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98 Honda Accord LX 2.3 VTEC Very High Idle

Home Forums Stay Dirty Lounge Service and Repair Questions Answered Here 98 Honda Accord LX 2.3 VTEC Very High Idle

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  • #607528
    Mark RasnakeMark Rasnake
    Participant

      Good Evening,
      Eric, thanks for the great timing belt video. It made the job on the 98 Accord very easy. I hand turned the engine after everything was together and the timing marks lined up perfectly. Went ahead and cleaned the throttle body as well, adjusted the valves, replaced the VTEC solenoid gasket (leaking) and replaced the spark plugs. Went to start it up and it fired right up….then shot to 5000 rpms and bounced back and forth between 4800-5000 rpms. I immediately shut it down. Tried it again with the same result. Went ahead and removed the throttle body and IACV from the engine and cleaned both thoroughly. Also checked for vacuum leaks but didn’t find any. I had coolant leak out during both the VTEC solenoid gasket replacement and the IACV removal. I filled it back up VERY slowly and have fluid coming out of the bleed screw. The car has 177K miles, so I’m thinking maybe cleaning the IACV messed it up. Its the original IACV, so it wouldn’t surprise if cleaning it would cause it to fail at this point. Would a failed IACV cause this problem? This is the first Honda I’ve ever worked on so I’m in uncharted territory. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

    Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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    • #607532
      dandan
      Moderator

        any codes or engine light?

        would also recommend having a look at this, Eric has tons of stuff on hondas in this.
        http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-idle-problems

        #607534
        TomTom
        Participant

          When I cleaned the IACV on my Accord, the exact same thing happened. After talking to a buddy who is a mechanic, I pulled the IACV back off, and used a small flat head screw driver to gently turn the wheel inside it, stopping after each little turn, to spray more cleaner in it. After a bit, the valve was turning much easier. At that point, I reinstalled it, fired it up, and the idle dropped down to normal.

          However, if I read your post correctly, you didn’t clean the IACV until AFTER the idle problem occured. If that is the case, then you need to look at another cause. Could be a vacuum leak caused by a bad gasket, vacuum port that isn’t capped, a hose that was left off, or cut. Does your car have cruise control?

          #607536
          Mark RasnakeMark Rasnake
          Participant

            Thanks Ace, I checked out the link and didn’t see anything that talks about an extremely high idle at startup. Its throwing no codes, which is what’s confusing as well. I’m thinking its the IACV since it controls the idle. If it’s malfunctioning and allowing too much air at startup, the PCM will command more fuel to keep up which would result in a very high idle. But I’ve never seen this problem before so I’m hoping someone has experienced this and can pass on some info to solve it.

            #607580
            dandan
            Moderator

              Tohm brings up a good point, sometimes when you clean these IAC valves they are open so far because of the carbon build up when you go too start the car high rev can result, so i would follow Tomhs advice, see if that helps, also if its working there should be some movement of the IAC valve when you turn the kea, you have no codes but it also may be possible that the car hasn’t been running long enough too thow codes.

              this is also a good test

              [video]http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI_3eMf7i18[/video]

              #607597
              Mark RasnakeMark Rasnake
              Participant

                Thanks guys, I cleaned the IACV as described so it moves freely. My question regarding this IACV, should it move freely or is there a gear mechanism that rotates the valve in increments? Didn’t know, but I could move it with a small screwdriver back and forth across its travel with no issues after I cleaned it. After reinstalling it, I fired it back up and it did the same thing. I also unplugged it after this and restarted it to see if it would make a difference. It did not, so I’m wondering if I have a vacuum leak or plugged port somewhere. When I originally cleaned the throttle body (I left it mounted to the intake) I sprayed the TB cleaner into the TB. Are there any ports at the bottom of the intake that could get clogged from the cleaner? I’ll check the video out when I get home this evening. Thanks again for the help!

                #607609
                TomTom
                Participant

                  Since this problem popped up after you took things apart to clean them, and the IACV is verified working properly, I would strongly suspect a significant vacuum leak.

                  You can search for vacuum leaks by listening with a stethescope, or piece of hose, by releasing propane in the area where you suspect the leak, by spraying the area down with a water mist (spray bottle, not a hose) or by using carb cleaner (be VERY careful if using this method). I personally use either the propane, or water mist when looking for a leak, if I can’t hear it.

                  #607638
                  Mark RasnakeMark Rasnake
                  Participant

                    Good Evening All,
                    Thanks again for all your help, I finally tracked down the culprit…and will admit my buffoonery. Tom, when you asked if the car had cruise control…after just getting in from work I decided to start on the driver’s side of the engine to look for vacuum leaks. Happened to look down at the cruise control vacuum solenoid and noticed the cruise control cable had been pulled out about a 1/4 inch…must have happened when I was taking off the motor mount. It was opening the throttle plate just enough to case the high idle. After I reinserted the cable, it purrs like a kitten. Started up at 1500, then quickly dropped down to 900 like it should. I’ve worked on cars for over 30 years and I’ve NEVER had this happen…thanks again for all your help. It’s very much appreciated!

                    #607750
                    TomTom
                    Participant

                      Last summer, after changing the air filter on my Honda, I started it up, and it idled at like 3500 RPM’s. I couldn’t get the idle speed down, I couldn’t figure out what the hell was wrong with it. I finally shook my head at it, and drove it two blocks to the local shop. It took the young kid there all of about 15 minutes to pull it in, and spot exactly that same problem. In all my years messing with cars, I had never seen it happen before, which is what made me ask you about the cruise control. That is one lesson I will never forget lol.

                      Glad my screw up led me to ask a question that helped you to find yours!

                      #607877
                      EricTheCarGuy 1EricTheCarGuy
                      Keymaster

                        You now know why I do not recommend removing throttle bodies to clean then. It seems to cause more problems than it fixes. Glad you found the issue. Thanks for the updates and for using the ETCG forum. I’m going to post this here for good measure.

                        http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-idle-problems

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