I did exactly that, and everything seemed fine. I waited until the cooling fan cycled on and off, and blipped the throttle only to have it fall flat on it's face when the idle came back down.

I tried brainstorming it a little with the guys at work, and I told them I was doing all this with the stock air snorkel leading to the air filter off. One of the guys said this may be my problem. Can having the whole plastic contraption disconnected from the throttle body forward affect how the car idles? There is some kind of resonance chamber that may have a sensor coming out of it. I can't test my theory until tomorrow morning, but I've got my fingers crossed!

I just checked, and it's plugged in correctly.

Thanks everyone for your advice! I'll report my progress.

Tom

 

The intake snorkel might have a small effect, I'd put it back on & try again. But don't hold your breath...

I didn't think there was a sensor in there, but if there is, it's probably air temperature. That might just explain it.

 

Hi Jim,

Well, I put the air snorkel back on and started it from cold, and I still have the same problem. The car starts fine, idles down as the engine reaches operating temp, continues to idle normally, but the second I apply throttle and release, it falls below an acceptable idle, and stalls. I'm going to try a different idle screw adjustment again, but I'm not too confident.

Could it be the IACV even though it's not showing any codes? I don't know what else it can be. I ordered one and it won't be here for a couple of days, but at nearly $250 bucks, it's a lot of money on a guess.

Thanks for your help.

Tom

 

Yeah, that's a lot of money on a guess.

Not throwing any codes? Does the CEL come on (bulb-check) when you first turn on the car? It should also come on solid (not flashing) when you jumper the SCS connector.

 

Hi Jim,

CEL Seems to be working correctly. Bulb check works, and solid light when SCS is jumped.

Since it's going to be a couple of days before the new IACV comes, I'm going to pull the old one off and check its resistance. It's a motor, so I'm going to see if it's moving when I apply voltage.

On a previous post, I applied voltage, and it clicked. Maybe I need to make sure it moves. If I had to picture how it works, voltage is applied by the ECU and more or less air passes through the IACV to keep a steady idle. I'd imagine if it was not moving freely, or quickly enough, the car would stall. Does this sound right?

Tom

 

Yes. There's an armature in there, and the ECU controls the position of that valve.

'96 is right about the time Honda changed the scheme for how that's powered & controlled. Maybe it's a spring-loaded valve & the ECU cycles power & adjusts the duty-cycle to achieve intermediate positions. In that case the armature should be free to move but spring-loaded.

I think the other scheme is motorized, so in that case it shouldn't be free to move. Sorry I don't know which type they had in '96.