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2000 cavalier 2.2l idling high and surging


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gscontr
New User

Oct 20, 2011, 9:18 AM

Post #1 of 10 (12198 views)
2000 cavalier 2.2l idling high and surging Sign In

Hi, hope someone can give me some advice. Got a 2.2l cavalier that suddenly started surging and idling too high... replaced the IAC; map, tps,air temp, oxy, and even crank sensor. Also did the head gasket and timing chain, but still the same problem. Vacuum tested and get a rapidly fluctuating needle at idle, which smooths out at higher rpm's, so put plugs and wires on it. Same thing, Can a Cam sensor, or a knock sensor cause the brain box to pulse the IAC? The reader i have has the IA at around 16, Sound about right? Thanks for any help.


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Tom Greenleaf profile image

Oct 20, 2011, 9:58 AM

Post #2 of 10 (12193 views)
Re: 2000 cavalier 2.2l idling high and surging Sign In

Code readings should lead to area of trouble. You are throwing a lot of parts which is a costly way to diagnose a problem,

T



Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Oct 20, 2011, 10:27 AM

Post #3 of 10 (12172 views)
Re: 2000 cavalier 2.2l idling high and surging Sign In

Just try this..

First eliminate all vacuum or air leaks in the system. Try cleaning the throttle body. Remove the intake snorkel, have someone hold the throttle wide open for you and scrub the back side of the throttle plate and surrounding bore with an old tooth brush and some carb cleaner. Be sure to spray some into the small holes next to the throttle plate. That should help stabilize the idle.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



gscontr
New User

Oct 21, 2011, 12:10 PM

Post #4 of 10 (12132 views)
Re: 2000 cavalier 2.2l idling high and surging Sign In

Thanks for the replies, i checked the throttle body and intake for leaks by plugging the vacuum ports and pulling the plunger on the old IAC out to low idle and sticking it back in. The motor idles fine until the IAC is plugged back in and then it surges and revs again. That tells me that the iac is moving and there are no vacuum leaks. I removed and cleaned the throttle body last week and replaced the base gasket, it had some crap in it but wasn't too bad. The only codes it is spitting are high idle codes, and when those are cleared it revs higher. Any suggestions other than the computer? as i said i replaced the map, oxy, air temp, and tps. Thanks again for any help.


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Tom Greenleaf profile image

Oct 21, 2011, 4:08 PM

Post #5 of 10 (12124 views)
Re: 2000 cavalier 2.2l idling high and surging Sign In

Hard codes come right back. Others takes some # of miles or starts from cold to remember them so clearing the codes was dumb!

Car may now be in a "learn" mode that can take a little while but there's a problem lurking,

T



Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Discretesignals profile image

Oct 21, 2011, 5:25 PM

Post #6 of 10 (12118 views)
Re: 2000 cavalier 2.2l idling high and surging Sign In

You going to need a high end scanner for this one. You'll have to watch the idle air counts and the desired idle speed. You can watch to see if the PCM is commanding the surge. You also have to understand that an input that tells the computer the engine is under load could cause the idle surging or high idle to occur also. Some things the PCM looks for are power steering pressure switch changes, AC requests, and PRNDL inputs. Any of those input changes will cause the PCM to up the idle to compensate for a load.





Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.


gscontr
New User

Oct 21, 2011, 7:16 PM

Post #7 of 10 (12108 views)
Re: 2000 cavalier 2.2l idling high and surging Sign In

Thanks again for the advice from two of you. I realize that i'm not as experienced as some folks but i'm not in need of a helmet to get around. I'm fixing this car for a brother in law who needs a ride and am doing so at my own expense. Driving the vehicle at this high an idle would be risky, and recalling codes is easily enough accomplished, so i can run it or start it many times to replicate the codes... but i have already done so. If you feel that my steps so far are dumb, then you need not respond... i'm looking for people that are challenged by and may have had experience in such troubles. A local mechanic with a "high end scanner" wanted to charge $700.00 plus parts to do a timing chain job. Thats why i did it myself, I came to this forum to ask experienced mechanics for some possible solutions, I know that you guys aren't psychics and am really appreciative of the help, and will be happy to share the solution with future readers. I guess i have the need to get things fixed at any cost... but i really just want to get this thing out of my garage.


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Tom Greenleaf profile image

Oct 21, 2011, 11:22 PM

Post #8 of 10 (12098 views)
Re: 2000 cavalier 2.2l idling high and surging Sign In

There are a thousand sites for car repair and insults to folks trying help you at this one isn't helping you. High end scanners are monster bucks, not the cheapo free scans.

If valve timing is jumping around chain or belt it will confuse the car till it quits is explodes!



T



Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Oct 22, 2011, 3:11 AM

Post #9 of 10 (12093 views)
Re: 2000 cavalier 2.2l idling high and surging Sign In


Quote
I came to this forum to ask experienced mechanics for some possible solutions,


That's just not the way that experienced technicians work. We don't have magic answers without testing input. We spend hundreds of thousands in diagnostic equipment so we are able to do our jobs. If this was so simple that we could simply tell you what's wrong from your primitive description of symptoms, we wouldn't need to spend all that money ourselves.
Maybe you could afford this tool.





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



gscontr
New User

Oct 22, 2011, 7:00 AM

Post #10 of 10 (12074 views)
Re: 2000 cavalier 2.2l idling high and surging Sign In

I'm sorry if i insulted or offended anyone. I really am grateful for you taking your time to try to help me out.






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