Please don't bash me too much, I did a thread search for the IAC and the results it produced weren't remotely relevant.... :dunno:

The car: 97 accord lx 2.2 f22b2 non-vtec.

Anyhow, got productive lately got a oil change and made it happy and got the oil pressure light to quit wigging (yes it was horribly, HORRIBLY overdue) also threw a can of freon in and got it to push colder air 60* vs 80* and found the schrader valve leaks a bit I bought another can with some sealant today and hopefully that will help the little cap keep it all in til I find a way to drain and put a vacuum on the system to get it right. (BTW new valves and caps come in a set for 13bux at oh reallys?)

Got the check engine light to go away and now I keep thinking something is wrong cause that light isn't on no more. lol finally broke down and got the downstream o2 sensor replaced today. Hopefully that will give me a small boost in the mpg's I'm told with that one being funky it'll run it as rich as it can.

Now I want to address the low idle. Knee jerk says to try cleaning the IAC but I'd like to see a video of it so I can make sure I do it properly. anyone got any good links? Saw a eric the car guy vid but it really didn't get into cleaning it, just replacing it. He did show the fast idle tightening, but beings as the cold fast idle works fine, I don't want to fix what ain't broken.

I don't have any obvious vacuum leaks, but the intake tube is taped up (previous owner) I may pull that and try to see what they were trying to cover up and re-tape it til I can get a replacement or whatever I decide when I get real focused on it. Any common places I should look? Whats your best way to find them?

anyhow primary symptom. low idle on warm startup. cold startup produces the expected fast idle until temp comes up. that part seems to be just fine, it's just that after it's warm with ac on or off the motor has a real low idle (code scanner read it out in the 500rpm range) it does eventually pull itself back up and compensate, but it's really slow to do it, and usually helps if I throttle it up a bit thru the skinny pedal. Putting it into gear, turning on a/c produces the same low idle issue. motor bogs down real low but eventually will work itself back up to normal idle in the 750rpm range.

anyhow thanks for any input, ya'all have been really helpful in my previous threads.

Oh! I got new plugs and wires today also getting ready to go put those in (been steadily getting a misfire code) and plan on cutting the muffler off this weekend (or maybe this evening) cause it's rattling to beat the band and driving me crazy, as well as it sounds like it's got a fart can on it and I can hardly tolerate that. oh and my ugly little honduh got a nice long bath today, it still looks like a turd, but now it's a slightly more shiny turd. lol

Again, any and all input is appreciated.

Ninja edit: I found a very good vid that applies to my specific motor. https://youtu.be/aHHhRDTVWbo Yays!

:chug:

 

There is an ericthecarguy video where he taps on the IAC to see if the idle changes. That can indicate the stepper motor is having an issue. To clean, you can unbolt the IAC with the coolant lines on it and clean the screens using throttle body cleaner. There isn't much to it.

 

Yeah I found that vid I linked that gives a real good how to. I'm starting to think that there is more of a low idle issue. Is there a way to up the idle on these? After running it all day yesterday it seems even after reving it a bit and letting off the idle drops so fast it almost dies then wants to idle at about 500rpm vs 750.

 

On the cluster, the first mark past zero is 500 rpm, the second mark is 750, then 1000. There is no 250 rpm mark on your tachometer. Just want to make sure you are not misreading the rpm in the car.

There is an idle adjustment, but you should really never have to do this kind of adjustment if everything is working ok. I'd suggest cleaning the throttle body and both side of the throttle plate of any carbon buildup. The throttle plate is slightly open when fully closed to allow some air to enter the engine. Carbon buildup may be blocking some of this air. Cleaning the IAC screen is also a good start.

Do not adjust the stop bolt for the throttle plate. The idle adjustment screw is on top of the throttle body. Suggest going to the online manuals thread in the DIY section. The hondatech link has a 94 shop manual that you can download that is almost identical to your 97 accord and will have the idle set procedure detailed.

Good luck.

 

Yeah not misreading the tach, most of my numbers come from rpm readings from our code puller that gives live data, and it's matching up with the marks you describe. I'm going to get the IAC cleaned today, (my brother wussed out yesterday) and see what results that gets and see if I can still justify adjusting the idle.

thanks guys I do appreciate the input.

ninja edit: I hadn't really considered cleaning the throttle body, so that will get done as well while I'm in there.

 

Cleaned IAC, symptom remains. throttle up and let off car dive to really low rpm with shudder due to low rpm, and picks back up. will eventually work it's way up a bit but still won't hit target idle of 750. Going to clean throttle body this weekend then consider up-ing the idle.

 

Just went over your first post. The downstream O2 sensor has nothing to do with adjusting the fuel. It just monitors emissions.

Hopefully cleaning the TB will help your idle issue. I'd mark the current position of the idle screw incase adjusting causes other issues.

 

Yes a good cleaning of the TB never hurts. Use an old toothbrush and get the edges of the butterfly - back and front - and the inner part of the TB where the butterfly would seat at idle.

Then just a "spitball" here....did you let the car re-learn idle after the work?

Car cold, sat for some period of time. Check the coolant level in the rad. Check for codes, just for giggles. Be sure to have the radio code if yours takes one. Pull the back-up fuse from the under hood fuse box......for about a minute or so. Put fuse back in. Turn of any loads - blower motor, AC, ect. Turn the temp **** to max heat. Start the car without pressing the gas. let it run until the fans cycle at least once.....during this time do not press the gas. At this time of the year I'll guess the idle time before the fans kick on to be around 20 minutes.

Once the fans cycle at least once.....book says twice . Shut the car off.

Reset everything, radio code if needed. Don't think you want heat in July, ect.

See what you have from there. It is just me but the last thing I would ever do is adjust the idle screw. Sometime you have to but that is a last resort IMHO.....I've had a 5th gen with over 385K and never touched it. Got a couple of other FI Accord's that have never adjusted the idle screw on, I might be the lucky one

 

I didn't do that... I've been driving it a couple days now, would it be worth disconnecting the battery and doing that? (no radio code to worry about, aftermarket kenwood deck)

it seemed slightly better today, at idle no load 750rpm, under load it's not as low as it was just slightly lower, but I haven't cleaned the TB yet either. Prolly won't get to that til this weekend.

got the new mpg numbers and they are sad. but I've been running the hell outta the a/c pretty heavy since it's hotter than satans butthole here lately.

I did double check the coolant and all last week when I was working on it then and all was good.

 

Idle seems fine mostly lately...

Tonight was a new one... got a check engine light on way home, stopped at autozone to clear the misfire code and started it up to go across the street and get dinner from the pizza hut and the oil light was on at idle... I've been staying on top of the oil level, and I keep the rpm's up and then the oil light starts flashing.

get the pizza and at idle on solid, rpm up and it flashes. stopped and had someone bring me some oil from home, added less than half a quart, and no oil light.

motor makes no noises indicating it's starving for oil.

question is, where can I plug in to check the oil pressure? I wish the damn thing had a gauge in the dash vs a light.