Rough Idle/Poor Mileage fixed!

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Old Aug 25, 2003 | 04:49 PM
  #1  
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Rough Idle/Poor Mileage fixed!

I don't visit this forum too often unless my '02 CL has an issue. I had the rough idle problem, which seemed to coincide with poor gas mileage. After doing a search here, I suggested to my service advisor to have the Air Idle Control Valve checked. He told me that the cars computer tracks problems like that and would give a readout identifying the problem. (I had the car in the week before with the same complaint, but they found nothing. They reset the ECU and sent me on my way). The advisor made me feel like an idiot for making such a rediculous assumption. After waiting 2hrs for the car, the service advisor informed me that the problem was fixed. He sheepishly told me that the Air Idle Control Valve was found to be out of spec. Ha! Thanks, CL forum! By the way, this fix also helped my gas mileage which had gotten really bad over that last few months.
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Old Aug 25, 2003 | 04:51 PM
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Yep... There are some really awesome people on this board. Too many to name.
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Old Aug 25, 2003 | 04:55 PM
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Awesome.
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Old Aug 25, 2003 | 07:41 PM
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how rough was it, I have a little raise and drop in rpms when the car is first turned on, and I really can't gauge my fuel economy.
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Old Aug 25, 2003 | 07:59 PM
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My car has a rough idle too. Sometimes the whole car shakes a little. I only have 5K miles on it. What did yours feel like?
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Old Aug 25, 2003 | 08:05 PM
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From: Philly Burbs
Yeah - And how many miles to the tank were you getting? What kind of driving do you do - Highway or City

Thanks!
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Old Aug 26, 2003 | 07:57 AM
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Yeah, please provide a little more details as what fuel mileage you were getting and how you drive. How rough was the idle?
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Old Aug 26, 2003 | 10:08 AM
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From: Philly and Bowie
I'm having the same problem. I do highway driving mainly. I only have 31K on my car. I'm currently only getting about 180 miles per tank.
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Old Aug 26, 2003 | 10:13 AM
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Originally posted by Red-CL
I'm having the same problem. I do highway driving mainly. I only have 31K on my car. I'm currently only getting about 180 miles per tank.
Something is SERIOUSLY fucked. I get 400+ highway without any trouble at all.
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Old Aug 26, 2003 | 10:48 AM
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I get about 260 miles or so before the refuel light comes on...but I constantly run my A/C and I only drive in the city. This summer, I probably get anywhere between 17mpg (the worst I've seen) and 20mpg. Of course, I'll get about 24mpg to 28mpg on highway when I take long trips.

But 180 miles sounds wrong unless you're gunning it all the time.
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Old Aug 26, 2003 | 11:41 AM
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I finally hit 28mpg in my car the other day....first 350 miles were all highway and the last 90 were city (that's about 80% highway and 20% city) Oh, and the A/C was always on...but at about 82 degrees.
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Old Aug 26, 2003 | 04:12 PM
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From: yonkers, NY
I get about 200-230 miles per gallon, mixed city, and highway, with a bit of WOT.
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Old Aug 26, 2003 | 04:36 PM
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Great mileage rondog! Are you downhill everywhere you go?
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Old Aug 26, 2003 | 04:59 PM
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From: Shreveport, Louisiana, just east of nowhere
I get between 280-320 City/Highway mixed and 34k miles on the OD. Had a bit of rough idle at start up about 30k but it seems to have resolved. Took it to the dealer and they said it was normal.
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Old Aug 26, 2003 | 07:10 PM
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Here are the symptoms I had: When I came to a stop, the car would feel as though it were about to stall. The idle would come back up, then go back down. The symptom was worse when I would first start the car (after sitting all day), but even after it warmed up the car would feel like stalling at a stop.

As far as the mileage, I did not do an accurate mileage report/record. I drive 24 miles each way to/from work, mainly slow and stop-and-go driving. My tank of gas typically would get me easily through a whole week of driving. After the symptoms started, I would need gas after four days of driving.

Dan
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Old Aug 26, 2003 | 07:38 PM
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I get over 31mpg on my drive to and from school - 100% highway driving is nice
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Old Aug 26, 2003 | 07:56 PM
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From: yonkers, NY
Originally posted by BC
Great mileage rondog! Are you downhill everywhere you go?
damn, I meant per tank. I think I'm holding a record for least miles per tank. I never reached 250 miles per tank.
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Old Aug 27, 2003 | 09:32 AM
  #18  
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I finally used a whole tank after having the air idle control valve fixed. I'm back to 21mpg, which most is city stop-and-go with maybe 1/4 at open highway speeds. I could tell my mileage had increase because my car was fixed last Saturday (I had filled the tank late Friday 8/22) and I still had a decent amount of gas left (maybe 1/8 of a tank) when I filled up this morning. That's what I noticed...before the idling problem, I could easily drive 7 days, then once the problem started I needed to get gas after 4 days. I don't have the repair order with me at work this morning, but if I recall, the control valve was set at .74 and it was adjusted to .44 (or something like that). I have no idea what those figures mean, but I'm assuming it's the ratio of gas vs. air. The car had felt like it was flooded when I was at a stop, so maybe this makes sense that my gas mileage sucked. My big question is: how does the valve get out of adjustment? It didn't occur to me to ask the service writer.
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Old Aug 27, 2003 | 10:14 AM
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Which Dealer???

Which dealer did you have the problem with? Youre not too far from me. I've used Valencia and Pasadena with good results at both.
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Old Aug 27, 2003 | 10:43 AM
  #20  
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I get MUCH better gas mileage on the highway. This past weekend I filled up in NY drove back to VA (320+) miles and am still driving on the last 1/4 tank.
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Old Aug 27, 2003 | 10:55 AM
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From: Philly and Bowie
Originally posted by ABreece
Something is SERIOUSLY fucked. I get 400+ highway without any trouble at all.
I forgot to mention that I stay in VTEC range......
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Old Aug 27, 2003 | 10:59 AM
  #22  
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From: Burbank, CA
dgracer,
I go to Acura101 in Calabasas. They have been very good, but every service writer has his/her own input regarding a car problem. Of course, any dealer I've ever been to has doubts about what the customer knows or suggests. I guess the thing that annoyed me is that they had the same opportunity to fix the problem the first time I brought in the car and I wonder if they would have found anything if I did not make the service writer physically write on the order to "check the air idle control valve." I bought my car there and I service my car there (a 24 mile drive...talk about loyalty). I work very near Santa Monica Acura and I would like to hear if anyone has had experience with them.

Dan
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Old Aug 27, 2003 | 11:33 AM
  #23  
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i usually get around 400KM per tank when the light goes on.. is this normal? I've got 03 6speed with 4500km/s. This is with mixed city/hwy with a few wots but mostly crusing speeds.
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Old Aug 27, 2003 | 11:50 AM
  #24  
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From: Burbank, CA
Originally posted by n00dleboy
i usually get around 400KM per tank when the light goes on.. is this normal? I've got 03 6speed with 4500km/s. This is with mixed city/hwy with a few wots but mostly crusing speeds.
Sound about right to me. Even though I filled up with only 300 miles on the tank of gas, I could have driven another 40 + miles before the light came on. Considering I mostly sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic for my 24 miles to work and back, I should get less miles per tank than you.
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Old Aug 27, 2003 | 01:53 PM
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Originally posted by n00dleboy
i usually get around 400KM per tank when the light goes on.. is this normal? I've got 03 6speed with 4500km/s. This is with mixed city/hwy with a few wots but mostly crusing speeds.
I usually get 400-450 KM by the time the light goes on, all city on my TL-S. I've heard on more than one occasion that it should improve after your first oil change
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Old Aug 28, 2003 | 05:27 AM
  #26  
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Just to let ya know I had the same symptoms. Stalling, low RPM, and gas guzzlin! I will be checking milage now to see if it improves. PAA is top notch they replaced the part first time in.
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Old Aug 28, 2003 | 08:07 AM
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Originally posted by Red-CL
I'm having the same problem. I do highway driving mainly. I only have 31K on my car. I'm currently only getting about 180 miles per tank.

same here...
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