car dies out when idling.

[brandondan1]

Well, after having my car die on a major highway last night I got to thinking... maybe I need new fuel pumps. There was a wreck that caused stop and go traffic, and while idling the car decided to cut out. I pushed it onto the shoulder and tried to start it for about 30 mins and it finally did. When I finally got the car back home, I left it idling for about 3 mins and it died out again, but as long as the revs were up it drove perfectly.

The fuel pumps are on order, but I need to drive my car to school until then. Could I adjust my throttle cable so that it revs around 1100rpm with my foot completely off the gas so its not allowed to idle and die out? There shouldn't be any harm done, just decreased mpg right?


Is there a writeup on replacing all of the fuel lines somehwhere? how easy is it to DIY? I wana revamp the whole fuel system just for peace of mind.

[euroshark]

Dont adjust the throttle stop, thats bad. Adjust the idle control valve, unlpug it. Unplugging it will give you 1200 to 1500rpm idle.

[JGood]

I would adjust the idle control valve screw, very easy. Be careful pulling out into busy intersections, you never know when it will die again.

[jlevie]

First you need to find out why the engine is dying at idle. What you describe really doesn't sound like a fuel pump or delivery problem. It could be an intake leak, bad or sticking ICV, bad AFM. or other problem. The obvious first place to look would be for an intake leak or ICV isue.

[brandondan1]

Well I just changed my fpr, and the o-ring on the old one was pretty beat up and causing a small leak. The car seems to be running better now and it hasn't stalled.

When i disconnect my ICV while the car is running nothing changes, but if I plug it back in, the rpms drop, shoot up, and returns to its lopey 600-700 idle. I cleaned the ICV about a week ago too.

I hear this airy gushing sound coming from under the hood whenever the car is warm. Could this be a leak from the valve cover gasket or exhaust manifold?

Thanks for the suggestions.

[euroshark]

Your ICV or the fuse that controls it is most likely bad! A hunting idle with the ICV plugged in, and a stable idle with it unplugged is a sure sign that the ICV is a problem. To test it, just hook up some small jumper wires (I used speaker wire once) to your battery, and touch them to the terminals on the ICV. If you hear a click, it is working, and you need to move on to your fusebox. If you don't hear the ICV click when you apply electricity, you need to buy one... And I have one for sale :)

[euroshark]

And an airy gushing sound could be lots of things... could be the dipstick or oil cap is not sealing, could be one of your intake or idle circuit hoses, I suppose it could be the valve cover gasget... Definitely remove and inspect all of your hoses. Once they start going, the way your car runs just gets shittier and shittier.

[porsche gt1]

I believe it would be you fuel sender that is the problem. Does you low on gas light turn on sometimes when you have about half a tank? If so then I would say 99% chance it is your sender that is your problem.

The airy gushy sound could be a lot of things, try to isolate it to one spot.

[brandondan1]

Thanks guys! I changed my fuel sender over the weekend and now the car starts up fast, and doesn't die out. One step closer to modding my car :p