idleing when cold

Sat 5 Jan 2002 14:44

idleing when cold - markymarkn

When I start my astra first thing in the morning when its freezing cold, it doesnt idle any faster than when its at full temp. This makes it idle very lumpy and sounds like it struggles sometimes. It might idle slightly higher once in about every 50 starts. I normally try and hold my foot slightly on the accelerator to keep it just off idle. It starts fine, and idles fine once its warm, but I dont want it to do any damage because its idleing too low when its cold.

Every other car I have seen idles faster when it is started cold to get the engine going a bit better. Is this normal for my car? How do I turn up the cold idle speed? Could a thermistor or something have gone so the engine isnt detecting its cold?

My cars a 1989 Vauxhall Astra CD 1.8 injection.

Cheers,

Thanks in advance

Mark

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Sat 5 Jan 2002 15:36

Re: idleing when cold - Eleanor Coughran

It sounds like the cold start mechanism is not working as designed, or you may have injectors showing their age/mileage.

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Sat 5 Jan 2002 19:33

Re: idleing when cold - Ian Aspinall

I knew just from the title of your post that it was going to be a Vauxhall! I've got a Cavalier with the same engine and the same problem. It's almost certainly the infamous idle control valve. Here are some instructions I took from cavweb.co.uk to sort it out, but I'm waiting till the weather warms up a bit before I do the job!

"It's the silver cylinder located on the top of the OHC engines and under the inlet manifold on the XEs + LETs. Remove vacuum pipe and wiring connectors and spray some carb cleaner through it, make sure all the crap is removed so you may have to manually open the flap and spray inside the valve. Dry and refit."

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Sun 6 Jan 2002 21:53

Re: idleing when cold - markymarkn

So I have to clean the airflow meter with carb cleaner?

Do I take it off and clean with a cloth or spray and crank?

Any of the tune up boys know if theres a screw or somethin I can fiddle with to turn up the cold idle?

Cheers

M

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Mon 7 Jan 2002 08:47

Re: idleing when cold - John S

Mark

No, it's the idle speed control valve you need to clean, NOT the airflow meter.

I have to say that this is a common Vauxhall problem, and that cleaning doesn't often work. If it's done over about 50k miles you'll probably need a new one, and later versions are modified. They cost c£150 fitted, most of which is parts. One of the few things that went wrong on my Vectra.

This has been covered a few times on this site - try a search.

regards

john

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