Important! : car wont idle after battery replacement

  1. L-plater Joined: Feb 2009 cwmcarn Posts: 30 2000 saxo vtr recently purchased now just needs mo
    #1
    my battery wouldnt hold its charge. so i borght a new one and replaced it and followed the steps in the haynes manual and since i did it the car wont idle have any one got any ideas because i need to get it sorted. its a W reg vtr n was running fine before the battery was replaced. thanks.
  2. Established Member Joined: Oct 2009 West Mids Posts: 1847 Peugeot 106 1.1
    #2
    Because you have unplugged the battery, the ECU has lost its memory and hence the car will run rough for a while until the car "learns" its best settings again.

    Take it for a run focusing between 2000 and 4000rpm. Hopefully that should sort it.

    I may not be right, but thats my take on it buddy,
  3. L-plater Joined: Feb 2009 cwmcarn Posts: 30 2000 saxo vtr recently purchased now just needs mo
    #3
    so would i just drive it for a bit ?
  4. Established Member Joined: Oct 2009 West Mids Posts: 1847 Peugeot 106 1.1
    #4
    Yep, I think so. Do you mean its idling roughly, or do you mean it simply will not idle?
  5. Saxperience Addict Joined: Apr 2006 Frome, down deepest, darkest zummerset Posts: 12971 VTRallye
    #5
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Meto View Post
    Because you have unplugged the battery, the ECU has lost its memory and hence the car will run rough for a while until the car "learns" its best settings again.

    Take it for a run focusing between 2000 and 4000rpm. Hopefully that should sort it.

    I may not be right, but thats my take on it buddy,
    the hell...........

    just let it idle for abit get warm.

    or just unplug the ecu for 20-30mins, then restart it up.

    should clear any faults
  6. L-plater Joined: Feb 2009 cwmcarn Posts: 30 2000 saxo vtr recently purchased now just needs mo
    #6
    whats happening is that the car will start but when its running it idles at 500 rpm or less its nealy stalling sitting still. when its driving its fine but when the clutch is depresed it wants to stall and when you stop at a junction it will stall bt starts again straight again when the key is turned.
  7. Established Member Joined: Oct 2009 West Mids Posts: 1847 Peugeot 106 1.1
    #7
    Could be Idle Control Valve then. Possibly needs cleaning.
  8. L-plater Joined: Feb 2009 cwmcarn Posts: 30 2000 saxo vtr recently purchased now just needs mo
    #8
    bt i was running round in the car this morning before i changed the battery and it was running perfectly fine its only gone tits up since i changed the battery.
  9. Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Feb 2006 northumberland Posts: 7693 pulsar gtir, mk4 astra sxi
    #9
    just hold revs for a few mins with throttle. tends to be a common thing for some reason. just keep revs up then itl idle after that.
  10. L-plater Joined: Feb 2009 cwmcarn Posts: 30 2000 saxo vtr recently purchased now just needs mo
    #10
    il have to give it a go again because i tried that and it didnt seem to do anything the car just seems to want to stall.
  11. Established Member Joined: May 2009 cleethorpes, Lincolnshire Posts: 1830 Astra 2006 (55) 1.9 cdti 150 sri 192hp 322ftlb
    #11
    disconnect the battery over night bud. fire it up in the morning and it'll be like new
  12. Established Member Joined: Dec 2009 Cambridge Posts: 1246 Blue Furio
    #12
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by williamsvts View Post
    just hold revs for a few mins with throttle. tends to be a common thing for some reason. just keep revs up then itl idle after that.
    Give it some revs, get the charge going thgrough the system and alternator etc. Take it down a bypass or something, not through town. That will sort it, if giving it revs while on your drive doesn't.

    I doubt its the Idle control valve, changing a battery won't cause that to malfunction haha. But if it adds peace of mind, clean it too.
  13. Frequent Poster Joined: Feb 2010 Posts: 682 Saxo Vtr, Toyota MR2 Turbo 1992
    #13
    idle control valve?
  14. Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Mar 2009 Uppingham, Rutland Posts: 9569 mk1 JP4'd VTR, '16 Fabia Monte Carlo
    #14
    when i was fitting my rallye inlet manifold people were telling me when ive got it running rev it to like 5000rpm for 5 min and the ecu should sort it self out, i cant personally give advise as i never got the engine running to try it lol
  15. Established Member Joined: Apr 2009 Redcar Posts: 1971 2000 Posi Blue vtr
    #15
    Just drive the car for 5 miles or so, you will have to have nifty feet to keep engine runing at junctions though. Had this both times in my last 2 saxo's when I cleaned the ICV out. It needs to recalibrate it's position.
  16. Newbie Joined: Dec 2011 Derby Posts: 5 Citroen Saxo Desire 1.1i
    #16
    Just had the same problem with mine, the battery was dead on my car in the morning so being an old battery and thinking the frost had got to it, I simply brought a new battery with 3yrs warranty. Turned the key it, it jumped into life and now it simply wont idle. its mainlt the same symptoms Mainy91 describes above, i took it for an hours drive yesterday trying to change up and down the gears as much as possible but didnt fix it. Now im resorting to leaving the battery off for an hour, took it off about 9.45 am so in 15 mins i'll reconnect and hopefully she'll be back to her old self, otherwise i suspect another unwanted bill. Ill let you know how i get on
  17. Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Dec 2010 Chesterfield/Nottingham Posts: 7147 dead vts. twisted 106 gti. '03' vtrrrr
    #17
    nice, didnt you look at the date when you posted this?
  18. Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Feb 2008 wirral Posts: 6348 Icelandic vtr turbo
    #18
    its a good first post, and shows they used the search button
  19. Newbie Joined: Dec 2011 Derby Posts: 5 Citroen Saxo Desire 1.1i
    #19
    I did look at the date, but thought this thread fufilled the subject matter, and that regardless of the date, someone had the same problems as me.

    Been out to my car and reconnected the battery, but didnt feel like the car wanted to idle (as before the problem occured) , so I went for a 15 min drive changing up and down the gears as i did yesterday. When I pulled up at home i found that the car would idle but at a higher rpm (my rev counter is bust but from sound im guessing around the 4/5 k rpm).

    So i gradually, in neutral, accelerated the car holding it at different rpm and then let the car fall back to idle. Repeated this process about 3/4 times and now the car is idling much lower, but stalled once. Im guessing I wont know for a couple of days after driving the car to see if it drives fine, but if I have any problems, I could always disconnect the battery and repeat the process again. Ill let you guys know how I get on, Thamk you
  20. Saxperience Addict Joined: Jun 2006 Wirral Posts: 13584 Wickerd red VTS MK2, Two tone VTS MK2,vvc Metro..
    #20
    Had this in the past!! check the battery amps,vtr and vts need to have battery upto 640amps,anything less like 320 causes your engine to idle all over the place.........
  21. Newbie Joined: Dec 2011 Derby Posts: 5 Citroen Saxo Desire 1.1i
    #21
    Thanks Saxokid100, but i dont think the amp will make much diff cus its only the 1.1i , I was speaking to a few of my mechanically minded work mates, and they said it could be two things.

    1) IACV needs cleaning
    2) a wire has been disturbed on the battery leads (A problem that a guy had on a renault)

    After checking the wires, ive turned to the IACV, and taken it off. it looks dirty but im guessing its never been off in the last ten years. When taking it off the top Torx screw came out fine, but the bottom was a pain, and felt like it wanted to strip (Head) so watch out guys, cus if you strip the head, most pliers wont be able to get it out :/

    Anyway Post later, hopefully with some pics cus all the pics ive seen on here are the VTR and VTS, and im not privilidged enough to have one of those ;P
  22. Newbie Joined: Dec 2011 Derby Posts: 5 Citroen Saxo Desire 1.1i
    #22
    The IACV was filthy, and i cleaned it and took the steps that are in another guide, and still did the same thing. So reluctantly I've booked it in the garage for tomorrow, so they can put in on their fault finding code machine and sort it before christmas. Thanks everyone for all your help.

    Mmilner9
  23. Newbie Joined: Dec 2011 Derby Posts: 5 Citroen Saxo Desire 1.1i
    #23
    Garage said it has a minor leak on one of the air pipes near the IACV but to counter this simply twisted the male torx screw that adjusts engine tick over. Now ticks over fine.