1.7 480 ES Idle

[hmj]

I have an idle problem with my 480 ES and was wondering if anyone knew what it might be. When I have been driving and slow down to a roundabout or traffic light or something the revs drop, but instead of levelling at 900 they drop to practically nothing, and then oscillate until they settle at 900. This is especially a problem because occasionally they get so low the engine cuts (and the power steering locks!).

If anyone has had the same problem and knows what it is I'd love to hear from you, as I really need to fix it.

Thanks,

Henry

[Baffler]

Hello Henry,

I had a similar idle problem when I had my ES. I removed my trottle body and cleaned the butterfly valve with some carb cleaner and an old tooth brush. It was encrusted with carbon deposit's, therefore it would not allow the valve to close fully, hence, the erratic idle...

Hope this helps, good luck...

[Cougar 27]

Agree with above statement, did the same thing. I also put 97Ron Super in and gave it a good run ! .... seemed to do the trick ....

[JimAitken]

I had to do exactly the same thing every Summer to my 440. I watched my garage do it the first time while I was waiting for a lift. They used brake cleaning fluid under pressure.

Jim

[JimAitken]

Sods Law... after posting my previous message a few days ago, I got exactly the same problem this morning on my 480. Before I started cleaning the throttle, I wiggled the AirMass controller plug while the engine was mis-behaving and guess what... it fixed it. I then switched off, and cleaned the electrical connections properly and it's now running beautifully again.