GUIDE: Removing and cleaning the idle control valve (ICV)

[Baffler]

Originally Posted by keithyboy

It never ceases to amaze me how us amateurs can often write better guides than HBOL.

You may be on to something there Keithyboy! I'm off to the patient office with this lot

[mistmover]

cheers m8 have taken it off,and the result is very dirty,oily sooty build up,so im gonna clean this ,hopefully problem solved.if not i'll b back in touch...thanks very much....Daz

[ITSv40]

Mine has ticked over at 500rpm for a long time but never stalled. I have just had the head off for the first time since new - 260000mls - and find the tickover is now 450rpm without the aircon on. If the aircon is switched on it stalls. Everytime the battery is disconnected the idling is eratic for about 150mls untill the shortterm memory is restored and then it's fine, but this time not so.

I have just cleaned the idle control valve for the first time and found it completely gummed up - the plunger had a job to move. The plunger is now clean and free to move and tickover is 700rpm with or without the aircon on. The drivability is now compltely transformed. Thanks for the guide. Ian.

[manoman48]

glad my guide has helped so many people. thank you to all those who have taken the time to leave replies.

[s40lpg]

My car has the same problem but not as bad as some of the other members have reported, my car is a 2002 phase 2 1.8 bi-fuel non gdi engine, can anyone tell me if it has an idle control valve and if the same method is used for cleaning it, i have had a look at my car and it looks slightly different to the pictures shown on this thread.

Many thanks

[louis71]

The air-con on mine has annoyingly been playing havoc with my tick over for a good few months now, just cleaned the ICV and problem has gone completely.

Many Thanks manoman48 :-)

[bretturbo72]

Hi chaps have just cleaned my ICV , and OMG the amount of crud that came out of it, it was black . It now idles much better and the rev's now dont drop when i put the air con on.
Thanks for a great guide !
And i've also fitted a K&N air filter and removed the foam from the airbox (tinkering with cars rules)

[pringle_addict]

Did mine this evening.

100,000 miles of crud.....

Before


After

[DaveSV40]

Here's mine (152k)-

Before:



After:



It's made a noticeable improvement to performance; it idles better, and doesn't stutter so much at low revs. I say noticeable, but my wife uses the car more than me-she won't notice any difference!

[amarshe]

Just done this with my 1999 S40, and it's now idling perfectly - no more shuddering or drop in revs when the air-con is switched on. Thanks for putting this guide up! Took me only 15 minutes.

One point I should make is that on mine only the throttle casing needs to be removed (ICV is in the same place) which is only one T30 nut, however be careful pulling the housing back as the other two nuts are plastic and I managed to snap one. No big problem as it's still secure.