doug928

So here's my dilemma, I have the whole intake manifold off for refinishing and repair. I cleaned the idle stabilizer and applied 12v to the terminals and it seems to be working fine. My question- What is the expected life for this part? I have 106K miles and it seems to be in OK working order. I just spent many $$$ on parts and getting the manifold refinished. Should I bite the bullet and replace with new or can I expect another 100k out of it? Does anyone still have the original part installed with over 175K?

John Speake

I know of a car with 210k on it, and we believe it is the original idle stabliser.

The main enemy is dirt................did you ultrasonically clean it inside ?

John Speake

Hi Sterling,
Like many of the actuators, it's fed from battery positive 13v. The ECU pulls it to ground. The waveform is a 100Hz square wave of varying mark space ratio, which varies the position.

H2

My '85S has 86K miles on it. I put all new rubber hoses on it, and while I was in there, I replaced the Idle Stabilizer with a new one I'd gotten. May be my imagination but it didn't seem to improve anything much but it does seem to be slightly more responsive and engine does not not kill as often when trying to start cold. It never was a real problem but I'm keeping the new one in place. They are a bit tedious to replace but not bad. But now I have a spare Idle Stabilizer that works fine. I'd sell it for $35.00 plus $8.00 shipping and handling.

Harvey

Dave H.

mine was acting up and i replaced it @ 120k when the manifold was off. if you just bite the bullet and replaced everything under there then you don't have to go back in for something stupid...

Steve J.

That's a good price, Harvey - someone should jump on that! Before I re-installed my intake, I tested the idle stabilizer with 12V to verify operation. Then I inserted a probe and turned the spring loaded valve to make sure it moved freely with no gritty feel. Sprayed some lubricant in there and installed it. Doug - I think yours will be OK if it feels smooth.

tresamore

Change it. My 85 had 119K when I bought it and it had idle problems. I changed it and took the old one apart out of curiosty. The armature was worn through where the brushes contacted it.

doug928

I did clean it with a good deal of gumout and it's about as clean as I can get it. Everything is moving freely and when I tested it with 12v it did click and move.

John, I did not know this could be ultasonically cleaned. Under what description in the yellow pages would I look for something like this? Since I already cleaned it do you think it's worth it?

BarryW

If I had to remove my intake to replace it, I'd put a new one in for sure!! Not the old one, not a used one, a new one! I'd also replace every rubber hose under there. Not that expensive in the grand scheme of things but worth it in peace of mind in my opinion.

Nicole

On the three 928s I've owned, the idle stabilizer acted up on all of them. The first car had about 70k miles when I got it, the second about 90k, the third was in the mid 60ies. I'd say, unless you don't mind doing it again, replace the valve while you can do so easily.

John Speake

Well Doug,
You've got a good range of BTDT answers there.................he 200k mile car I saw had done most of it life on the freeways. The whole engine was in remarkable condition.

For a more typical usage car, I would go along with the concensus expressed here - while you've gone to the trouble of plenmum removal, it's good insurance to replace such an item. It might work now, but for how much longer ?

I would change it.