Advice on lumpy, erratic 2.0 16v - being a bit crap again..

[Jim 2]

Cool - ta!

[matthewb1985 0]

just a thought jim ive had problems since i bought my car over a year ago. My idle used to stick at 2000 - 3000 revs tried a new isv didnt work and all the other suggested ideas.

 

I finally took off the throttle body about 6 weeks ago and cleaned it out completely and gave it a good soaking in some carb cleaner over a couple of nights, i also gave it a dose of wd40 and put it back on my idle has been perfect since.

 

Might be worth a try

[Jim 2]

Yeah - davidwort said that the throttle body would benefit from a damn good clean. Problem is the car is my daily driver so can't afford to have it off the road for more than an evening or anything.

 

Is it hard to remove?

[matthewb1985 0]

no its fairly easy remove the air hoses connected then its just 4 alan key bolts and an electrical connector takes 15 - 20 mins.

I worked out that mine was sticking due the to dirt and not closing properly

 

i used some fine sand paper to clean the inside of it but it defo worked for me its amazing how much crap there was. My car has done 106000 so can imagine yours being quite bad at your mileage.

[Jim 2]

I have often thought about something sticking and causing these problems.

 

As I said davidwort had assured me it was easy but it just looked a bit more 'involved' than I was ready to get with the car. Will have a go at getting it off there though and giving it a damn good clean out.

 

Cheers :)

[Toad 0]

Mine was really sticky and unpleasant, and I did it on the manifold with petrol and paper towel, little bit awkward, but do able if you don't fancy taking the TB off.

[jimmy83 0]

interestingly, I have just replaced my throttle with one from Sanburns, as it was jamming open at full throttle! Now, although it didn't cure my cold running misfire, the car does seem to idle very nicely now, and (once warmed up!) the power delivery seems smoother. If you are going to take yours off Jim, be very careful with the 4 allen key bolts, they are fairly shallow and I managed to round one off, which meant taking manifold off etc to drill it out.....

[CazzaVR 0]

Cleaned mine recently in situ. Doesn't take too long- it was full of crap too, so defo worth doing.

[Jim 2]

Ok!

 

Progress!

 

Headed over to Erics this morning - checked in via work (I have the keys / alarm code, etc) as I had a feeling my ISV would have been delivered there and it has been. This, I might mention, is the 2nd ISV I bidded on - this whole transaction has been turned around in about 4 days - i'm still waiting on the first bloody ISV!!

 

Anyway - this one was from an Audi 2.0 and had a similar part number to the one on the Corrado but not quite. This was also metal and not plastic but the connectors, etc were all in the same place and the same size.. so blasted it out with carb cleaner (bit of crap in there) and hooked it up, and the car started and ran fine with it.

 

Then took to the throttle body with the carb cleaner. Decided against removing it (after jimmy83's misfortune) and did mine in situ - some muck came out but not lots.

 

Anyway - drove it home from Erics and it did not once put a foot wrong. Idling dropped to the correct spot every single time and never once dipped below where it should have. No weird over-revving, etc - all absolutely spot on. The test of course will be taking it out tomorrow morning as mornings (and from cold) is when its always worse.. but for now fingers crossed this has done the business!

[Phil K 0]

Fingers crossed mate... hope to god that you're sorted now :D

[CazzaVR 0]

Sounds promising- hope it's finally fixed!

[Lippy 0]

Jim how was the car this morning, like the bad bisto gravy or smooth?

 

do you think the audi part is better than the VW original?

[Jim 2]

I'm off work ill today - not having a good time of it at the minute! Going back to bed soon! So obviously not driven the car today yet.

 

I did drive it yesterday morning though - it had been cold out, and the car always misbehaves even worse when its been left outside over night and not put in the garage.

 

But i'm glad to say that I backed it off the drive and trundled out and again it did not even hint at cutting out even once. I really do think it might be fixed.

 

Not sure about the Audi part being better.. its hard to say.. but all I know is its working for now! :)

[Jim 2]

Well drove it again this evening to the shops and back and yep - again, the idle was rock solid. Never fluctuated at any point and never dropped below 800RPM really at any point...

 

I think for now this one is fixed!

[CazzaVR 0]

Well done! Has the other ISV turned up yet?

[Tempest 0]

Good news :-)

 

You can take me to the pub someday now, as I'm car-less for the next few months :-( :lol:

 

Tempest

[Jim 2]

Still no sign of the other ISV yet. Looking at recent feedback for the guy he takes up to 2 months to send stuff. Needless to say I wont wait that long and will just reclaim my money from eBay. He's ignored two emails now from me chasing him. Basically a deadbeat. This is the guy.

 

Eric - yes, i'd say a pub visit is on the cards at some point :)

[davidwort 0]

Well drove it again this evening to the shops and back and yep - again, the idle was rock solid. Never fluctuated at any point and never dropped below 800RPM really at any point...

 

I think for now this one is fixed!

 

good news Jim! The odd thing about these ISV's is there are so many part number variations and yet providing the hose and power connections are the same size they all seem to work on any car, I've used that VDO 2.0L one on my car and it behaves exactly the same as with the 1.8 version on???

 

you really need to get your wishbones sorted now, I'd fit new drop links and ball joints while you're at it, I managed to do all of this with the old wishbones and pressing in new bushes, it wasn't that difficult to do and I only used a vice and a huge socket to act as a pusher. Saved me a few quid over buying complete wishbones, but then my labour cost nothing :)

 

David.

[Jim 2]

Well just waiting on getting the bits off Steve / Neil - have top mounts, wishbones bushes and rear axle bushes on order.

 

Sadly I just dont have the option of going beserk and replacing it all in one go as I am on a real budget at the minute what with christmas coming up, etc and road tax being due at the end of the month. If I was still at home with my folks I would have done the lot.. sadly just not an option at the minute. My labour will be free (thanks to 2cc generously offering me time down at his place to do the work) but still the bits aint free! :(

[Justonge 0]

Sounds very similar to the problem i've just posted. Only difference is that I've replaced the ISV already. It did sort the lumpy running and erratic reving at idle but then the cold start problems began. Now it's got cold it's all over the place and refuses to idle at all. Presuming the IRV is now OK then there must de something else but i'm not sure if it's fueling or electrical and like you don't want to stash loads of cash on random attempts to fix the problem. If you get anywhere i'd like to know what worked.

[Jim 2]

Well as I say, in the end an ISV sorted out my problem.

 

You might want to have a read through the thread - it is 11 pages but it does cover pretty much ALL things that you should check / clean / adjust on a poorly running valver! :)

[jimmy83 0]

glad to hear yours is sorted Jim, I'll bet you'll never take a smooth idle for granted ever again!! I certainly miss mine!

[Lippy 0]

Phil, how is yours going after ditching the 2.0 management?

[Phil K 0]

It's still to come tbh matey... was my birthday last weekend and I'd also been holding off to get braided injector lines from VW - however when they explained that each one would be £42 I decided against it :lol:

 

Should be getting it in to the phirm in the next week or so and will update the progress as it happens :D

[Jim 2]

I think I might rename this thread and just call it the definitive 2.0 16v thread or something - would be a good place to discuss things like what you've got planned Phil, and other 9A engine diagnosing / tinkering stuff as i'm sure i'm bound to do more to mine once money allows.

 

Might as well check in and say i've not had the car cut out ONCE since the new ISV went on. Its a revelation! :D