Idle Problems

[Drake]

Here's my symptoms
88 325is M20,
1)From start until it warms up past the blue it idles low (around 450-500)
2)When it is cold like this when I rev it it comes back and almost stalls. i.e. If I am in neutral or the clutch is in a hit the gas, it jumps to 2000rpm then comes back to like 350 and feels like it is going to stall for a second before returning to normal idle speed.

Symptoms started about 2 weeks ago shortly after I changed the oil (to Mobil1 10-30 for winter), but I doubt this has anything to do with it.

If you think it is the ICV, has anyone seen a write-up on how to clean it out/can give tips.

Thanks
-Luke

[VtwinVince]

Sounds like you could have a leaky intake manifold gasket.

[Chris]

An intake leak would show symptoms regardless of engine temp though... unless the heat caused the hole to close? Could be wrong, but if it's only when cold then I'd look somewhere else.

[kowalski]

i have an xtra icv if you wanna try it and see if that fixes your problem not sure if yours is the same as mine but i live in white rock so its a short drive. but it def sounds like your icv and to clean it out you can use wd40 just soak it or use carb cleaner.

[Drake]

The symptoms: rough idle when cold, idle drop after high revs when cold, slightly shaky idle when warm.

Problem: Rich

Solution: New Air fliter, clean air intake housing, clean Idle Control Valve, redo gasket sealing on misc. intake parts. Drive the hell out of it and smile the whole way through

[kowalski]

alrighty well right on

[Drake]

hmm
symptoms are back. The odd thing is they go away for a few hours after I reset the ECU. I'm a bit stumped.

[Drake]

I've tried posting it up on r3v in the hopes of getting more listener feedback

[kowalski]

if it goes away after you reset the ECU that is weird that it comes back... could it be a chip problem? cause the computer has to learn the chip and it takes a couple hours of driving to do so... so maybe thats your problem is it aftermarket?

[Drake]

Nope, not aftermarket as far as I know

[kowalski]

has it done it since you bought the car? cause if it has it might be a good idea to pop it open and check if it hasent then its somthing else. it could be your MAF sticking cleaning out both that and your ICV and see if that solves anything. it also could be the temp sensor.

[Drake]

Ya I did some readings on the Coolant Temp switch and sensor. The sensor values seemed about right, but I couldn't seem to get continuity to ground on the coolant switch (when warm) as the Bentley suggested

[kowalski]

change it see if it fixes it.