VX Idle speed valve

I have had idle problems with a Cavalier with the same engine as yours for years. I never really got to the bottom of it even with the dealers looking and independents. I have had several idle valves, throttle body cleans and modifications. It goes away for a while but always returned. I also know of several other people suffering the same problems with these particular engines. I bought a new car in the end. You can have a look at

or for detailed guides on how to clean the idle valve/throttle body and a general understanding of the problem. But to be honest I used to clean the idle valve/throttle body at first but it always returns got a new valve and modification from Vauxhall which supposedly cures it and it returned again and again. Interestingly enough my father has a vectra with an affected engine and he has had no problems.

Hope this helps and good luck !!!

Richard

onVauxhalls - the

Yes they can be cleaned and should be,periodically. Use a can of Carb/Injector cleaner, bought from Halfords, and spray liberally. Not WD40 as this gets sticky.

It's best to get the idle control valve off the car to give it a thorough clean. If it's similar to my Carlton then it's not all that difficult. It should come away with 2 hoses attached to it - one that you detach from under the big air pipe leading from the air filter box to the throttle body and one from a stub on the throttle body itself. Don't forget to detach the wiring from the top (one end) of the ICV.

When it's off the car you will see that the opposite end to the terminals is recessed. Removing the hoses will reveal what seems to be cylynder inside the body itself. If you carefully use a screwdriver in the recessed end, you can rotate the disc in there and you will see the cylinder rotate and open up. By now, everything should be obvious. Squirt copious amounts of carb cleaner inside the opening and everywhere that looks dirty. Squirt it through the hoses. If it hasn't been done before you should get streams of black fluid dripping all over the place.

Whilst you're at it, use the cleaner inside the the throttle body. Wipe everything off with rag. You might be pleasantly surprised at how clean things look now.

Detach the breather pipe completely and flood with carb cleaner. Lots of gunge will probably come out. Don't squirt any into the stub on the cam cover. Carb cleaner dissolves oil wonderfully - as you will have found out by now.

Re-assemble and try.

Hope this helps.

Raymond

Different engine and idle valve I think. I believe the original posters engine is a X20XEV ecotec. So subsequently has a deeper problem than just a cleaning the idle valve/throttle body. It is a design problem on the Ecotecs that has a service bulletin and so called fix from Vauxhall. It involves replacing the idle valve, cleaning the throttle body, and fitting an oil catcher in one of the pipes from the crankcase and updating the ecu and then reseting it. Even after this in my experience it returns. So cleaning it may cure it for a while but it will come back very quickly. My local Vx dealer says they do a dozen modifications a week.

Richard

Also be careful cleaning the throttle body. I did this once and disturbed the thing and when I started the engine it was revving too high. I had to go to Vx dealers to reset the ECU with subsequent cost.

Richard

Managed to get round to taking a look at it tonight.

Yes it is obviously a different engine to the Carlton, but the process I guess is similar - I guess at least for most recent Vauxhalls. Simple enough job to do, and worth spending a bit of time repeatedly flushing the valve with cleaner - so much dirt came out of it!

Taking it for a quick test-drive tonight, it seems to have made the world of difference - a rock solid idle speed finally. I guess only time will tell how long it'll last. I've had the car over 18 months now - I'll be happy if it lasts another 18 months before it needs doing again. Fingers crossed!

Thanks to both of you for the information!

What am worried about now is the amount of oil round throttle housing, and I'm thinking it could be the cause of the sticking valve. The oil breather appears to have been replaced at some stage using some generic pipe - One end is very ragged as if it's been cut roughly. Should there be any kind of filter on that pipe, or could anything be causing excess oil to be blown through that pipe? Or perhaps it's to be expected on a 1994 70+K engine?

Thanks again.

You can buy a filter from Vx tp prevent the oil from coming out of the crankcase to the rocker area and then to the throttle body via those pipes at the back of the camshaft cover. Here is a place that does them

just go to your local Vx dealer. They should know what you mean. This ispart of the modification I was talking about. Hope you get lucky and the fix works long term.

Richard

Looks good - I was expecting something more costly! As I'm going to play it safe and replace that breather pipe, I think I'll invest in a filter as well.

Thanks again for the advice!

Paul

or just go to your local Vx dealer. They should know what you mean. Thisis

The modification also suggests replacing the pipe at the back of the camshaft cover. Its the thickest of the two where the oil seeps from into the throttle body. I think you'll know which one.

Richard

> or just go to your local Vx dealer. They should know what you mean. This> is

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