idle control valve cleaning Options

[giraffe]

so i cleaned my idle control valve b/c my car was doing this erradic idle thing when cold (1600-2200) and sometimes it idles high when warm too, sometimes not.

problem not solved.

the piston seems to move easily enough in the icv.
and the mechinism seems simple enough, it the piston moving freely enough to eliminate it as a possibility?

[Galcobar]

If the problem is primarily occurring at low temperatures, check your Engine Coolant Temperature sensor. If it's a 5SFE, it'll be the green connector on the water neck. Resistance across the sensor's terminals at 20C/68F should be between 2 kilo ohm and 3.5 k ohm. At operating temperature of 80C/176F resistance should read above 0.2 k ohm and below 0.4 k ohm.

This is a photo of the fifth-gen's 5SFE. The tan connector at the bottom left is the cold start injector time switch, for the cold start injection system which is NOT present on later 5SFEs.


That said, twitchy idle is often an issue of a vacuum leak.