Cold running problems - ISV ?

[yalan 0]

Hi - can anybody help me with a couple of of probs I'm having right now.....

Car is a 2.0 16v BTW!

 

1) From cold, the coolant light flashes and stays flashing throught the entire journey - unless you let the car warm up, then key off and start it back up again. Seems to 'reset' and the light stays off.

Coolant level is OK & temp rises normally and stays at a healthy temp once warm.....

 

2) Idle. From cold, the car idles high (up to 2500). Tends to stay high until, again, wait till warm then key off then start engine again. Read up on here & decided to clean the ISV last night. Grime came out so I thought all would be good.

Plumbed it back in this morn & drove to work. Idle remained static @ 1800. Even after a key off / key on. Opened bonnet and had a look around. Started tapping on the ISV and this brought the tick over down to 1000. Knackered ISV??? any more intense ways of cleaning the ISV??

Throttle cable is OK.

Microswitch is clicking at rest.

Vac pipes on the throttle body appear to be in place.

 

Any suggestions for these minor niggles would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

 

Alisatir

[Bobby 0]

yeah sounds like i dodgy isv thats sticking,sometimes even a good clean doesn't sort them out. Is the microswitch on the throttle body meant to click when the throttle is on the rest position? i always though the throttle was meant come close to it on the rest position but not actually touch it (sure i read it in a haynes manual), sorry for going of topic :roll: As for the coolant light my 16v does the same,aslong as the waterpump is returning water properly abnd there is no water loss then it should be ok, might be a sensor on the expansion tank.

[dazzyvr6 0]

i always thought the isv stops the engine from stalling,by allowing x amount of air through when the throttle is shut

[Geo 0]

Sounds like an isv problem since when you tapped it the idle went back to normal. However, it would be worth checking and cleaning the contacts on the plug before you go buying a new one. (a penny under £40 quid on ebay for a new VDO one btw)

[dazzyvr6 0]

doh..what was i thinking..if the isv is sticking the idle would be a bit on the high side,what did you clean it out with..i used carb cleaner and used a screwdriver to open and close the diapragm to remove any carbon build up

[nogrille 0]

soak the ISV in petrol over night. dry it out and re-fit. this works "most" of the time.

[yalan 0]

hmm - I soaked it in carb cleaner for about 7 hours - but couldn't work out how to open / close the port without damaging it..... did try jamming my toothbrush in there but couldn't really clean much out!

 

Also took ages to get all the fluid out..... just sloshed about until I'd flicked it for about 1/2 hour.

 

 

any ideas on the coolant probs ? airlock / thermostat etc??

 

cheers guys.....hopefully meet some of you tomorrow!

[Geo 0]

The coolant light problem must be a fault with the level sensor in the header tank. check and clean the connections to it and if that doesn't work try taking the sensor itself out and cleaning it.

[nogrille 0]

I'm assuming it's got enough coolant and the seal on the cap is good?

[yalan 0]

yes - plenty of coolant in there & the cap's good!

Didn't know the sensor actually came out so will have a got at that later !

 

Unfortunately that ISV on e-bay is for the 1.8corrados etc - the 2.0 has a different part no...... don'k have any idea what the differences are though???

 

Anyone know how to test / move / adjust the ISV whilst it's off the car???