E30 Zone

Recently my 2.0 keeps threatening to stall when i take my foot off the accelerator. The revs drop down to a little above zero and the ignition lights flicker on, and then at the last minute it picks up and idles normally. A couple of times it has cut out but starts again with no problems, but i'm just waiting for the time it doesn't. Any ideas?

Watching topic. (my M40 does the same when v cold)

I'm watching yours too! I've had icv problems in the past and the symptoms were different from what i'm getting now.

If its refusing to hold an idle on the m20, could be an air leak?

ICV may also be culprit, but more often get a "wavy" idle (ie rises and falls constantly)

I have this problem as well!
Seams a lot of us do.

Mine has developed into stalling much of the. Never know when its going to idle or stall or randomly rev to 1500rpm!

Does this when cold or warm...it was only when it was cold

So far I have;

ICV (3 times now)
AFM (twice)
Throttle body (it was major manky)
Checked the intake bellow- no cracks
Looked at all other vacuum pipes - no leaks

My ICV seams to open and close when i give it 12volts
and it make a noise/vibrates when I switch the ignition on.

I'm going to try a new blue temperature sender and a new ICV tommorrow and a new rotor arm maybe.

I will do each one on its own, so i can work out the culprit...and burn it after!

If after raplacing all that the fecking m40 is going to have a big hammer through it.....

check rotor arm, as these tend to melt on m40 lumps.

datourer wrote:Recently my 2.0 keeps threatening to stall when i take my foot off the accelerator. The revs drop down to a little above zero and the ignition lights flicker on, and then at the last minute it picks up and idles normally. A couple of times it has cut out but starts again with no problems, but i'm just waiting for the time it doesn't. Any ideas?

Its started doing that on my Vauxhall Zafira '00' in the morning's after I come off the motorway! I think it's the weather because 65k FVSH.

Mine's ok when it's cold & the idle is high, it's when it warms up the trouble starts.

datourer wrote:Recently my 2.0 keeps threatening to stall when i take my foot off the accelerator. The revs drop down to a little above zero and the ignition lights flicker on, and then at the last minute it picks up and idles normally. A couple of times it has cut out but starts again with no problems, but i'm just waiting for the time it doesn't. Any ideas?

318I M40

Mine starts ok from cold then does as above, then idles ok when hot, im thinking blue temp sensor, but it looks like a pig to change on a m40.

Mine starts ok from cold then does as above, then idles ok when hot, im thinking blue temp sensor, but it looks like a pig to change on a m40.

Its not thaaaat hard.

Take all the intake bellow and AFM off, so you can see a bit more.
Also might be usefull to take of the wiring harness plastic box thing.


I did mine in under 20mins, with not much swearing

Ok, ill get the swear box ready and have a go at the weekend, just looked like i would have to dismantle a bit more than that.

If you have a socket that fits over the sensor, as opposed to a spanner its far easier. Just don't damage the sensor or the thread....

Any of you guys ever sort this problem? Would be interested to know how, as mine is in exactly the same position, and I'm thinking about coughing up for a brand new ICV. Already changed AFM, ICV, TPS, Intake boot (massive tear in it), blue temp sender etc over the last year, and it was running alright, it's just deteriorated recently that's all...

Hi Firefly2005,
I changed the blue sensor, rubber intake boot and cleaned out the ICV about 3 times but it still ran badly, so in the end i found a 318i in a breakers yard and had the ICV off that for £10, this did the trick and it ran like a dream after that. So the old ICV was as clean as a whistle but faulty.
I hope you sort your problem as I know its a real pain in the arse when you cant find the fault.

Dizz.

Just in case people are interested I've finally gone for a brand new ICV (£80 - ouch!). We'll see if it fixes it! Tried everything else I can think of. Funny thing is that if I disconnect the ICV completely, the car runs perfectly, so I'm thinking it must be that. I don't know what the longterm consequences for fuel efficiency etc would be for if I left it like that though, plus it's hardly the right way to go about maintaining a car - disconnecting things that I'm not sure about! Within a few months I'd only have the chassis left....

Did the ICV do the trick?

if you unplug the idle valve it should near enough stall (ie its working!). if it doesnt, youve got the throttle idle screw wound in. and concequently the throttle position sensor/switch isnt telling the ecu its supposed to be ticking over, so its not telling the idle valve to work and stabilising the idling speed, which is why it appears to work and buzz when you put the ignition on but its not working when its running. which is why it isnt idling and its up and down. thats presuming theres no air leaks. my 320i runs great btw!