Technical High idle 1.6

[ivand]

Hi guys,
after a shorter ride, I noticed that my car is idling at about 1000-1100 rpms...
That is with engine fully warm, and car not moving. It does not have that "soft" idle at "steady" 700-750 rpm's as it did have before...
It drives normally, all checks OK, temperature gauge shows middle mark, engine cooling fan switching on/off, A/C off...


(Also my clutch pedal does not release freely like before... as yesterday it was acting fully normal)




Any ideas ?

 

[ivand]

...did some basic checkings today:
no errors found by ecuscan, MAP sensor values seem right (310 @ idle), engine temp 97C,
but
desired idle rpm is 1080 and it won't drop down to 750... ???

 

[ivand]

Well, just an update to problem... today, after throwing ABS & EBD failure notification, the battery died (drained out). So I removed it and connected it to a charger. I'll leave it charging over night.
It is strange to me because the battery is only 2 years old. But, who knows...

 

[ivand]

And, after battery charging I' ve tried again, the car started instantly but it seems that it still has a problem:

the charging voltage no matter is it on idle or on high revs gives only 12.2 V.
it still idles at 1100 rpms

I thought there would be some error codes but I did not find them.

So, maybe you can help with advice...
Thanks

 

[richydraper]

sounds silly ivand have you tried cleaning/resetting the TB?

is it MES that reports 12.2v or did you test with a multimeter? (is the battery light on, on the dash)

might be worth checking alternator output at the alternator along with all the ground connections.

 

[Stilatos]

have you cleaned the throttle butterfly valve?

 

[ivand]

sounds silly ivand have you tried cleaning/resetting the TB?

is it MES that reports 12.2v or did you test with a multimeter? (is the battery light on, on the dash)

might be worth checking alternator output at the alternator along with all the ground connections.

I checked TB - it is clean.
Yes, I tried resetting TB, also checked voltage with both MES and voltmeter.
There is no warning lights onboard at all.

What is strange is that battery charging was for 48 hours, and it could not charge fully.
Today I'm going to take battery to shop to get it checked with instruments.
Thanks guys

 

[ivand]

Went to shop which is specialized for batteries and they say battery is OK.
SO, what should be next to check ?


(I forgot to say before that MES gives information that "Desired idle is 1100")

 

[ivand]

Finnaly, to close this thread properly...

I have been once again to battery shop, but this time to check charging. The guy instantly came to conclusion that alternator is not charging well.
The voltages shown on his multimeter were changing from 11.4 – 13V. That is how mine voltmeter was also showing.

So, it was time to go to FIAT service. Surprisingly, on the way there, „Alternator fail“ message has thrown on the dashboard, and the battery lamp was lit (for the first time).

It was the voltage regulator that died, causing all this strange behaviours. Now, it is working well, and giving values @ 14.2V (with lights swithched on, and bearing in mind that this is not new battery).
Cost of labour & parts arround 110 EUR.

Also I beleive (which does not have to be truth) that this voltage drop did not come instantly, but that probably it was degrading (decreasing voltage) during longer period of time. (That could have influenced high fuel trims that).

So, I'll be checking this voltages more often, and maybe put an small LCD voltmeter somewhere near dashboard.

 

[MarkThompson4]

Did it sort out the high idle as well?

 

[ivand]

Did it sort out the high idle as well?

Yes, it is all right now. No more high idle. Now it's in proper range.

 

[ivand]

And still I have some questions...
Sometimes when starting engine (1st start in the morning) i get "Alternator failure" message on the dashboard, which message disapears after about 1 second.
The car drives normally and cranks well... No errors stored...
What else should I check ???

 

[zoli]

Hi Ivan,
Regarding the sometimes appearing error messages at startup and only during cranking and startup, it all might be cause of the drop in voltage when the car is pulling "juice" from the battery during the startup procedure. Usually it's only for a second or two than all of these errors disappear. The cause of this is used car and parts, battery with lower cold start amperage, cold weather well around or below 0C so the engine has to struggle more to start and similar reasons.
The cause of this (if it's only this of course) is that the Stilos especially the older ones are very sensitive to voltage drops and changes since they are tightly packed with electronics. Fiat at the time of engineering and making the Stilos opted for the part of the market that was shared with VW's, Opel Astra's, Ford Focus'es, Peugeot 302's and similar but at a lower price range than any of the mentioned. This had to be somehow compensated so they jam packed the things with electronics that have not been fully and extensively tested at the time... but when the Stilos came out were very high tech, some 10 - 11 years ago.
I drive a Stilo 2002 1.6 Active , I love the car but I resent the small kinks and issues it's having. Neither of them is a huge problem...but several small ones make up a big, ain't it true ?!

 

[ivand]

Thx Zoli,
I am going to garage soon to get it checked. My battery is 75Ah and it has been tested lately (when alternator fault have happened) and found in good shape. Only, before the alternator was repaired this kind of message has never appeared. Maybe the battery has been damaged to some amount and it is now making this mess. Or maybe the guys at the garage have missed to do something...
It is not worrying me so much, but...