Vauxhall Vectra B facelift (1999 - 2002) - 1999 1.8 irregular idle and stalling

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
View Threaded
Thu 18 Sep 2008 10:26
1999 1.8 irregular idle and stalling - jorvik
Over the past few months the car idle speed has been revving from about 200 revs to 900 revs 2 times every second. When stationary, the revs return to a steady idle of about 900 revs/min. The big problem is that when the car is cold it stalls as the car comes to rest. Otherwise the car drives great on the open road. The ECU light's not been on so I guess there won't be an error code logged. Just wonder if this is a common problem and if anyone has had this happen to their car. Any ideas greatfully accepted. Credit crunch hitting badly, looking for a cheap and easy DIY fix ( Ishould be so lucky!)
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 18 Sep 2008 11:00
1999 1.8 irregular idle and stalling - John S
Very common. It almost certainly will be the Idle Speed Contol Valve and probably also the throttle body needing a clean. The ISCV sometimes responds to a clean, which is the cheap option, but if that doesn't work it will need replacing, which isn't cheap. This problem won't bring up an errror code, or affect normal running, as you've found. I'm sure someone will be along soon with a link to a 'how to'.

JS

Edited by John S on 18/09/2008 at 11:02

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 18 Sep 2008 11:20
1999 1.8 irregular idle and stalling - jorvik
Thankyou John, I'll give that a try and let you know If it works.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 18 Sep 2008 13:56
1999 1.8 irregular idle and stalling - jorvik
I've cleaned out the throttle body and the car idle is almost perfect, just a very small fluctuation in revs at idle, but nothing to worry about. it's certainly not going to stall. I just wonder whether I should have cleaned the throttle body below the butterfly valve. I only used a dry cloth to clean around the valve. Is there a special cleaner available and should I be poking around under the valve? I dont want to push my luck and damage something.

Thanks again for your help!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance