Idle problem CURE!!!!!!!! Finally!!
New Member
Joined: 09-17-08
Posts: 46
Likes: 1
From: Phoenix Arizona
I had done this to my car and it helped a quite a bit but it still idles up and down when i first start it in the morning, especially when i turn the a/c on. Other times it'll do it at some random time while I'm at a stop or if I'm just parked it randomly starts idleing up and down. Anybody think it may have something to do with the a/c coming on, like the ecu trying to compensate for the extra strain on the engine maybe??
New Member
Joined: 10-02-10
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: River$ide, CA
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.
Anywho, I bought TB cleaner (3.99), took it apart, cleaned the s**t outta it (It was more dirty-er that a 20 dollar h**ker hahaha) and SHAZZAM back to normal! I had to replace the tiny hose, no biggie. Thanks again Angel!!
New Member
Joined: 11-04-10
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
From: michigan
Please I need some help.......
First i apologize for replying to this post with a different question, but for some reason i cannot make a new thread with my question. I dont know if this is because I am a new member or not. anyways i will make this as short as possible.
My car is a 2006 sup charged..
I am new to this forum of course and a new owner to the cobalt ss/sc
I have had the car for about a week now and i am having a check engine light which is throwing off 3 different codes. codes--- p0017,p0068, and p0300.
So the mechanic told me to do a tune up, which i did and it did nothing.
I dont know who had the car before me so i do not know what mods are on the car or at least to what i see right now. The car only idles once in a while but when i sit at a light i can feel the car shaking and when i open the hood the engine is shaking as well. And when i push the car hard usualy on 2nd or 3rd gear the car will display reduce power and eventualy make me pull over to the side. I have to shut it down and wait a few minutes for it to reset it itself before i turn it on again.
Some of the mods that were on the car when i bought it"
---Injen intake
---billet-flow pulley 2.900 red in color.
I am not sure about the injectors if they are stock or not, but i can see the color is lime green on them>>
Since then i have added a megan exhaust myself.
The car is boosting 20lbs when i push it hard which scares me. I have cleaned the throttle out and there was some oil there as well.
Every mechanic keeps telling me different things im so confused and i dont know much about this car. IF anyone can help me or point me in a directions i would really appreciate it.... I live in the metro detroit area but im in the dearbon heights area if anyone would like to meet up...
My car is a 2006 sup charged..
I am new to this forum of course and a new owner to the cobalt ss/sc
I have had the car for about a week now and i am having a check engine light which is throwing off 3 different codes. codes--- p0017,p0068, and p0300.
So the mechanic told me to do a tune up, which i did and it did nothing.
I dont know who had the car before me so i do not know what mods are on the car or at least to what i see right now. The car only idles once in a while but when i sit at a light i can feel the car shaking and when i open the hood the engine is shaking as well. And when i push the car hard usualy on 2nd or 3rd gear the car will display reduce power and eventualy make me pull over to the side. I have to shut it down and wait a few minutes for it to reset it itself before i turn it on again.
Some of the mods that were on the car when i bought it"
---Injen intake
---billet-flow pulley 2.900 red in color.
I am not sure about the injectors if they are stock or not, but i can see the color is lime green on them>>
Since then i have added a megan exhaust myself.
The car is boosting 20lbs when i push it hard which scares me. I have cleaned the throttle out and there was some oil there as well.
Every mechanic keeps telling me different things im so confused and i dont know much about this car. IF anyone can help me or point me in a directions i would really appreciate it.... I live in the metro detroit area but im in the dearbon heights area if anyone would like to meet up...
First i apologize for replying to this post with a different question, but for some reason i cannot make a new thread with my question. I dont know if this is because I am a new member or not. anyways i will make this as short as possible.
My car is a 2006 sup charged..
I am new to this forum of course and a new owner to the cobalt ss/sc
I have had the car for about a week now and i am having a check engine light which is throwing off 3 different codes. codes--- p0017,p0068, and p0300.
So the mechanic told me to do a tune up, which i did and it did nothing.
I dont know who had the car before me so i do not know what mods are on the car or at least to what i see right now. The car only idles once in a while but when i sit at a light i can feel the car shaking and when i open the hood the engine is shaking as well. And when i push the car hard usualy on 2nd or 3rd gear the car will display reduce power and eventualy make me pull over to the side. I have to shut it down and wait a few minutes for it to reset it itself before i turn it on again.
Some of the mods that were on the car when i bought it"
---Injen intake
---billet-flow pulley 2.900 red in color.
I am not sure about the injectors if they are stock or not, but i can see the color is lime green on them>>
Since then i have added a megan exhaust myself.
The car is boosting 20lbs when i push it hard which scares me. I have cleaned the throttle out and there was some oil there as well.
Every mechanic keeps telling me different things im so confused and i dont know much about this car. IF anyone can help me or point me in a directions i would really appreciate it.... I live in the metro detroit area but im in the dearbon heights area if anyone would like to meet up...
My car is a 2006 sup charged..
I am new to this forum of course and a new owner to the cobalt ss/sc
I have had the car for about a week now and i am having a check engine light which is throwing off 3 different codes. codes--- p0017,p0068, and p0300.
So the mechanic told me to do a tune up, which i did and it did nothing.
I dont know who had the car before me so i do not know what mods are on the car or at least to what i see right now. The car only idles once in a while but when i sit at a light i can feel the car shaking and when i open the hood the engine is shaking as well. And when i push the car hard usualy on 2nd or 3rd gear the car will display reduce power and eventualy make me pull over to the side. I have to shut it down and wait a few minutes for it to reset it itself before i turn it on again.
Some of the mods that were on the car when i bought it"
---Injen intake
---billet-flow pulley 2.900 red in color.
I am not sure about the injectors if they are stock or not, but i can see the color is lime green on them>>
Since then i have added a megan exhaust myself.
The car is boosting 20lbs when i push it hard which scares me. I have cleaned the throttle out and there was some oil there as well.
Every mechanic keeps telling me different things im so confused and i dont know much about this car. IF anyone can help me or point me in a directions i would really appreciate it.... I live in the metro detroit area but im in the dearbon heights area if anyone would like to meet up...
Good luck
Junior Member
Joined: 10-16-10
Posts: 476
Likes: 0
From: Huntsville, AL
Thanks for this thread!! I was having issues with my 07 SS/SC. I clean the TB and the front part of the S/C. No more idle problems. I reset the computer and no more CEL and she is running like a beast now. :thumbs:
I'm pretty sure you'd be outflowing stock injectors with a 2.9" Pulley..
Joel
New Member
Joined: 09-16-07
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: cincinnati oh
the idle problem is from dirty throttle body and line running to and from S/C. clean these very good. My 06 ss/sc has 98000 miles and form about 60000 miles it started to act up. The idle would cycle until you come to a stop, tap the gas after stopped and your rpms will level out with no cycling. clean hose running from intake that is close to throttle body and clean all the way back to where it ends at the valve cover. since i fixed it it still cycles ' not as bad" and the idle falls back to were it needs to be., and most important is does'nt stall anymore. I would recommend doing every 25-30k miles. to solve the idleing cycling, there is an interupt that is sold to solve any idle problems completely. I have an intense stage 4 w/a 2.6 pulley, 60lbs injectors, cold air intake, dual pass endplate, twin intercoolers and many others. when i put this stuff on is when i started having idle issues, due to the larger injectors. remember that this fix will cost you nothing but carb & choke cleaner and of course a little time. My first time doing this on my car and was done in an 1/2hr. runs just like new...in fact better because my cobalt has just over 400hp...double that of stock. and it runs exceptional .
Senior Member
Joined: 05-30-10
Posts: 827
Likes: 1
From: va beach
i have a question ok so when anyone is reving their engine say you rev it all the way to redline right
and then it drops back to idle but then it will rev up by itself to about 1500-2500 for a few seconds and then drop back down to idle
has anyone ever experienced this?
and then it drops back to idle but then it will rev up by itself to about 1500-2500 for a few seconds and then drop back down to idle
has anyone ever experienced this?
Senior Member
Joined: 03-13-10
Posts: 959
Likes: 0
From: beckley, West virginia
i have a question ok so when anyone is reving their engine say you rev it all the way to redline right
and then it drops back to idle but then it will rev up by itself to about 1500-2500 for a few seconds and then drop back down to idle
has anyone ever experienced this?
and then it drops back to idle but then it will rev up by itself to about 1500-2500 for a few seconds and then drop back down to idle
has anyone ever experienced this?
i have a question ok so when anyone is reving their engine say you rev it all the way to redline right
and then it drops back to idle but then it will rev up by itself to about 1500-2500 for a few seconds and then drop back down to idle
has anyone ever experienced this?
and then it drops back to idle but then it will rev up by itself to about 1500-2500 for a few seconds and then drop back down to idle
has anyone ever experienced this?
Senior Member
Joined: 05-30-10
Posts: 827
Likes: 1
From: va beach
haha yea i took mine into the dealer for some maintenance and they told me they were going to clean the throttle body and the injectors im not sure if i paid for the throttle body but the injector cleaning kit was 40 bucks so idk so you just remove the throttle body completely and you spray the stuff in and clean it lightly with say a rag? so it should basically look clean metal right? and then that should go away huh
so just today i find this old ass thread haha. anyway. im driving home from maybe 40 minutes away from my home town and theres an accident on the highway so i have to get off. i stop in traffic and everytime i move up a little the idle went from close to 500rpm to 1300rpm back and forth then stabalized at the normal close too 1000rpm. i had noticed this problem before and just figured it was the throttle body stabalizing because of some reason i didnt know so it didnt bother me much. but it didnt bother me the other times because it wasnt that bad. but the time today was bad. it scared me. i could hear the car almost stalling as i listened. so now that i read this holy f man. its happenin. just wish it wasnt 20 degrees outside. and this crap is getting cleaned every 3000 miles with my oil changes. its goin to become a normal maintanace thing now. thanks for this thread and all the comments guys. this sort of stuff is what this site is made for.
Mine only started doing that when I put bigger injectors in. I got a boost reference fuel pressure regulator and had to have Vince from trifecta tune mY idle surge out. But now the surging is gone. However, my throttle body did go COMPLETELY out on me about a year and a half ago. It would kick me into "reduced power mode" in which I could barely get the car to accelerate. I thought is was just the cleaning thing too but after I cleaned it, the problem was still there. I replaced the throttle body and problem solved. So basically I am agreeing with everyone in saying that our cars do have throttle body issues.
New Member
Joined: 06-06-08
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: new york
Where has your logic been all my life
ok ive had this problem for damn near 2 years you wana talk insane i jumped off the bridge a while ago over this sh**. But back to you and our new found love i did exactily what you said, before i sent it to get the idle modjual fixed cuz thats what my mechanic said it was. what do ya no, im sorry, i dont even have words for how good it feels to stop at a light and it dosent sound like im running a giant cam. oh and my new catalytic converter loves you to cuz i had this problem so long im going on my third and chevy couldent find the problem they just rebooted the computer to stock mode to no avail anyway im just rambling now YOU ARE THE FUC**** MAN or woman i dont no screen names are misleading now a days but what ever you are your the sh** and if your in ny drop me a thread i owe u a drink or somthing
New Member
Joined: 10-28-09
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
From: New York
Mine only started doing that when I put bigger injectors in. I got a boost reference fuel pressure regulator and had to have Vince from trifecta tune mY idle surge out. But now the surging is gone. However, my throttle body did go COMPLETELY out on me about a year and a half ago. It would kick me into "reduced power mode" in which I could barely get the car to accelerate. I thought is was just the cleaning thing too but after I cleaned it, the problem was still there. I replaced the throttle body and problem solved. So basically I am agreeing with everyone in saying that our cars do have throttle body issues.
New Member
Joined: 03-14-08
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
From: Orlando, FL
I have a 2006 2.2 LS that has had an idle bounce problem for the last few months and have tried a few things. new air filter and new spark plugs hadnt worked so i looked at what others have done. in the end, pulling my intake manifold mass airflow sensor off and cleaning them was all i needed. took me 45min and $23, well worth the benefit! Thanks for the advice.
New Member
Joined: 01-09-10
Posts: 117
Likes: 0
From: Aurora, IL
After reading thru this thread I'm finding a couple things I'd like to explore. I have had this issuse ever since I added the K&N cai to my lsj. Now I'm going to clean out the tb real good and see how it does. My questions are about the catch can idea to help prevent this and the "interupt" that has been mentioned here. What are these fixes? how is a catch can going to help this idle problem. I come from a bike racing background and the "catch can" is something that sits in the underbelly of a sport bike to catch any fluids that may leak out of the bike, it's just to keep the fluids from spilling out on the race track. So for this application I"m not sure what a catch can would do to prevent gunk from collecting in the tb. I have no idea what this "interupt" thing is that was mentioned?
New Member
Joined: 01-09-10
Posts: 117
Likes: 0
From: Aurora, IL
why shouldn't we use MAF or carb cleaner to clean the MAF and TB? doesn't it make sense to use a cleaner designed for this application?
