i havent been driving my car much the last 2 weeks it been in the garage... every 2nd or 3rd day ill start it up.. so yesterday i decided to take off my neg. battery cable off the battery.. today i reconnected it because i had to go somewhere and now car started idling low when i come to a stop.. it idles at around 600rpm and sounds like it gonna turn off
i try tightening the battery cable more but that doesnt seem to be the problem

need some advice on what it could be.. i do need to change my timing belt but i just short on cash right now... the car has 136 000km

 

first problem was starting it every few days
thats hard on the battery as it doesnt get recharged by driving- it really needs that!
and it can load up things from the full rich fuel setting on startup

I would pull a few front plugs for inspection of fuel wetness on them

If it will drive even with idle prob- throw seafoam in the tank and thru the manifold vac port- blast those clean and see if it cleans the idle for you
If not, its time to look at the IACv under the TB assembly

Note to all- if storing the car -do not start it and run a few minutes- thats bad for it
Just disconnect the battery neg cable and let it sit- recharge battery when you get ready to operate it again

 

have you been able to drive an hour at speed to fully charge the battery yet?
At low voltage and with the lights on and seat heat, cabin heat etc--it may not have enough juice to go around so it idles poorly

The car runs off stored battery power then recharges itself via the alternator as needed to stay full. When coming back from very low or dead it may take a while before running properly again
You can try an ecu reset too- just in case

 

dont just tighten the battery cable- clean it and adjust to correct tension- its easy to break the lead head of a connector or damage the battry post-

thinking about it - clogged iac usually makes it rev up and down, so look for the basics before ripping into the TB

 

yesterday morning i did go for a highway drive after sooo long for a hour and today i even tried turning off all acessories such as stereo and headlights and heat but that didnt really help

 

If im not mistaken the 03s need a idle relearn procedure. Try that. (its in the manual how to do it)

 

I would:

Seafoam intake and gas tank. One can or half a can in the tank and a half for the intake. Let it sit for 10 minutes and drive happy on the highway to free up all that crud that could be affecting your idle.

Then check the IAC (Idle Air Control) its directly right under the throttle body and its possibly iirc with 2 screws. But I think you would have to move the air intake out of the way to it. Your IAC could be clogged up with crud. Clean it with some throttle cleaner spray. Its only $5 at most auto stores.

Sent via BlackBerry

 

+1, just did this 2 nights ago

 

fixed,

it is basically let it sit there for 10 minutes with no accesories on in park/neutral, after it has fully warmed up and the fans have come on at least once(if the fans turn on during that time, then don't count the time that they were on then)
or just drive it and let it relearn itself

also might be that the gas is kinda old and not the correct blend for the weather/outside tempeture

 

if the gas is more than 6 months in the tank- definetly use seafoam to fix it

If you have to store the car again, fresh gas and Stabil or seafoam added to gas will keep it from `gelling` and not the good kind~

The ol idle relearn procedure- good catch Kris

 

the last time i filled it up was like 2 weeks ago now i got still about half a tank left.. so the gas isnt that old

 

still can be the wrong blend for the outside tempeture, which can cause it too not run right, try filling up to help dilute the old gas

 

^ok ill try that and should i put like a little bit better gas like 94 octane? cus i usually put 91 octane

 

i think the 91 one should be alright cause the minimum requirement is only 91 in the manual, but i would put 94 in it for this time at least, the higher octanes geneanally (sp?) seem to be blended a little better then the lower grade stuff


and you F***ing suck for having 94 octane available for pump gas , i only got 91 octane available for preminuim gas

 

^ haha thats how we roll in vancouver with 94 octane i think there is somewhere here that sells 96 octane too

 

, there is one station near me that you can get street legal 100 octane, but the next station that sells it is like a 100 miles away or something, so not really pratical, if you want to tune you DD on it

 

same thing happened to me (wife left dome light on for a week and killed my yellow top).. it is the learning process that needs to be done.. especially if you have mods.. cai, exhaust, headers... as i do and i see you do too (sig) mine took about an entire week to stop near stalling. the comp usually does it pretty quick if everything is stock but with mods it just takes time... .just started idling good one day..

 

100 wouldnt give you any more power than 91. Plus you have to watch, many race fuels are leaded.

 

91 is all you need- unless 94 is what they sell as premium/super in your area
It varies with altitude and other factors which states get 94

the 76 near me has 100 unleaded- fun for the bikes to blast thru but of no real use on the car --unless its turbo~

 

ummm....
http://www.sunocoinc.com/site/Consum...T100Locations/

and i said if you wanted to tune your DD on it, so i was not talking about a stock car anymore

yeah 91 is all that is needed for a stock car, but yeah it really starts to come into play when you start going FI, or sprayin

 

update: car is fine now everything runs good the last 2 days i didnt do a thing to it i just started it one day and it was ok again ... should i still be worried though and any precautions i should take ?

 

Probably the IACV (idle air control valve) sticking in the open position. Sometimes it acts up, you might want to replace it later if it keeps doing this. Cheapest place I found was at pepboys for 89.00 - 10.00 coupon = 79.00 plus tax. Dealers charge around 130 for this part. good luck

 

ummm.... the idle was relearned by the ecu,
so what else would there be to worry about (except for maybe the tranny though)
precations, just know that when you disconnect the battery next time, it may idle like crap till it can relearn it again

 

you can keep trying to relearn the idle, but the electronic sensor is probably going to give out soon or later. my car had the same symptoms after leaving it parked for a couple days.

 

ummm..... he had disconnected the battery, maybe read the full thread, and exactly what he had done before hand