Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2009 21:35:22 -0800
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Idle control valve and very cold weather?
In-Reply-To: <035c01ca788f$c4e79c10$6401a8c0@PROSPERITY>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
I seem to recall a plug of sorts into the valve...Maybe..I think one of the
diagnostics in Bently is to "listen for a hum"? I dunno, I forget...Could
easily be a moisture problem of some sort...icing...since it just got cold,
and the symptoms just started...
Why is it....(in my best Andy Rooney voice) that vehicles always pick the
most unpleasant times to show 'bad behavior'? Middle of a snow storm,
sub-zero cold snap, downtown LA freeway, sandstorm in the desert...had cars
and trucks act-up in all these situations...Right now I have every tool I
own piled into the rear of the van, right on the engine cover...Whoopie!
I'll try the heat gun on the hoses..
Don Hanson
Thanks
On Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 9:23 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <
scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
> is it the electronically controlled type of Idle Valve ?
> ( not just an Auxiliary Air Regulator - which is just a mechanical device
> with a temp sensitive spring in it, and a heater element )
>
> I can imagine mo
> isture freezing and affecting things.
> I can't quite visualize your fuel system hose layout, but do you have a
> heater element in your breather hose ?
> 2.1 waterboxer vanagon engines use those.
> It's a very simple stand along wire harness too - could be easily added to
> any engine.
> Perhaps your issue is why VW put them on 2.1 vanagons with Electronic Idle
> Control Valves.
>
> for a test, go out there in the cold morning with a hair dryer or heat gun,
> and just mildly warm up the area of the idle valve and associated hoses, and
> see if that make this erratic idle system not occur.
>
> if it's the electronic kind.......the circuit that operates it comes to
> mind, though I suspect that's in your ecu ......
> and if so, you'd think cold temps and moisture wouldn't have any affect.
>
> I'm going for moisture that's freezing.
> btw.............remember how old VW bugs had a 'heat riser' exhaust circuit
> under the intake manifold ?
> If you have ever felt the bottom of the intake manifold on a VW bug engine
> while it was running after just being started......
> it's amazingly cold there. The evaporative qualities of gasoline, combined
> with low temps and fast air flow, produce an extreme cooling affect - enough
> to cause carb icing. Perhaps you are having Fuel Injection Icing.
>
> heck, hang a 100 watt light bulb near the engine over night, and see if
> that helps., If it's moisture and low temp related, I bet it will help or
> even eliminate the symptom.
> Scott
> www.turbovans.com
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 7:32 PM
> Subject: Idle control valve and very cold weather?
>
>
>
> It the idle control valve prone to problems during cold weather? I
>> replaced mine with a new one last fall..and today it again started doing
>> the
>> "1500 rpm.....down to normal idle....1500rpm.....down to normal idle...
>> cycle. Zero degree weather overnight and not going above about 10f all
>> day. Van would not start without a bit of throttle either, first thing
>> this
>> morning...The cycling of the idle speed was this evening..and lasted for
>> about 10 miles until the van was really up to warm temps. Exact symptoms
>> I
>> had from a failed Idle Control Valve...One shouldn't fail in under one
>> year,
>> right? Hope not they are not cheap .
>> Do these things ice up or get sluggish in extreme cold?
>> Don Hanson
>>
>
>
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