Idle problem CURE!!!!!!!! Finally!!
#1
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Idle problem CURE!!!!!!!! Finally!!
Ok, I have been one of the thousands of victims of the horendous idle problem with my 07' Cobalt SS Supercharged. I do have many mods including the Stage 2 upgrade along with the K+N Typhoon Cold Air intake system and exhaust and many more. I noticed shortly after installing the Stage 2 kit that my cars idle was bouncing at idle and the problem got worse and worse to the point whereas I was stalling in traffic. I was forced to basically ride my clutch like nobodys business and it was just plain annoying. Pulling up to a red light and people looking at me thinking I was a young 16 year old wanting to show my ride up cause my rpm was consistentally bouncing from 400-1400. My fuel mileage has progressively gotten worse and it had started to become a safety issue considering I was almost t-boned as I rolled through a downhill stop sign trying to beat traffic but my car stalled again!!!
Anyhow, I am aware that there are many other balt owners out there who are experiencing the same problem as myself and I have seen what others were trying to do to fix this god aweful problem with no prevail. I have been working with the head GM tech in my city here for a while now to see if we could finally put this issue to rest. After months and months of monkeying around and ruling almost everything out except for a possible computer error in the car that wasnt tripping any codes which would be unlikely I thought to remove my throttle body to have a look. Just for the record all of you cobalt owners this is soo simply a blind monkey can remove the throttle body. Simply remove your intake and the throttle body is attached with 4-10mm bolts and 1-Vacuum line and 1-Electrical connector. Once removed I noticed that I had a bit of gunk in the body(not a significant amount and keep in mind my car have only 5k miles on it) but I figured I would give it a good cleaning with a $5 spray can of throttle body cleaner and then clean right around the valve(keep in mind when you open the valve be very gentle when cleaning to avoid any unwanted strain or possible damage). Once this minor operation was finished I reinstalled everything back to normal and fired it up and HOT DAMN!!!! Back to normal baby! Everything is running 100%. No more funky butterfly idle problems and my gas mileage is back to normal.
I cant believe I didnt figure this out long ago but s**t happens I guess. Anyhow, I know many of you are going to be wanting to jump all over this and fix your own problem but read this before you do. I dont like just fixing problems and saying "great its done" I want to know what caused this considering the car is so new with so few miles on it??? Im not 100% sure but I would assume it has alot to do with the filter being mounted so close to the ground and possibly some oil from the K+N filter and mabye some other debris happen to make its way up which would be strang but no impossible. My only possible solution to this rather than doing this cleaning every 5k miles would be for all of us to install oil catch tanks to allow some of this crud to remove itself from the intake and then every once in a while remove the vacuum line on your intake while the car is running and give the hole in the intake a quick spray of the throttle body cleaner.
Ohh and for you wanting to know why this problem was doing what it was doing is simply this - when there is any type of crud or oily compound around your intake valve and the valve may possibly stick a bit the vehicle recognized this and sees that it is sticking so it rushes to correct and overcorrects causing the valve to be opened to much and drops quickly causing the fluctuation from anywhere from a couple hundred rpm to 1500 rpm or so. I hope to god that this helps hundreds if not thousands of other owners out there who have been experiencing this problem because it drives us CRAZY!!! and I was near ready to go buy a gallon of gas and a match if a solution didnt come along right soon. Anyhow, please post replies once this is tried and let me know. I am very very curious as to how many people this is going to help.
Anyhow, I am aware that there are many other balt owners out there who are experiencing the same problem as myself and I have seen what others were trying to do to fix this god aweful problem with no prevail. I have been working with the head GM tech in my city here for a while now to see if we could finally put this issue to rest. After months and months of monkeying around and ruling almost everything out except for a possible computer error in the car that wasnt tripping any codes which would be unlikely I thought to remove my throttle body to have a look. Just for the record all of you cobalt owners this is soo simply a blind monkey can remove the throttle body. Simply remove your intake and the throttle body is attached with 4-10mm bolts and 1-Vacuum line and 1-Electrical connector. Once removed I noticed that I had a bit of gunk in the body(not a significant amount and keep in mind my car have only 5k miles on it) but I figured I would give it a good cleaning with a $5 spray can of throttle body cleaner and then clean right around the valve(keep in mind when you open the valve be very gentle when cleaning to avoid any unwanted strain or possible damage). Once this minor operation was finished I reinstalled everything back to normal and fired it up and HOT DAMN!!!! Back to normal baby! Everything is running 100%. No more funky butterfly idle problems and my gas mileage is back to normal.
I cant believe I didnt figure this out long ago but s**t happens I guess. Anyhow, I know many of you are going to be wanting to jump all over this and fix your own problem but read this before you do. I dont like just fixing problems and saying "great its done" I want to know what caused this considering the car is so new with so few miles on it??? Im not 100% sure but I would assume it has alot to do with the filter being mounted so close to the ground and possibly some oil from the K+N filter and mabye some other debris happen to make its way up which would be strang but no impossible. My only possible solution to this rather than doing this cleaning every 5k miles would be for all of us to install oil catch tanks to allow some of this crud to remove itself from the intake and then every once in a while remove the vacuum line on your intake while the car is running and give the hole in the intake a quick spray of the throttle body cleaner.
Ohh and for you wanting to know why this problem was doing what it was doing is simply this - when there is any type of crud or oily compound around your intake valve and the valve may possibly stick a bit the vehicle recognized this and sees that it is sticking so it rushes to correct and overcorrects causing the valve to be opened to much and drops quickly causing the fluctuation from anywhere from a couple hundred rpm to 1500 rpm or so. I hope to god that this helps hundreds if not thousands of other owners out there who have been experiencing this problem because it drives us CRAZY!!! and I was near ready to go buy a gallon of gas and a match if a solution didnt come along right soon. Anyhow, please post replies once this is tried and let me know. I am very very curious as to how many people this is going to help.
Last edited by REIGN SS; 06-07-2008 at 02:34 PM.
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G5ALIVE (03-13-2019)
#4
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Damn..... I'm gonna have to give this a try. This idle problem has been getting on my nerves for some time now. If this works, you deserve a medal for this thread!!!
#8
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Thread Starter
Guys, if you are having an idle problem this would be the first thing to check. I almost promise that you will love the results and as far as anyone thinking that this is a tough job..Its not. If anything you should have this done within an hour. Good luck and keep me posted.
Have you picked up your TB spacer yet? If so then would you mind on telling me how to get one. Thanks.
Have you picked up your TB spacer yet? If so then would you mind on telling me how to get one. Thanks.
Last edited by Angel; 06-07-2008 at 05:52 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
#9
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oh and thanks for lettin everyone know
#10
dude im going to autozone right now... this has been pissing me off so bad i almost want to hump your leg right now. it has been horrible lately and dies all the time! i love you.
#14
Senior Member
I hate to admit that I didn't think of this being that I run a shop, but I have about 34000 miles on my car and when I took my throttle body off, it was as black as can be. Cleaned it out and the idle issue seems to be gone.
#16
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Humm ill try this to...i thought it was a weather issue. When its cold ( live in ohio) its REALLY bad! Now its warm and it still does it but not as bad. i just has my s/c off yesterday and i did see some nasty in there, and i didnt even think bout cleaning it. I know shoot me!
#18
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#20
this is a bit of what my car sounds like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPZI3Xxjsts
#21
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yeh having the TB serviced is PART OF YOUR REGULAR CAR MAINTENANCE, GUYS!! You should do it whenever you change spark plugs, at the very least. I do mine every few oil changes. Clean or replace the air filter at the same time, it cant hurt... and a TB service at a shop will only run you 15-25 bucks. Its soooo easy though.. Easy to remove, then just hit it with some TB cleaner. voil-ah! =)
This reminds me though.. i need to do it soon on my newest car.
This reminds me though.. i need to do it soon on my newest car.
#24
Senior Member
oo i know wat im doing after work tomorrow, this is so bad, my car stalls everytime i go to a traffic light, not only that it idles so bad. my dad even noticed and asked wat i did to the car. my car i think is the worse with this issue and tomorrow imma clean it out and see if it works.
#25
Senior Member
Thread Starter
oo i know wat im doing after work tomorrow, this is so bad, my car stalls everytime i go to a traffic light, not only that it idles so bad. my dad even noticed and asked wat i did to the car. my car i think is the worse with this issue and tomorrow imma clean it out and see if it works.