Problem:
Rough idle (idles at around 680-780 rpm but seems like it has a hard time cranking and wants to die).
High engine load (35-40% at idle in park/neutral).


Fix:
Get valves adjusted.


After having my head gasket replaced, the car would not idle normally. In Park, the engine load is high at idle (35-40% @ 720rpm) but goes down at higher rpm (5-15% @ 3000rpm). There was power up top but it was boggy below 3000rpm.

It turns out that the machine shop did not adjust the valves correctly when working on the head. At first I thought it was the throttle body and needed a PCM reset for idle learning but it turns it out it was the valves.

 

dang... all buttoned up finally? seems you've been having a few issues for a while...

 

Yeah, I got her back from the shop last week. All is good now and she purrs better than ever.

About the problem/symptoms, the engine load is now at about 30% (absolute engine load 20%) at idle according to the Torque app on my Android (I highly recommend this invaluable app and ).

I think a more major symptom was that it was boosting at much less throttle/pedal input (full boost at less than 1/4 pedal).

So FYI.. if anybody is experiencing a rough idle and early boosting then get your valves checked.