i got into a car accident mid august needed a new radiator and ac condenser decided to not put a condenser in and go the radiator. i put the radiator in and refilled the coolant and put the battery back in and jumped it and it ran started up nice. it went to cold idle then as soon as it went back to normal idle it started to run and stutter i could keep it running by giving it some gas but and it ran clean like that but as soon as i let go of the gas it died and would not run couldn't jump it or anything i checked all connections everything is where it's supposed to be. i read somewhere that after the computer is reset like that u have to set the idle but im not sure. u guys got any ideas i wont have time to get to it till Wednesday cause of school and such any help would be greatly appreciated

 

use our search feature for idle relearn or idle reset
its a few minutes to perform, but sounds like you have more problems than that

how long did it sit after the accident? months?
car year and miles?

 

also need to have a fully charged battery in the car, not jump starting it and running for a few minutes

The many sensors need good voltage to give proper signals to the ECU to make the car run

 

99 and it has 138,000 miles on it thanks i think that is what the prob is

 

make sure you burp the coolant system perfectly- open heater core- cabin fan running, rad cap off- series of 2000 rpm and idle speed until fan cycles etc

- any trapped air will cause problems that may not show on the temp guage

 

Idle relearn is only for the 03.

Are you sure you fixed everything that was wrong or didnt miss anything?

 

yeah as far as i know i i fixed everything. it was a front end collision and the ac condenser line shoved into the radiator puncturing it i didnt put the ac condenser back in or the ac fan do u think that would cause a prob cause i can put that back in i didn't unplug anything and she started up fine and idled fine then started to stutter it's beyond me what happened but if i can't get her to run tomorrow shes getting towed to the shop

 

also it sat for a month and half

 

Guys, idle fluctuation and air in the coolant system have NOTHING to do with the car not starting. As previously stated, get a good battery in it. Check your fuses. You really need to get it on a scanner unless you know how to work a multimeter and want to test a lot of things. A good scanner and operator will be able to tell you what is wrong right away.

 

could be moisture in the fuel - 6 weeks are not a problem for fuel gelling normally,
but a car just in a crash...who knows what got left uncovered or unhooked from the intake

but A: good fully charged Battery is the starting point on this diagnostic
without correct voltage its not going to run right

IACV- idle air control valve- actually a rotary sleeve with slit for air, that likes to clog when parked a while- maybe crash dislodged some crud and its stuck in there now

Remove the throttle body and flip over- remove small cover to access the iac.
lift holder tab- remove rod- clean slit- clean where it fits- assemble
and hope that was the problem!!

 

IACV won't keep your car from starting and a wreck isn't going to dislodge any buildup and cause a problem. You won't run into bad gas, or any moisture that will foul your gas until well over a year of it sitting; usually two to three. It is usually something simply like a broken map sensor, or broken tps. Just look around and hope you get lucky.