Hi,

I have brought one of these as my old one was faulty, the car runs at 2K RPM with it connected (On a cold start of course)! I know a few people have had the exact same issue with them, has anyone found a fix?

With my old valve I get hunting, but it dosen't rev up near as high as the new one is doing, so clearly the new valve is the problem, it is however working and controlling the idle properly just opening to much, seller has E-mailed back saying about modern adaptive ECU's that don't apply to us! Seller will offer a refund but ideally I would like to try and get it working!

I notice the new valve is different in design as well, i.e. I notice the little locknut and spring is in a totally different position as well!

Has anyone else had any experience with them?

Thanks,

Martin

 

With the old one take it apart and remember what bit goes were once you have removed the tiny nut, spring etc etc and clean it out with carb cleaner, and give it a generous soaking in the stuff. That will sort it. Dont do what I did when I first had this problem and use WD40, it will clogg up eventually. With the new one, cant say much without a picture or link to the ebay shop you bought it from. The Locknut in a different position doesnt sound good lol.

 

Done that mate in the past (Removed nut and piston etc and cleaned with petrol) it's no good. Although I guess I could try using carb cleaner, I never would use WD40 as this will leave a greasy residue which would gum it up.

The new one is VAE06 which is supposed to be a replacement for VAE01, I will try and get a pic of the new one, the little nut at right at the end of the thread and has a spring directly beneath it where as the old one has the nut and the little disc directly beneath it.

Martin

 

I was going to buy one of these but something put me off be good to know if they will work properly!

 

is everything else on the car set up correctly? i had a similar problem years back and it turned out to be the tps wasnt set correctly, we adjusted it ans hey presto all was well

 

Yes everything else is ok, as I say with the old valve it hunts, but no where near 2K RPM, so clearly the issue lies with the new valve, a search on here reveals others have the same problem with them, I am tempted to try and adjust the nut but I can't see that will make any difference.

Martin

 

You can adjust the amount the valve will open by playing with the tension on the lower spring, get it apart and stretch the spring a tad, then the valve will not open as far or as easily.

Just be sure everything else is set up correctly first.

 

Thanks for that, James

Everything else is ok (Unless I have a loom or ECU problem) hopefully not, with the old valve the nut is screwed down a lot further, the new one did worry me slightly as the nut was at the end of the thread so was worried about it coming loose, I think if I adjust it I may 'loctite' the nut back on, is this a good idea?

The lower spring is the one directly under the nut? I can't remember off hand if there is one either side of the piston?

Martin

 

No the one under the piston is the one that will effect the valve operation.

a drop of lactate is a good idea.

 

So stretch the spring under the nut and put nut back in same location?

Martin

 

No, take the first spring off and leave it, remove the piston ,and there is a spring under it, stretch it a little at a time until you get the results you want,

it takes a little trial and error.

If you look at it as how its working, the ecu will supply a voltage to your Valve, at the moment that voltage is having to much of an effect on the valve operation, so by lengthening the lower spring the valve will not operate as much with the same given voltage.

its really common over time for the springs to loose tension, so i have to mess around with them sometimes to get them working nicely again. With your valve being an aftermarket item it may have different spring rates or be set up differently from the oe item.

If the car is fine when its hot the chances are the tps calibration is fine.

 

Same here, disconnect the TPS to prove that it's not involved.

 

Thanks for that, I already have disconnected TPS as PF01 is open circuit at idle It's still does exactly the same, it's always been an issue since I had the car (4+ years) and always suspected the valve, so when I saw one I brought it.

Martin

 

Thanks to James, you were spot on. I moved the piston on each valve and the new one is alot looser than my current one, so obviously the wrong spring rating has been used, so beware other potential buyers!

I can simulate the same effect on the old valve by swapping the two springs around but then the valve dosen't close properly, so they coulden't have made that mistake!

I took my old one apart and done what you said with the spring and the car idled perfect this morning (It used to hunt)

However I went to start the car tonight and the same old problem was back again

I think I will get a refund and jusy try to find another VAE01.

Thanks to others who replied as well.

Martin

 

What does it do? hunt when cold?

 

Yes exactly that, on a cold start it hunts.

Martin

 

Its worth checking the cold start co level, it can sometimes be mapped out by playing with the temperature correction table,

Does it hunt straight away, or as soon as its fired up?

Is the base idle good?

 

Base idle is good, around 950 RPM when hot with ISCV unplugged, since playing with the spring it rises slightly then drops when I reconnect the valve, which it never used to before.

It starts off fine it seems when left running or you have touched the throttle to move it then hunts when there is no throttle

TPS readings have been verified and is open circuit at idle, in the past I have also unplugged TPS and it's still the same.

Since I have had the car I have had my chip erased and reprogrammed with another calibration and the same issue is still there, so I don't think it's a mapping issue?

I would like to get it sorted if I can.

I will try it tonight when I get home to see what it's like as I dismantled the valve last night and played with the spring again.

Martin

 

Sometimes they just need to stay in heavy cold start for longer, and can hunt as they start to warm up and the fuelling starts to drop off,

its the sort of thing that needs to be done live really to get spot on,

If all else is spot on, then the map may just need a bit of time.

 

When you say a bit of time with the map, do you mean until it starts playing up?

Playing with the valve certainly seems to have helped, I will start up tonight and see how it goes and update you.

Thanks for your help with this.

Martin

 

A bit of time playing with the map live on the emulator mate,

Let me know how you get on.

 

Well, started it tonight and it idled steady at around 1,300 RPM, I touched the accelerator and idle was good, at times the idle rose to around 1,500 RPM but still steady, when I gave the gas a short sharp "Tap" this seemed to bring it back down to around 1,300 RPM again.

So as I thought, surely it has to be a valve issue James? It's just strange that when I dismantle it and reassemble it works for a while, I may try some light oil on it once more to see if it will revive it.

Martin

 

This is a bit of a revival tip but could help users from now on.

I've bought a Ebay ISCV and had the same problem everyone here had, Hunting, High idle speed, etc... Tps and all the rest, aparently, was fine.

What I did was use my original ISCV spring and piston and put it on the new ISCV. After that I put the spring from the new one after the piston and the litle plastic thing after that and then the lock nut. It's idling like a charm now. No hunting whatsoever. I will probably tighten the nut a bit more or extend the nut side spring to get the cold idle a but higher (it's 1200rpm now but solid as a rock).

Just my 2 cents.

 

Thank you for that, on my long list of to-do's