IanM

During the recent cold weather, my car's been experiencing a bit of a problem. When I come to a stop and put in the clutch, the revs dip down really low (to 500rpm or lower), then bounces back up to reach a steady idle at around 900rpm. The problem is that sometimes when I'm putting in the clutch, the revs drop so low that the car stalls. Could this be a problem with my idle air stabilizer valve, or perhaps I should just raise my idle up a bit? It's only happened two or three times so far, but it's really hard to look cool when your car stalls in an intersection.

Perry 951

Could be idle control motor. They usually work a bit harder when it is cold. You could try and unplug it and see if you have the same result.

IanM

What's the idle control motor, and where is it?

IanM

Tabor

If the "idle control motor" is the same as the idle control motor valve, it is underneath your intake manifold.

My money is on vaccum lines. Remove your intake manifold and replace all of your vaccum lines.

Perry 951

Idle control motor, same as the valve... under the intake. It allows air to enter the intake on a cold or low idle situation. If it happend when it is cold, it very well could be the motor that is attached to it.

A vac leak would usually cause a high idle or stumble, especially warm.

IanM

Okay, I'm with you now. In my VW days, we called that an idle air stabilizer valve. I have a feeling that's not it though, as this is only a problem when it's cold outside. I doubt it's the vacuum lines, as mine have all been checked and replaced with pretty blue silicon lines. I'm thinking that maybe my car is running too rich at idle. I'm going to turn down the low setting on my ARC2 box by a click or two, and see what happens.