1st Vts poor idle

22nd December 2014, 21:56

Hi people, just bought my second saxo 1st was a vtr and I loved it.
Decided to treat myself to a Vts with a fair few mods, and the guy said it needs an idle control valve as it drops revs as soon as it starts and is really easy to stall.. I have to rev it once I start it up for a few seconds then the revs will sit at 1K but then if it's revved harshly it'll drop to around 300 revs then try to die.

I've had a butchers and this looks like a common problem, just hoping someone can give me a serious answer to how easy a fix this is gonna be.. Any help appreciated, thanks!

22nd December 2014, 22:20

Hi,

You can try the 'sticking plaster' approach first...

Remove the throttlebody from the intake system
Remove the bolt(s?) that hold the idle control valve from the throttlebody
Dab a bit of engine oil around the 'plunger' part of the ICV
Reinstall

Most 1.6 16v that have had the original air box replace with an induction kit no longer have the oil vapour feed that would normally lubricate the ICV - so over time the oil film reduces putting increased friction on the control value, eventually knackering it up.

If that doesn't improve things then a replacement from Citroen was the best part of £80 if I remember correctly (was nearly 6 years ago).

22nd December 2014, 22:22

To add, it's a very easy job relative to most on the 1.6 16v.

If you need a step by step breakdown of what to do just ask...

23rd December 2014, 16:18

Thanks, I'll give it a go.
I also saw something others have tried where you turn the ignition on and off several times and it resets the ICV or something? Then again others have also had problems with the new ICV's they have just put in.
I'll be back home tomorrow so will try and have a fiddle around and see what's what, thanks for the info.

23rd December 2014, 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benji-D

Thanks, I'll give it a go.
I also saw something others have tried where you turn the ignition on and off several times and it resets the ICV or something? Then again others have also had problems with the new ICV's they have just put in.
I'll be back home tomorrow so will try and have a fiddle around and see what's what, thanks for the info.

That reset is what you do when fitting a new icv,otherwise the car will rev high.

23rd December 2014, 19:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevo67

That reset is what you do when fitting a new icv,otherwise the car will rev high.

I get ya, now I think about it that's what people said they were doing after swapping it lol, thanks chap

24th December 2014, 20:25

Yep I had that problem when I fitted mine! Held idle at 4000 rpm. lol

25th December 2014, 11:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry123

Yep I had that problem when I fitted mine! Held idle at 4000 rpm. lol

Just to refresh my memory, if I swap the icv and it revs really high, is it then that I'd have to turn the ignition on and off 4/5 times or so? And is that all I'd have to do or is there something else to do after? Thanks

25th December 2014, 11:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry123

To add, it's a very easy job relative to most on the 1.6 16v.

If you need a step by step breakdown of what to do just ask...

Could you give me that step by step lol I'm confident I can do it but wanna be extra careful not to put anything back together wrong and make anything any worse.. It's happened before with the simplest of jobs..

26th December 2014, 15:29

No probs...

1) Disconnect Battery
2) Remove Airbox/Induction kit - with the air box, all the securing screws are located and visible from the top. With the induction kit, it's usually a case of undoing the jubilee clip that holds the silicone tubing to the throttle body.

I've just pulled this from the image database - ignore the yellow circle, you want to be undoing the jubilee clip on the other end of the silicone tubing...

3) You should now have access to the inlet side of the TB

Since you're interested in the ICV there's little point removing the sensors attached to the TB, other that for increased access...so....

4) Disconnect the throttle cable from the Throttle Body assembly - you can do this by pushing the linkage arm (where the cable attaches) down, this will free up tension and allow the cable to be removed easily

5) Remove the three bolts that hold the TB to the air box - in the pic above you can see two... One at the 12 'o' clock position, the second at the 8 'o' clock position. The third is in the 4 'o'clock position. Remove the bottom ones first so you're ready to hold the TB as it falls away from the air box.

6) Disconnect the ICV connector - In the pic above it's the device with four wires connecting to it (top-right quarter of the pic)

7) Disconnect the other wiring to the TB if you wish

8) Undo the two tiny torx bolts (might be just one - can't remember) that hold the ICV into the TB.

9) Remove the ICV - it's a plunger type mechanism so expect it to be a little unwilling to the come out, just keep pulling.

At this point you can lightly grease the plunger and refit or replace the ICV entirely.

In terms of testing the ICV, I use a Lexia3 and run one of the diagnostics routines. I suspect you don't have a Lexia so I can only speculate on diagnosing if the ICV is faulty. You could refit the TB and sensors but leaving the ICV exposed - so you can watch it. Start the engine and look for signs of movement, particularly when the throttle is blipped
No movement = Dead

Putting everything back together is the reverse of steps above.

26th December 2014, 15:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benji-D

Just to refresh my memory, if I swap the icv and it revs really high, is it then that I'd have to turn the ignition on and off 4/5 times or so? And is that all I'd have to do or is there something else to do after? Thanks

Sorry, just saw this.

Yep run through the on-off routine a few times (with a few seconds break in between)

If it fails to improve then it is likely the ICV actuator is knackered or there is too much friction around the ICV plunger (hence the necessity to lighty grease it)

26th December 2014, 21:21

Thanks for all the help. The step by step is gonna be very helpful, when I get back home im going to try and grease it up and see if it improves it, if not I'll order another ICV.
On another note if I Rev it, it sometimes tends to stick on for a second or too then drops back down, would I be right in thinking that could be the throttle position sensor?

31st December 2014, 13:16

Nope, that's definitely the ICV. In normal driving it's easier to think of the ICV as a secondary butterfly. When you open the throttlebody the ICV responds by opening a little too. The reason the engine speed seems lag your throttle inputs is that the ICV is not closing to its set required position as quickly as it should be - it allows a decent quantity of air to pass thru and consequently the engine holds it RPM.

Your description just confirms that the ICV is the root cause of the problem

31st December 2014, 14:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry123

Nope, that's definitely the ICV. In normal driving it's easier to think of the ICV as a secondary butterfly. When you open the throttlebody the ICV responds by opening a little too. The reason the engine speed seems lag your throttle inputs is that the ICV is not closing to its set required position as quickly as it should be - it allows a decent quantity of air to pass thru and consequently the engine holds it RPM.

Your description just confirms that the ICV is the root cause of the problem

Ah that's a relief! Just stood infront of the engine now, I've took the filter off just going to take the ICV out now and grease it to see if that helps since the postman still hasn't been with my new valve! Will let you know how I get on with it