Woohoo - Its alive, BUT...

[Tom]

Re the idle speed, the motor is getting extra air somewhere. When you say the idle control valve (aka ISV) is disconnected -- do you mean the electrical plug is removed or the hoses too? If you haven't already, I'd completely block off the ISV ports on the intake and on the pipe in front of the throttle body. With those 100% blocked off, and the throttle body completely closed, the motor should be getting virtually no air, so if it is still running fast after that, I'd start looking for vacuum/intake leaks.

[Drscottsmith]

Thanks Tom -

Re: ICV, it is unplugged but in place. All lines are connected. I will have to look around and see if something has come loose somewhere.

[Tom]

Since the lines (hoses) are connected with the electrical plug removed, the valve inside is floating/open. When that valve is open, you are essentially bypassing the throttle body and allowing air directly into the intake manifold through the ISV hoses. That's a lot of air. Do this: remove the ISV hose that goes to the pipe in front of the throttle body, and put your thumb over end of that rubber hose and the port it came off of, or otherwise block them with a cork or dowel, etc. (One trick to temporarily block it off is to remove the hose, put a thick baggie over the port, and then put the hose back on -- thereby ensuring no air can pass through the hose.) However you do it, once that hose is blocked, that should cut off the air that is currently bypassing the throttle body, and the rpms should do down (and may actually kill the motor if the throttle body is totally closed). Assuming that brings the idle down, then that's the issue. You can block off that hose for now, or set up the ISV in the software to actually do it's job (and throttle body with the screw on top under the probably missing yellow cap).

To help visualize, here's a very old Youtube I did when helping someone test their ISV. With that valve open or partially open, air is flowing directly into the port on the side of the intake (creating a fast idle).

[Drscottsmith]

Tom

That makes sense. I will make those adjustments and give it another try. I did not realize the ICV worked that way.

I decided to pull the plugs to see what I could infer after a little bit of operation. Open to opinions here. I suspected the rich running but am wondering about 2 and 4 which seem less sooty.

They are L to R 1-2-3-4 and individual pics are in order 1-2-3-4.

Thanks all!

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[Drscottsmith]

Better pic of 4…

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[Tom]

Hard to say with so few miles, etc. However, I'd strongly recommend switching over to cheap copper plugs -- either Bosch WR-7 DC+ or NGK BPR-6ES or (7ES if you run extra boost). These motors do much better on basic copper plugs for some reason. Also, do you have a wideband? If you are planning to tune the car yourself, a good wideband is an absolute must.... It tells you exactly where you stand, rather than trying to infer from plugs, etc.

[Bergerac]

Definitely invest in a wideband, the Autotune feature is really quite good.

Is there a reason you're not using the ISV? You can set it to a fixed opening position based on coolant temp until you get your idle fuel/ignition right.

[Drscottsmith]

Yes I have a Wideband up and running. I guess I had in my mind that I could be seeing some variation in cylinder to cylinder operation that the WB would not necessarily tell me (since it is looking at the entire combustion process across all 4). As usual I am probably not up to speed yet on what I am looking at!

I will take some readings over the weekend with the engine running from the WB - especially once I get the idle down to a manageable level.

I was using the keep it simple model (or trying to) since this is a fresh engine AND a new ECI setup so I thought by turning everything off I would be able to focus with less variables at lease to get a solid idle. I can definitely plug the ICV back in and get it set in a fixed idle position for troubleshooting.

[Drscottsmith]

With regard to the ICV actually working properly, if I were to introduce it now, what do my settings page need to look like? I am using the stock 3-wire iCV with the little electronic mod with transistors introducing a forced "off" state (I believe I am saying that correctly).

Can someone screenshot or describe the settings? I am not at home right now and can't load the screenshot of my actual version of the PWM ICV screen setup.

Thanks-

[Tom]

Yes I have a Wideband up and running. I guess I had in my mind that I could be seeing some variation in cylinder to cylinder operation that the WB would not necessarily tell me (since it is looking at the entire combustion process across all 4). As usual I am probably not up to speed yet on what I am looking at!

I will take some readings over the weekend with the engine running from the WB - especially once I get the idle down to a manageable level.

I was using the keep it simple model (or trying to) since this is a fresh engine AND a new ECI setup so I thought by turning everything off I would be able to focus with less variables at lease to get a solid idle. I can definitely plug the ICV back in and get it set in a fixed idle position for troubleshooting.

Understood on the plugs. Just not sure how much you can surmise from them after a few fresh motor start ups. I'd say for now, focus on getting the motor to run at 800-900 rpm with the O2 sensor working to keep the AFR dithering around 14.7. Until you really know that ECU and know it's set up right, I wouldn't trust it to close the ISV -- that's just another variable that may or may not be working right (and your 2k idle suggests it's not). To your point about keeping it simple, I'd just block off the ISV hoses for now and work on a nice idle, then try to get the ISV set up and working.