Alero :: Idle Down To 500 - 750 RPMs After Being Stopped Dead Still For 2 To 3 Seconds
Jul 27, 2006
I bought a 1999 Olds Alero. I bought it because I've always had good luck with Oldsmobiles, I've had a '91 Cutlass Calais, '89 and '92 Eighty-Eight, '86 Ninety-Eight, and an '84 Cutlass Supreme. All great cars. But I digress.
The car runs superbly when driving, but it idles down to 500-750 rpms after being stopped dead still for about 2-3 seconds. Fuel economy is not really what I expected, but I do not know what its supposed to get. I've been measuring it religiously and it gets 22-26 mpg depending on how much traffic I run it through.
I was told the engine (2.4L Twin Cam) was replaced. The car has 106k miles on it. I have replaced the spark plugs and their connectors, replaced the throttle body and Throttle Position Sensor, Idle Air Control Valve, and fixed misc. vacuum leaks. I have also replaced the air filter, and oil change. The car used to stall after it idled down, now it continues to run, but still the idle problem persists. I've been told a myriad of things from the Catalytic Convertor, The Fuel Regulator, Balance Shaft Bearing failure or shaft breakage. Does any of this sound like it could be the mystery problem?
At idle, you can move the throttle just enough to get it to idle at 1000-1200 rpms and it seems to like running there. Can't figure out why it idles down so low.
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I have a 1997 Saturn, and have noticed for the past couple of months that when the car is idling at a stoplight, the engine seems to rev or almost skip a little bit. The RPMs go from about 1000 down to 500 for a couple of seconds, and this will happen once every 10 seconds or so. Otherwise, it runs fine...but this is happening more and more frequently than it used to.
I had the transmission rebuilt over the summer and its still under warranty. What might be causing this?
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I recently purchased a used Camry XLE V6 with 90,000km on the engine. Soon after I bought it I noticed when I was stopped at a light the engine rpm's would increase for a few seconds at a time every 20 seconds or so. It was enough to make the car move forward slightly if my foot was on the brake lightly. I spent some time trying to re-create it at home, and it seems to do it consistently when the A/C is on, although some times it is more noticeable than others. It will do it when in park, or in drive with the brake on. The low (base) rpm is around 650 and it will increase to 950. It does this over and over as long as the AC is on. The rpm's will also increase if I turn the steering wheel when I am at a stop, but it only does it when I turn the wheel, it doesn't keep cycling. There are no check engine lights showing either.
I changed the air filter and cleaned the throttle body butterfly valve flap (not the entire throttle body) but it did not fix it. I also brought it to a Toyota dealer and they took it for a drive, but of course it did not show the systems as clearly that day. I didn't book an actual appointment with the mechanic though, since the car is running great otherwise and this problem is not bad enough to start throwing money at it doing problem solving. I also asked the guy I bought it from and he said it always did this from day one. If it were me I would have been making my dealer resolve it because it is not normal.
If I could fix this one very annoying issue the car would be perfect. I'm not sure if I need to do a full throttle body cleaning including the idle air control valve, or if this is more about the load on the engine and the way the computer/engine is responding to it.
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Random rough idle about every 30 seconds at low 700s (rpms) and it'll bounce up and down a little. The code was p1515 (No CEL or other lights have come on yet) which is something about the intake manifold valve and there is an air-shooting noise that is pretty loud but just sounds like air that's being lost somewhere like maybe a leak and that happens when i rev right before you can hear the engine rev the air/shooting noise occurs. I don't really think I'm losing power but I got the car recently so maybe I am and don't notice it. If this is a common leak or something with the intake manifold valve let me know,
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My '03 7.3 is "surging" on idle. When warmed up, and idling, the RPMs will drop by 300 or 400 for a few seconds and then will correct and shoot back up. It cycles like this (every 5 seconds-ish) continually . I just put in a new IDM and checked the UVCH - is there a separate idle control mechanism that I need to have a look at? (2003, 7.3, 214K, stock).
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I have done everything I can think of to this car. New; plugs, wires, distributor, battery, fuel pump, fuel filter, relay, and electrical lines to fuel pump. The timing belt is fine. The car has a rough idle and when I am stopped the RPM's drop below normal. Now it won't start. What can I try now?
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At the beginning December I put my brand new winter tires (general altimax arctics) on the factory steelies and put them on the car gearing up for the snow. Not to long after the install I notice that I was getting a very strong engine vibration starting at 3,000 rpms and it stopped around 3,100 rpms no matter what gear I was in. At first I though it maybe just the cold affecting the engine. Well...
Last week I put my summer rims and tires back on for the 1,600 mile trip to MO and back, and like magic, no more heavy vibrations. Smooth acceleration throughout the normal driving rpm range. I just changed the oil and tranny fluids Tuesday after we got back and with the warmer weather the car is running smooth as silk. Still an awesome car with awesome mileage and couldn't be happier.
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I have a 2000 Alero w/ 2.4 103,000 miles auto. I have been trying to fix a problem for about 3 months. It all started one night when i got stuck in my backyard in about a foot if mud. I thought i could drive it out, but when the wheels would spin and traction control would limit the rpms. After getting out the car would skip every now and then going up an incline at highway speeds in 4th gear (drive) then it would skip while idling. I could get it to run smooth if i hit the pedal and made it shift to 3rd. I drive this car daily and the problem has got worse slowly. Now its hard to crank and when it does there is a small amount of white smoke with strong gas smell while the motor spudders for about 10 secs.
It will finally "clear" up and still misfire every few secs or just cut off. Gas mileage is terrible between 15-18mpg. The engine light and trac off light has only been on twice. Both times the code was for random misfire of multiple cylinders. I have put plugs, boots (wires), distributor, 2 fuel processor regulator, seafoam, all octanes of gas, pulled injectors (looked ok a little dirty but still could be one) and I have ordered ignition control module. Its getting hard to drive and even harder to sell. It has just started the white smoke and gas smell and i think its that's the pressure regulator, but the skipping and rough idle....
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As I drove down the freeway tonite all the dash lighting and gauges went dead for 2 seconds then it all came back to life. After every thing came back on the clock had been reset to 12:00 and all of the info in trip computer had been reset. Could this be a symptom of a bigger problem? What should I be looking for?
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When I first got my car it had a flat spot while driving hard at higher rpms. Almost as if something were actually holding the car back, it would pull nice up to that spot and then just almost die off. I eventually got unitronic flash and it seemed better but it was still doing it. Later companies started coming out with dsg flashes and this seemed to be the remedy but I now have hpa dsg flash and it still does it from time to to time. Could this be a faulty coilpack, or an issue with the intake manifold valve that changes over at higher rpms?
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I've got a 90 240 DL that stopped dead and won't restart. Hit it with starter fluid and it fires off, but stops. Had no way of testing fuel pressure, so replaced in-line pump. Tank pump runs, can hear it through filler opening. Problem persists, even with new pump and filter. Pulled vac line to FPR but no gas leaks there. Also, new plugs, distributor cap and rotor, new air filter. Pulled MAF sensor plug, still no start. Checked FP relay (also spare) and jumped FP relay to test. No go. Where do I go now? Should I check computer codes? Replace FP regulator, crank sensor? Everything? Can the on-board computer be bad?
Trying to find a path to go on since the new pump seems to give plenty of pressure.
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My father in law has an '04 Explorer with the 4.0. He tells me he was coming home from an errand and it stopped dead, like the fuel shut off. I checked the inertia switch and it was ok. He replaced the fuel pump but that didnt fix it either. His description is as follows: when he turns the key, it will start, run about 2 seconds, if that, and shut off. It will not restart, if you want to call it that, unless it sits for a 1/2 hour or so. Then it's the same thing all over again.
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On start up (Engine cold) my rpm goes to 1200 for about 30 seconds then settles to 650, is this normal ?
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I drove my daughter's Dodge Neon last night and found that when I'm on the highway, the RPM goes up slightly every few seconds. I had about 30 minutes of driving until I was home so I tried to figure out if my speed had anything to do with it.
It doesn't happen when I decelerate or am at an idle. When I'm on a flat stretch of highway and using the gas pedal, the RPMs will increase. I didn't notice the feel of the engine changing, I heard the engine speed up a bit.
What kind of problem is this? The car has 109,000 miles on it.
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As I am driving everything goes dead radio, windows, dash, alarms, everything then turns on a usually 30 seconds later. is it a ground? is it a sensor that's getting to warm? is it a loose wire? where should I start??
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Got my oil changed on my 2009 Honda Odyssey at one of those cheap places. They also changed the air filter. Four miles later my engine seized up and the car stopped dead. I called them and they came right out. I did not watch them check the oil. They claimed it was full of oil and tried to start the poor thing about 20 more times--each time with my engine jumping and sounding terrible. I had it towed to their shop where they told me this morning that the van is running fine and "there must have been an air pocket in the throttle body". Is this BS? What do I do now? I have two kids and I can't afford to have another roadside drama. Is the engine going to blow up on me in a month? I have not yet picked up the van from the shop.
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While waiting at a stop light my car totally died, there were no warning lights, the car is a 2011 Subaru forester with 52,000 km. I had it pushed off the road, tried to restart it with jump cables but it would not turn over. I noticed an odd burning smell when I opened the hood. There were rat tracks on top of the engine area. I had the battery pulled out and replaced with another fully charged but it did not make a difference.
After sitting for two days, I restarted the car and the engine managed to turn over but very very rough, a mechanic thought there was something loose in the engine. I currently live in Mexico and closest subaru dealership is 5 hours away. I will need to get it towed there but I would like to have some idea of what it may be, my thought is somehow a wire got chewed off but I had driven it about 20 miles that morning and then it just stopped dead.
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I have a code scanner which indicated that I should change the MAP sensor. I did that, and just for fun changed the idle air control valve and throttle position sensor. Now the idle is extremely smooth in park or neutral, but once I'm in a moving gear it's up to the same shenanigans, antics and tomfoolery I described in my original post: 96 Dakota SLT idles rough & stalls. So I have a 96 Dodge Dakota SLT 3.9 4WD. Anyway, it idles relatively smoothly at about 700 RPM in drive or neutral, but if I'm in a moving gear and need to stop, the idle is extremely rough. Usually, the RPM's will drop to near 0 within about 20 seconds of coming to a stop. It will typically recover and continue with rough idling and near stalling a few times, but within a minute or two it stalls. A few additional details: it starts right up again after falling, it doesn't make any difference if I start it cold and drive immediately or drive it for an hour before coming to a stop, the same thing happens. Anything that looked suspicious to me has been changed (drivebelt, spark plugs & wires, distributor cap & rotor, pcv valve, idle air control valve, and, of course, the air freshener).
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Triton 4.6, new air filter, throttle body cleaned, new fuel filter. Seems sluggish off idle, and when I let off accelerator, rpm's take a few seconds to come down. If the truck is setting still, a quick hit on the throttle takes a second for the engine to build rpm's.
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I have a 2002 F150 5.4 2 valve. only when the engine is cold, everyone once in a while the engine will surge up and down about 2-300 RPMs for about 10 seconds. also right when I put it in drive it will surge. I was thinking about pulling off the trottle body and cleaning it.
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We just got our 2012 Camry XLE about 1 month ago. Today, the smart key push start didn't work; the brake pedal seemed like it was seized, but the green (key) light did manage to come on, indicating it knew the key was there. When I pressed the start, all of the dash lights were flickering, but the car wouldn't start. Was towed to the dealer, who ran a diagnostic that indicated the battery had failed (the options for the diagnostic are pass, charge, and fail). They installed a new battery and it seems fine.
One of the doors wasn't completely closed overnight - would this have caused the battery to be done? I could see if it caused the battery to drain, requiring a boost / charge.
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