High idle when coasting / throttle over-run
High idle when coasting / throttle over-run
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Discussion

Troogly

Original Poster:

81 posts

265 months

Sunday 7th June 2009
quotequote all
I've been struggling a bit with idle speed recently. When stationary the idle is set up fine. However out on the road its a different story. When coasting or on throttle over-run the engine is still pulling about 1800-2000 rpm. As I come to a stop it will settle at around 900rpm again. So with no throttle input applied and at relatively low speeds (circa 25 mph) when in 2nd gear (or even 3rd) I'm holding speed, not slowing down.

I've tried the SC-Power stepper motor restrictor, which was generally OK, but occasionally the engine revs would fall right off and the engine would cut out (especially when dipping the clutch and changing down gear in a non-rushed way). I've tried various adjustment on the hex-screw on top of the plenum inlet - but I'm not getting very far.

Any ideas much welcomed, thanks

ukstmoo

167 posts

215 months

Sunday 7th June 2009
quotequote all
My 500HC does the same thing. It does not bother me but I would also like to know how to overcome the high rev's. It feels like the car is coasting on it's own with no accelerator input. scratchchin

SP6 Animal

6,015 posts

239 months

Monday 8th June 2009
quotequote all
Could be sticking/worn throttle cable.
Try disconecting the cable and move it in the sleeve to feel if it snags.
Also manualy blip the throttle to see if the butterfly is sticking in the plenum could be a build up of carbon.

Troogly

Original Poster:

81 posts

265 months

Monday 8th June 2009
quotequote all
Thanks. Throttle cable OK - new one fitted about 9 months ago and throttle opening etc all looking very clean.... hmm

330p4

668 posts

259 months

Monday 8th June 2009
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David i have a 96 500 had it from new & it has always done it particularly after a quick blast the idle is high & is slow to decay
Ian

JKY

358 posts

221 months

Monday 8th June 2009
quotequote all
Sticky idle stepper motor.
System is designed so that when coasting, with throttle closed, the transducer on the diff (the same one that signals the speedo) controls the ecu to hold a higher setting on the stepper. Only when you come to a standstill will the transducer acknowledge this and allow the stepper to reduce idle to 900rpm.
Coasting idle will be around 1200rpm but if the stepper is lazy or base settings wrong then it will stick at about 2000. My car had this problem and only solved by regular use. If left standing for a while it will take a few miles to sort itself out again.
A good clean or regular use should cure things.

TVR keith

1,903 posts

251 months

Tuesday 9th June 2009
quotequote all
Had this problem with my Chimaera 450 every time the stepper motor has been didconnected from the battery. This is how I was told to fix it.
Disconnect stepper, turn ignition on for 10 seconds
Connect stepper ignition on for 10 seconds
ignition off for 10 seconds
ignition on for 10 seconds then start engine
Problem sorted, no cost no tools and no effort.
Have posted this up before and various people have said its rubblish, but it has worked every time for me.
mentioned this recently to Dan Taylor (TVR specialist near Maidstone),
he said that its usually not needed on 400's or 500's but that the 450 is a bit more suscentable to this problem also that they tend to overfuel.

Troogly

Original Poster:

81 posts

265 months

Tuesday 9th June 2009
quotequote all
Thanks - I'll try the routine and post back results...

blueg33

46,438 posts

253 months

Tuesday 9th June 2009
quotequote all
My car ha similar symptoms but only after an ecu reset (battery disconnect) and afeter about 5-10 miles it sorts itself out. Do you isloate the battery when not using the car? If you do this could reset the ecu.

JiltedJohn

72,863 posts

268 months

Tuesday 9th June 2009
quotequote all
I thought they were slow to come back down the last few RPM by design to prevent rear wheel lockups.

griffith400

90 posts

260 months

Thursday 11th June 2009
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Troogly,

Did you get to the bottom of this one?


Steve.

moorcroft

106 posts

219 months

Thursday 11th June 2009
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Im sure I have read in "the bible" somewhere that the sensor for the speedo (Not sure where it is located) also tells the ECU if the car is moving or stationary. Not quite sure for what purpose, but a friend of mine had trouble with erratic tickover (I know not your symptoms), changed this sensor and all was well again. How well does your speedo work and low speeds?

rigga

8,806 posts

230 months

Thursday 11th June 2009
quotequote all
JiltedJohn said:
I thought they were slow to come back down the last few RPM by design to prevent rear wheel lockups.
I thought that too,and mine never acted like this until i had the plenum off/cleaned the stepper motor..... now it does it,but not to the extreme some people are seeing,holds at roughly 1200 rpm till the car comes to a stop,then dros to standard idle speed,this i think is how it should be.

Troogly

Original Poster:

81 posts

265 months

Thursday 11th June 2009
quotequote all
Thanks all for the support. I've been away all week but will be in the Griff at the weekend, so will report back then on the suggestions made. Stepper motor etc all very clean so doubt its linked to that.

Interested about the post linking it to speedo transducer. I did have some problems at the beginning of the year with this. I had a gearbox change, but the garage had the wrong type of worm gear (?) fitted inside the gearbox that provides input to the transducer. This gave a speedo reading that was significantly wrong (by about 20 mph at 70 mph). The gearbox was dropped again and the right 'internals' fitted. That brought the speedo accuracy back. It's now bang on give or take a couple of mph or so.

cheers

Troogly

Original Poster:

81 posts

265 months

Thursday 11th June 2009
quotequote all
Thanks all for the support. I've been away all week but will be in the Griff at the weekend, so will report back then on the suggestions made. Stepper motor etc all very clean so doubt its linked to that.

Interested about the post linking it to speedo transducer. I did have some problems at the beginning of the year with this. I had a gearbox change, but the garage had the wrong type of worm gear (?) fitted inside the gearbox that provides input to the transducer. This gave a speedo reading that was significantly wrong (by about 20 mph at 70 mph). The gearbox was dropped again and the right 'internals' fitted. That brought the speedo accuracy back. It's now bang on give or take a couple of mph or so.

cheers

Troogly

Original Poster:

81 posts

265 months

Monday 15th June 2009
quotequote all
.... just to update you on this. I tried TVR Keith's routine above. Although early days (it was a short test drive) and to my surprise it does appear to have improved the situation. Thanks TVR Keith! I can't understand why or how this would have improved the idle when at a reasonable road speed....but it has, at least for the time being.

LordGrover

34,165 posts

241 months

Monday 15th June 2009
quotequote all
JKY said:
Sticky idle stepper motor.
System is designed so that when coasting, with throttle closed, the transducer on the diff (the same one that signals the speedo) controls the ecu to hold a higher setting on the stepper. Only when you come to a standstill will the transducer acknowledge this and allow the stepper to reduce idle to 900rpm.
Coasting idle will be around 1200rpm but if the stepper is lazy or base settings wrong then it will stick at about 2000. My car had this problem and only solved by regular use. If left standing for a while it will take a few miles to sort itself out again.
A good clean or regular use should cure things.
yes

TVR keith

1,903 posts

251 months

Monday 15th June 2009
quotequote all
Troogly said:
.... just to update you on this. I tried TVR Keith's routine above. Although early days (it was a short test drive) and to my surprise it does appear to have improved the situation. Thanks TVR Keith! I can't understand why or how this would have improved the idle when at a reasonable road speed....but it has, at least for the time being.
Glad it worked for you, perhaps some of the people who have said this is rubbish will start to believe that its worth a try