318i M10 wont cold idle

[nath 134]

I have a 1985 low km's 318i, engine runs like a dream and is in very good order, but wont hold idle at cold... she will fire immediately but wont stay running. any amount of throttle big or small will have her running sweet and idling within 10 ish seconds....... She starts and idles first pop every time when warm

• The cold start injector works fine
• The coolant temp sensor is fine
• The ICV (old scool compared to motronic!) appears fine as the idle is very steady when idling. I cleaned it out anyway.

• The car also idles in neutral at 1000rpm when warmed up, which is too high.
• The Bottom plate of the AFM has been pulled off at a time and shoddily siliconed- up, i re did this in a much more tidy fashion. No idea why it was taken off as there is very little to see under it unless i dunno, a pet rat was trapped inside!

Any experienced ideas?

Edited December 30, 2009 by nath

[CamB 48]

I see from your other thread that you're going to try a new ICV - its actually just an "auxiliary air valve" - its only job is to let air bypass the throttle when the engine is cold, and it closes up as the engine heats up. It doesn't actually control the idle.

It also sounds like your problem, so good luck. If Ray doesn't have one (which I am sure he does), I have one somewhere.

Once you have a good one in there and working, you can probably turn down the warm idle (screw on the throttle body, IIRC). If it screws in all the way and the idle is still too high, find the intake leak.

[QuickSilver 0]

In you're tidy bullet points, I noticed you did not mention you have not found any vacuum leaks. I would say give your hoses/gaskets a good look over, vacuum leaks play havoc with e30s, or any car for that matter. They can cause difficulty starting, they can also cause high idle, to name a few things.

No harm in trying the new valve too however.