.

As for the temps..I'll have to get that in a bit. I'll take a look at it. I haven't taken a look at that waxed up area..I'll check that too.

I'm going out to eat, and a movie, so I'll take a look at all the settings and stuff.

eric e

mucking around with my dash on the weekend and had my first fluctuating idle

i had pulled the boost gauge and it was air into the intake from the hose

so i say - have a good check for an air induction leak

i do this on my bikes by spraying wd40 around suspected areas, if it sucks wd40 into the engine limping idle will rise and smooth noticably, allowing you to locate the leak

eric e

whatdayagottolose

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

AWS is gone but the PVC (positive crankcase ventilation) is still there.

If you put the stock ECU back in what does the idle do?

Jeff

ArchangelX

Same thing, Jeff. Same idle. I guess I can check around the throttle body for leaks, along with the elbow.

Remember when we took it for the test drive, and I had to blip the throttle to calm it down? It's still doing that, only now, I can't blip the throttle to calm it down. I remember reading something about why...

I thought the PVC was blocked off, too. Nevermind. I don't exactly know what that does yet.

That's what I get for not being there when it was reassembled. I have no idea what you did, Jeff.
No big deal, because I'd have even less of a clue if I took it to a tuner shop.

wonder1and

When your idle starts to change... does it sink... what does the boost gauge say? May have a loose or kinked hose...

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

The TPS needs to be adjusted, that is the problem.

PVC doesn't need to be blocked off. It is just a hose with a check valve in it. No electrics involved.

You can check for vacuum leaks but I doubt that is it. Vac leaks cause a high, but stable idle.

Jeff

ArchangelX

Alrighty..

Jeff..I know you said TPS the first time...but I looked in the User Manual and didn't see a thing about it.

I know you showed me, too, but I guess I got carried away trying to use the manual on it.

I'll try that today and see what's up.

dubulup

I hope this helps...I pulled it off a web site...can't remember which one.

Tools Needed:
(1) A high impedance voltmeter (preferably a digital) with one
alligator clip.

(2) A small safety pin opened up to form a 90 degree angle.

(3) Depending on the type of fasteners that hold your TPS in
place; the tools needed to loosen and retighten them. Mine
had bolts with a combination Philips screw driver and 7MM
nut head. Some have only a screwdriver head and need a 90
degree bend screwdriver or screw driver tips for a ratchet drive.
These screw driver head only bolts are the pits and most owners
have replaced them after removing the throttle body.


TPS Connector Leads (4 lined up vertically) and Required Voltages:
(1) 2nd from top (green wire with red stripe), this goes to the
3F ECU connector. Closed throttle +V range is 0.75 to 1.25.
Fully opened throttle +V range is 4.8 to 5.0.

(2) Bottom (black wire with green stripe), this goes to the 3G
ECU connector. Closed throttle +V range is 0.1 to 0.7.
Fully opened throttle +V range is 4.2 to 4.6.

Procedures.
(1) Start and run engine until at normal operating temperature
and the fast idle cam is at normal idle position.

(2) Turn off the engine.

(3) Remove the AWS hose that connects to the throttle body
curved inlet pipe and to the AWS solenoid behind the throttle
body. This is to give you easier access to the TPS bolts.

(4) Remove the hose from the MAP sensor on the firewall and tuck
it down out of the way. This also gives you more room to access
the TPS bolts. If extra room is still needed, remove the MAP
sensor from the firewall.

(5) Totally loosen the bottom TPS bolt and partially the top one.

(6) Connect the negative volt meter lead to a good ground point.
I used one in the diagnostic connector since it goes to the
ECU.

(7) Insert the safety pin point into the TPS 3F or 3G connector
between the rubber weather seal and the wire. Using the
alligator clip, attach the positive voltmeter lead to the
safety pin head. Select the appropriate voltmeter range.
Be sure not to accidently groung this lead!

(8) Turn the ignition on without starting the engine.
If there isn't a voltmeter reading, adjust the safety pin until
it does have a reading.

(9) Record the voltages for closed and fully opened. Open the
throttle fully by hand, not the accelerator pedal.

(10) Do the same for the other TPS connector point.

(11) If any of the four voltages are out of range, loosen the
top TPS bolt and adjust the TPS until all four are in range.
If all four can't be adjusted correctly; then either
the TPS is bad, the fast idle cam is still engaged, or the
idle set screw on the throttle is way off normal position.

The following under this section(11) is for PFS PMC users only!

NOTE: The further the idle set screw on the throttle is
adjusted down(throttle opens up), the higher the low end
readings will be if the high ends are good. That's because
the arc of throttle movement will be shifted towards
the high end. Try and imagine the geometry of the throttle
rotating shaft connected to the TPS which is nothing but
twin variable resistors like a volume control on a stereo.

Even though I had all four in their voltage ranges, my PMC
would not read WOT. I adjusted the TPS just until WOT occurred,
and then rechecked the four voltages. They were still good but
shifted towards the high end of their ranges. WOT is only needed
for vent learn. My 3K stumble wasn't bad until forcing my TPS
to show WOT on the PMC, then it got worse!

After this, adjust your throttle linkage to insure that
you also get WOT from your accelerator pedal. I had to
also do this.

(12) Tighten up the TPS bolts, and put everything back together.
Drive the car a little, then readjust your idle air bleed
screw if needed.

Matt Hey

Checking the TPS is a breeze with the PowerFC+Commander and no multimeter is needed.

Warm up the car good and turn it off. Turn the key back on until Commander display is on. Go to the Etc. [Sensor /SW check] screen on the Commander. Without touching the gas pedal the VTA1 should be .1-.7 V and VTA2 should be .75-1.25V. Now press gas pedal to floor and hold. VTA1 should be 4.2-4.6V and VTA2 should be 4.8-5.0V. If any of these voltages are not in range then loosen the TPS bolts and turn the TPS until they are. Very simple.

dubulup

DAYEM, I need a PowerFC + Commander!

RX794

Assuming your TPS is adjusted properly, the reason this is probably happening is because with the PFC and the stock PFC settings, it's hunting between 2 spots on the map fuel map where idle is, all you have to do is go into the fuel map, and adjust that part of the map(where idle is), it's probably too lean because you have a ported motor and it's hunting between a lean and rich setting, just richen up the idle spots and you should be fine. Remember the base map was meant for a stock motor, not a ported one, and that's probably the problem. Also, make sure you disable the O2 sensor function when adjusting the map so you can get it as close as possible w/o the O2 compensating, then after you're done adjusting the map, turn the O2 sensor back on.

ArchangelX

Wow..

Great stuff guys...I can't wait to try this all when I get home. Thanks a bunch.

We'll see, and I agree the PFC is pretty badazz.

mp5

iTrader: (3)

Did you check your mass air flow ?
its located on the firewall behid the elbow.

There is a liitle hose that comes off really easily,I had a idle problem this weekend and after checking everything for hours ,that was it! C.

RX794

Dude, that's not a mass air flow, I think you mean the MAP sensor.

ArchangelX

Alright...

I checked out the voltages..and they're all within spec...so my TPS sensor must be adjust properly according to the information provided.

I guess I'll have to check out the fuel maps in my PFC now. Thanks for the advice, all.

grinn253

sup ArchangelX!

not to hi-jack your thread w/my quirk, but i have a bouncy idle as well :0 maybe its the weather, heh I noticed we are both from Tacoma.

Good luck though!
Edgardo