MiraOwner

additional question on this.. the car does not die when i seal the throttle bypass valve (ICV removed) although it slows down pretty low, but does not die. does it mean that the engine is getting air from else where which it not suppose to ? technically the car to remain in operation it needs air to burn the fuel so does it indicate a vacuum leak (also) apart from the ICV issue? i disassembled the ICV and cleaned it inside out. looks pretty neat. i want to diagnose the entire range of things before i go changing stuff. so any more advice on the above question will help me nail it down.

Thanks Don, That's the price of a brand new one.. looks like i will have to pay for it.. would you advice on buying a used part for this? was that a temporary measure for you or are you planning on keeping your car for long?

Hi Everyone, Sorry for bumping this one up again... i called up a parts store in panchikawatta where they sell parts for my car. effin IAC is 15900Rs.. is it me or isn't it too steep for a simple magnetic coil or / step motor driven tiny device? this is ridiculous...

I've made a sheepish mistake! the hose that goes to the canister has no effect of course..! coz its the other end that has the effect. i removed the IAC completely from the system and the car revs up pretty high then.. looks like the IAC is bust! i will need to replace it.

Another interesting thing i found, there is a hose that goes straight to the engine from the Air Cleaner. what is that for can that be clogged up? i see that as the first line to leave from the main Air Cleaner line in the above diagram..

This is the actual EFI schematics that i took from the manual. thanks for all your help in advance. i'm counting on you guys to help me sort this one out. as if i go to the maka baas garage they will start with the usual suspects like spark plugs fuel injectors etc. etc. which i have already checked up. and i'm guessing what they mean by ISC is the IAC? am i right?

Hi Guys, Just now popped the hood and did some cleaning of the IAC valve and did a few rounds of testing... this is what i found out... -IAC valve has no effect in the idle! i observed this by removing the hose and letting the air pass freely without the IAC valve controlling it the engine has absolutely no effect ( i did this while the engine is running) and throttle bypass goes through the IAC and ends up in a box like thing which i'm guessing is a charcoal canister the other end of the outlet hose of the canister goes into the maze of things and i cannot figure out where it ends. and one more thing. i even held my thumb on the air inlet to the canister which i presume should technically feed the engine with air. and the engine still strangely has no effect and idle is rough and does'nt change. BTW there is no MAF or any other AIR related sensors in this car. that i found out by reading the manual. ok now the question is is the charcoal canister the culprit?

Thanks Don for the input, i will get my hands dirty once i get the time and let all of you know what the outcome is.

and BTW is there a place i can do a proper cylinder compression test without blowing a hole on my pocket?

All plugs looked the same.. nothing different on the one with the different ignition coil. oxidization is not bad. but its not as clean as the other one's (comparing) i will start by cleaning the IAC valve first, and then change the Ignition Coil, i've done the "pulling the ignition plug on cylinder test" earlier, engine reacts to each plug so i guess all cylinders are getting the voltage only concern is whether the voltage is weak on the one with the different coil. i guess i have no choice but to change it with the right one and see.

Plugs were changed around 10,000 Kms ago, i took them out and cleaned them 2000Km's ago, they were not fouled (no unusual wear patterns). 1 of the ignition coils is different from the others (not the compatible part). (this was installed by the previous owner i guess) i observed that this "black-sheep" ignition coil is having an oxidized connection (the spring that sits on the spark plug)will this be contributing to the cause as well?

Thanks JD, i was reading up on the erratic idle. can this be caused by compression issues or misfiring of the engine at low RPM? i'm seeing in some internet forums people discussing this possibility.

didnt clean the MAF dont know where it is.. but there is an IAC valve i didn't clean that. makes sense to clean that but is it safe to clean? will it screw up if i spary the same solvent or some other stuff. whats the right way to do this.. any other thoughts are welcome!

Hi Guys, Can anyone help me on an erratic idle issue.. recently cleaned up the TB by spraying some cleaning solvent while running the engine (ABRO product made for the purpose) car starts up and moves to a higher RPM than usual and gradually slows down to a crappy idle, and i notice that the idle is erratic, at a Red light. one moment it gets better, next moment my teeth rattles , what the heck is wrong with her? i tried to clean the TB coz the good old people at the service station has put the air filter flip-side after blowing compressed air to clean it up. inside of the Air Box was having a film of black dust due to poor filtration and improper positioning of the filter. car was idling a little rough earlier now its erratic and still bad.. Thanks in advance!

http://forum.autolanka.com/index.php?/topic/5663-synthetic-vs-mineral-engin-oil/

remove the socket connecting the O2 Sensor to the circuitry. and start the engine. while the engine warms up get a regular multi-meter and check the voltage produced by the sensor. if its between 0.2 V and 0.8~0.9 V then your oxygen sensor should be alright. ideally it should be hovering around 0.45 V (450 mV) for the best balance of fuel/Air (provided that your environment has the right amount of oxygen when testing) this is a simple test you can perform,

Guys... Just to update you all on what happened after. after so many hours of trying to pin-point the problem and close to 50k worth of different repairs (new exhaust mounts/ engine tune ups / motor mounts / blah.. blah.. blah) . finally the vibration was identified at the steering mechanism where a nylon bush was worn to bits below the uni-joint of the steering column ("kuruse" (cross) they call it). hope this would help someone else if they ever come across such a scenario.

Thanks Mate.. will try this out tomorrow.

When the AC is on the vibration is more. if you are thinking of the AC idle up that is ruled out idle RPM goes up when the AC is switched on. and thanks for all for the reply's. still haven't decided what to do yet. waiting for more input from all before i take her to another garage.

Guys, i have been having a serious issue with the car and couldn't resolve it even after spending the whole day at the garage yesterday. this is regarding one of the previous topics that i posted as well (Motor mounts) There are serious vibrations in the car when idling and at low speeds with heavier loads (AC on and multiple passengers on-board). The garage guys are 'trial and error' mechanics. initially after running on the road with the 'chief' mechanic he said the car is sluggish and lets do a complete fuel system clean up to see if it would reduce the vibration so they went on and did the following. * switched to new spark plugs * new filters on the fuel nozzles (the tiny ones with the mesh, don't know the technical term) * fuel tank was removed and the in-tank fuel filter mechanism and fuel pump were cleaned up with thinner. * fuel rails cleaned up. after this the car became more responsive yet the problem remained. the gearbox mount was the next one to be changed as the mount was pretty badly damaged (refer my previous post) but as per the mechanics the other two mounts are not that bad and didn't need replacement second trial on the road revealed that the vibration increased a little after changing the gearbox mount. Later the mechanics were claiming that it could be an issue with the steering mechanism and the vibration is travelling from the engine through the steering mechanism to the body and the dash. at this point i was fed up and having spent 7 hours at the garage i thought of calling it a day. now with my observations. i feel that the vibrations are originating from the gearbox. i did the following and this is what i found out. When holding on to the brake and engaging D the vibration goes up to a noticeable level, when engaging R (reverse) vibration is twice as much (as if the whole car is going to fall apart), and when in N the car is as quite as a mouse. Experts! need your input! I'm totally lost.

Looks like the verdict is to go for new one's... thanks for the reply guys..

Hi All, I'm having issues in the car with regards to motor mounts (engine mounts), when accelerating and letting go of the gas pedal there is a thud and when there are more passengers the car tends to vibrate alot, i have identified that the mounts are pretty bad (previous owners have plugged in some nails to the mount to help clear the gaps ) i have checked with the genuine parts dealers and for all three it would set me back around 30K, where as the garage mechanic suggested to remove the rubber bush and get them replaced with new one's (from panchi, apparently they do that there) which would cost me lot less. So my question is should i go for brand new? or should i go with replacing the rubber? will i end up paying again for the new ones? has anyone here replaced rubber only and had good results? Thanks in advance!

Hi All, I'm having issues in the car with regards to motor mounts (engine mounts), when accelerating and letting go of the gas pedal there is a thud and when there are more passengers the car tends to vibrate alot, i have identified that the mounts are pretty bad (previous owners have plugged in some nails to the mount to help clear the gaps ) i have checked with the genuine parts dealers and for all three it would set me back around 30K, where as the garage mechanic suggested to remove the rubber bush and get them replaced with new one's (from panchi, apparently they do that there) which would cost me lot less. So my question is should i go for brand new? or should i go with replacing the rubber? will i end up paying again for the new ones? has anyone here replaced rubber only and had good results? Thanks in advance! I'v posted this back again in the mechanical problems forum. Peri you can delete this since no one has answered yet.

Well JD to add to this once i rented a car from a car rental joint. and the owner said the car that i choose is having a full tank of petrol and i would have to pay for that too. i was like 'doh' who pumps full tank when they return a car to the rental? he said a senior cop took it before me and returned the car with a full tank and asked the rental owner to reduce the rental fees. you get some fantastic MF's in these government offices.