My High Idle CURED!!!

[Swede]

It's been almost 6 years since I posted this thread so my recollection of how hard it was to remove the linkage has faded a long time ago. That being said, I don't recall ever having to remove any retaining rings in there. That clip may just be to locate that part of the linkage to the sleeve that slides over the main rod. Your rod looks quite corroded though so I'd soak it in WD-40 or equivalent penetrating fluid overnight and then give it a try.

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

Thanks; I appreciate you responding. I soaked it all in PB Blaster overnight. There is that little snap-ring towards the outside of the action and there is another snap-ring close to the throttle body. The one near the throttle body seems pretty difficult/impossible to access. I've pulled on the action quite a bit and I can't get anything to move even slightly. Is everything arranged on a sleeve, placed over the rod? I'll have to look at it again. Maybe I need to spray penetrating oil into that sleeve?

*Edit: I went back and looked. There doesn't seem to be a sleeve that everything is arranged on.

 

[Swede]

I'm assuming you have an auto tranny because the linkage looks a bit different than mine. It looks like you have two coil springs in that linkage where mine only has one being a 5-speed. Maybe this is why you're having such trouble.

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

I have a '97 5-speed.

 

[Yoder68]

Thanks; I appreciate you responding. I soaked it all in PB Blaster overnight. There is that little snap-ring towards the outside of the action and there is another snap-ring close to the throttle body. The one near the throttle body seems pretty difficult/impossible to access. I've pulled on the action quite a bit and I can't get anything to move even slightly. Is everything arranged on a sleeve, placed over the rod? I'll have to look at it again. Maybe I need to spray penetrating oil into that sleeve?

*Edit: I went back and looked. There doesn't seem to be a sleeve that everything is arranged on.

The whole assy on mine came off the rod as a unit. Didn't touch any snap rings. I think the flats on the end of the rod have a slight taper where it goes into the spring "carrier". Makes it a very tight fit. I had to pry with a screw driver and tap the end of the rod with a hammer to get it to pop loose. Even after gently tightening it back together it took the pry and tap routine to get apart again.
Yours looks more corroded than mine. I can sell you my old TB (with washer mod) if you destroy yours getting it apart.

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

I got it!! I didn't expect it to come off all as one piece. I covered it in penetrating oil and then went around it, tapping it with a hammer. After some time, I took a small pry bar to it and it popped off! Thank you all so much.

Now, I need to find a suitable washer. I had a thin one that I was going to use, but now I see the rod diameter is larger than I had thought. I might need to shave a washer down for this.

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

It's all put back together.

I thinned out a 3/8" washer by holding it in a vise and filing it down. I spun it to get the other side and then I sanded it smooth. I started it up and it seems to idle lower when cold, 1000-1100 RPMs; that seems like an improvement. I can't test drive it now because I have the rear suspension apart.

Here is the washer thinned out, compared to the original one, and then everything installed:

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

[MENTION=1788]Swede[/MENTION] Thank you so much for researching this and putting this out there for us! I did a test drive just now. Previously, my idle used to settle down to 1400-1600 RPMs, but I could get it to drop to 1100 by hitting the throttle quickly. Now, once warmed up, it settles right down to about 750. I'm happy with that.

 

[Greatbert]

Sharrow, thanks for the tip on pulling the linkage slightly forward to test.
No need to remove the throttle body, as you noted.
Tapping gently on the linkage with a big screwdriver and a hammer, pointing away from the throttle body down the shaft, freed it and allowed me to just pull it off. Not sure if it was necessary but I used a chopstick to keep all the linkage lined up for easy replacement.
Note: removing the dashpot was not necessary in my case, though I did remove the cruise control bracket from the throttle body (two 10-mm bolts) to let me get at the linkage with the screwdriver and hammer.
I used a copper or brass washer that fits the fuel rail banjo bolts and while it had a hole that was maybe slightly too big, it worked great. No need to grind it down, which is good because Ace did not have a washer that would have worked without grinding. You can buy these little banjo bolt washers at the parts store.
Truck now idles at 750 rather than the previous 1600 rpm. The whole fix took half an hour.

Now if I could just figure out why it starts hard, as though it doesn't have enough fuel in the system. Any bright ideas guys?

 

[1985taylor1925]

I have my throttle body apart right now as I'm trying to figure out my idle issues and noticed that the butterfly doesn't close all the way. There's a slight gap in it top and bottom. But on mine it's because the adjustment screw is set to where it keeps the butterfly just slightly open. I can tell it's been this way for a long time because I can see the yellow loctight hasn't separated.

I am having terrible issues with idle now two weeks after pulling everything off and changing the valve cover gaskets. I have poor idle initially, like to the point of where the truck struggles to start. And then once it's warmed up it idles at 1600+ rpms.

So my questions, is the butterfly supposed to be slightly open at idle? Or should I adjust the screw so it's closed. And does anyone have another idea as to why my idle is so low initially and then high once warmed up?

Throttle body is clean
Gaskets are good
All hoses were attached

One other thing I should add is that I changed the pcv valve, and the grommet was a bit loose. I didn't have a grommet so I just used rtv to seal the grommet to the valve cover, and to seal the pcv to the grommet.

 

[frodiesel]

I have my throttle body apart right now as I'm trying to figure out my idle issues and noticed that the butterfly doesn't close all the way. There's a slight gap in it top and bottom. But on mine it's because the adjustment screw is set to where it keeps the butterfly just slightly open. I can tell it's been this way for a long time because I can see the yellow loctight hasn't separated.

I am having terrible issues with idle now two weeks after pulling everything off and changing the valve cover gaskets. I have poor idle initially, like to the point of where the truck struggles to start. And then once it's warmed up it idles at 1600+ rpms.

So my questions, is the butterfly supposed to be slightly open at idle? Or should I adjust the screw so it's closed. And does anyone have another idea as to why my idle is so low initially and then high once warmed up?

Throttle body is clean
Gaskets are good
All hoses were attached

One other thing I should add is that I changed the pcv valve, and the grommet was a bit loose. I didn't have a grommet so I just used rtv to seal the grommet to the valve cover, and to seal the pcv to the grommet.

Sounds like you have a vacuum leak so you just manually turned down the throttle. The yellow paint was put there at the factory.

You should replace that grommet asap and never use any rtv where there is vacuum. It will not seal and cause high idle issues, or worse be sucked into a sensor and plug something.

 

[1985taylor1925]

Sounds like you have a vacuum leak so you just manually turned down the throttle. The yellow paint was put there at the factory.

You should replace that grommet asap and never use any rtv where there is vacuum. It will not seal and cause high idle issues, or worse be sucked into a sensor and plug something.

I checked all the vacuum hoses and sprayed them to see if there were any leaks. Didn't see any. I sealed the outside of the grommet, so not worried about rtv getting in it. But isn't pcv supposed to be air tight? Only reason I sealed it is because I could move the grommet by hand so seems like it wouldn't be sealing

 

[frodiesel]

Its not a part that you should use rtv on. It could just be a bad iac valve

Ive cured a looping low idle on my camry with throttle body cleaner before. Not sure if tue 4runner uses the same part.

 

[nobb]

What an extremely frustrating problem! After doing a full throttle body + IAC cleaning my idle was at 2000+ rpm and would hang when I pressed the accelerator. The washer mod did not fix the problem, what I ended up having to do was add a stronger return spring. Now it idles at 800 rpm...but the disadvantage is the throttle response does not "hang" and feels "heavy."

I didnt realize how sensitive these throttles were!

 

[baja1]

What an extremely frustrating problem! After doing a full throttle body + IAC cleaning my idle was at 2000+ rpm and would hang when I pressed the accelerator. The washer mod did not fix the problem, what I ended up having to do was add a stronger return spring. Now it idles at 800 rpm...but the disadvantage is the throttle response does not "hang" and feels "heavy."

I didnt realize how sensitive these throttles were!

you know just because you cleaned the IAC doesn't mean its working, mine was clean as a whistle but the coil was bad. check out my post on manually operating the IAC.....it works I tell ya!

 

[nobb]

you know just because you cleaned the IAC doesn't mean its working, mine was clean as a whistle but the coil was bad. check out my post on manually operating the IAC.....it works I tell ya!

I manually applied +12V to the associated pins to test that the IAC opened and closed normally. The IAC was not the problem.

 

[nobb]

As an update with my spring mod, I've noticed that over the course of the last few days of driving and several on/off cycles, I've been able to gradually loosen the spring tension slowly and the idle has been slowly self adjusting. I am at the point where I've removed this spring completely and the idle has greatly settled down.

It seems our ECU might have some self adjusting idle function where over time it gradually compensates for the throttle body behavior. Would be interested if anyone can comment better on how this works. The FSM makes no reference on calibrating the idle. Pulling the EFI fuse and cutting power to the ECU does not seem to reset the idle and it appears the idle relearning process is very slow and gradual.

 

[JasonBass]

new guy here... I need help

I tried the washer mod and now my truck idles at 3k took the washer off and still at 3k all I did was take the nut off and slide the throttle bracket off... with the throttle bracket off it idles at 800 (normal) but if I slowly slide it back on to the end it idles back up to 3k?? ANY IDEAS!?

 

[Swede]

Loosen your throttle cable maybe?

 

[k2damfc]

What an extremely frustrating problem! After doing a full throttle body + IAC cleaning my idle was at 2000+ rpm and would hang when I pressed the accelerator. The washer mod did not fix the problem, what I ended up having to do was add a stronger return spring. Now it idles at 800 rpm...but the disadvantage is the throttle response does not "hang" and feels "heavy."

I didnt realize how sensitive these throttles were!

So on mine it’s a bit different. I actually have a cable going to the return. I just went thru and did a TB, IAC and MAF cleaning just now and got a high idle (2k) but if I put it in drive I can get it down to 1k but then it starts sounding like it will die, but so far hasn’t died at all. Will try this washer mod, seems to be a simple fix, in hopes it is this easy. When I pull the spring back like the return spring would do the idle gets better but the engine sounds worst. Not sure, but is the return cable adjustable? Besides at the throttle body? I’m kinda maxed out on the adjuster.