Hi all,

I am experiencing a high idle after starting my cold engine. Lately it's been around 1500-2000 rpm when it starts, and drops to around 750 by the time the engine warms up. It's been fairly cold overnight here in MD, (often around 15F) so my question is: is this normal? I recently replaced the timing belt and adjusted my valves at the same time.

I never had high idle before, but I also lived in southern California and this is my first winter on the east coast. Anybody believe this is normal, or should I start diagnosing a problem?

 

Clean out IACV and such. Shouldn't be that high on startup.

 

whats the normal idle rpms during cold start?

 

That's perfectly normal. 15F is pretty cold. We had a cold day in NY today (10 in the mng) and my RPMs went up to 2k just after start, then 1500 for about 30 seconds, then 1250 for a couple of minutes. It took a good four minutes for it to get under 1k. Again this is during this super cold morning. On normal days my car usually gets up to 12/1300 rpms before moving lower after warming up.

 

^ +1 perfectly normal. my tl does that too and so do all my other cars.

 

my car does it too.. I think its normal. Weather is so cold, I feel glad the poor car even starts

 

Yes most cars idle higher at cold temperature upon start up. My friend has a rebuilt, pnp, LS-T in his 98 Maro and has cam'ed it and you can HEAR it idle lower once the engine warms up...BEAST of a build

 

Happens once in a while to myself as well...
Still wouldn't hurt to clean out the IACV every now and then. Preventative maintenance.

 

Holy shit 2k as normal?

Guess I'm glad to live in Arizona.

 

What cold? It's only -11F without windchill now here. Winter is just beginning. Synthetic oil, strong battery, and full fuel in the tank....good to go.

 

Thanks for your help everyone! One less thing to be worried about!