cold temps high idle?

being its cold out around hear 15-30 degrees. what would be a normal warnup idle speed when you first start up the car? mine has been 1200-1350 rpm for like five min. till i hit the gas then it goes dwon to nromal.

could it be the idle sylinoid not working right when cold out or is it normal to be doing what its doing?

Depends on ambient temp. Mine's about 700-800 RPM when warm, about 1000-1100 when very cold. If it's super freezing out, expect slightly higher I'd guess.

I run about 1200 rpm at a cold start these days, temps around zero to 20. No reason to let it run for 5 minutes though. Let it run for a minute or 2, then tap the gas, or put it in gear. I run about 2 minutes when it's zero outside to warm a bit, and it's still at high idle. Putting it in reverse to back out of the driveway seems to always knock it down to near normal idle speed.

You might prefer to drive gently after startup rather than sit.

Albertj

i usually let the car warm up 30 secs, then put her in gear and continue warming while driving slowly. I don't take the shortest route to the freeway, but let the engine get up to 180 or so before giving more than 1/4 throttle.

1200 is normal on a cold start for me. If you don't touch the gas it will stay there until the engine is near full temp, it seems to drop on it's own at about 150. If you put it in gear the idle will come down to the appropriate speed immediately.

I live less than a minute from Interstate, and my work is less than a minute from Interstate. Because of that very short distance to Interstate "mode", I feel it's necessary to allow my Riv to warm a bit longer at idle in my colder winter days. Spring/summer/fall is another story, as I'm near normal temps by the time I hit the highway.

That's a good idea, Dave. I hesitate to admit it, but the next place I live will be at least 2 minutes from any major freeway. Call me crazy, but warm-up time is warm-up time... I can easily make up for the delay once the car is up and running!

so it could be normal, but i have to wait about at least 3-5 min to tap the gas for the idle to go down. and it shifts hard into reverse and sometimes int drive. could that be the PCS presure control solenoid, throttle positioning sensor, or the torque converter cluch solenoid for the hight idle and shifting or what?

It will shift manly hard into reverse and on the highway into overdrive???

any sugestions on what to do or what it could be.


thanks for any help

I would like to get everyones oppinion o this b/f i start penny and dimeing it to try and fix the problem, b/c we all no that can add up.

and with a newborn money and time is tight.

We all want everyones Riv to be runing in tiptop shape, b/c there are not a whole lot of us left you no what i mean>>>...

robertwolf86 wrote:

so it could be normal, but i have to wait about at least 3-5 min to tap the gas for the idle to go down. and it shifts hard into reverse and sometimes int drive. could that be the PCS presure control solenoid, throttle positioning sensor, or the torque converter cluch solenoid for the hight idle and shifting or what?

It will shift manly hard into reverse and on the highway into overdrive???

any sugestions on what to do or what it could be.


thanks for any help

I'm at about 1300-1400 revs when cold, but I can kick it down after about 30 seconds. It will shift hard into R/D for me too (if I don't let the revs go down) but it's like doing a bit of a neutral drop when you put it in gear at 1400 rpm...especially with all the low end torque.

It's no big deal.

aHHHHHH thats why it jerks when i do that.... godd im dumb........ i couldnt figure that out........ SLOW LEARNER here....

98riviera98 wrote:

aHHHHHH thats why it jerks when i do that.... godd im dumb........ i couldnt figure that out........ SLOW LEARNER here....

That's also why it says 'Brake to shift' in the cluster. The bright green light in the fuel or temp gague, I forget which.

The high RPM idle sounds right, because the engine is trying to warm itself up. When the temp gague goes up to about 150, after about 15 minutes, the RPM drops to the 700-1,000 range. It's cold up here, too.

well no really you have to push the brake to shift the car into gear.......... haha i didnt know there was a warning for it?

Well, if it jerks around than it's just the transmission engaging and starting to move. If it actually moves forward or backward, than the rpm's are too high and it's a slightly raced engine launch. All in all, it's just another symptom of the cold. I say get out 10 minutes before you have to, turn the engine on, and let it sit for a while. The jolt will be greatly diminished.

IBx1 wrote:

Well, if it jerks around than it's just the transmission engaging and starting to move. If it actually moves forward or backward, than the rpm's are too high and it's a slightly raced engine launch. All in all, it's just another symptom of the cold. I say get out 10 minutes before you have to, turn the engine on, and let it sit for a while. The jolt will be greatly diminished.

i usually just go.......... i just excpect the jerk so i really dont bother to worry anymore

My car idles at about 900 in neutral and 650-700 in drive, is that about right? I may be mistaken but I thought my car idled a little higher before. Thats why I was wondering if anyone knew what the correct rpms for the Riv is at idle?

650 is about right when warmed up. On colder days, it will be a bit higher on start-up..

I connected my scanner and it says: desired idle in park is 825 rpm, and desired idle in drive is 725 rpm. hope this helps

Yup, definately, thanks a bunch guys!

woggy wrote:

I connected my scanner and it says: desired idle in park is 825 rpm, and desired idle in drive is 725 rpm. hope this helps

Keep in mind, that's when the engine is cold. There is no single desired RPM, as it changes with engine coolant temperature (ECT). From the stock '98 PCM's program:

ECT ====> RPM (in gear)

-40ºF...........1075
-22ºF...........1075
-04ºF...........1075
14ºF............1075
32ºF............1075
50ºF............1006
68ºF............950
86ºF............900
104ºF..........850
122ºF..........800
140ºF..........775
158ºF..........750
176ºF..........675
194ºF..........630
212ºF..........630
230ºF..........630
248ºF..........640
266ºF..........650
284ºF..........650

So an engine that's fully warmed up should idle at 630 RPM in gear. I've set mine to idle at 750, as it decreases vibration in the interior.

Thanks for that info Aaron!

AA wrote:

I've set mine to idle at 750, as it decreases vibration in the interior.

Thats what I want to do aswell, how did you do that Aaron? "Senabunns" said that theres a little screw in the back of the throttle body that increased the tension on the the throttle cables and increased the rpms. But I can't seem to find a screw for the throttle cables anywhere.

You could adjust the cable, but I'd think that would throw off the throttle position sensor. TP% is an important factor used by the PCM for calculating lots of stuff.

The best way to set idle RPM is to use a tuner to go into the PCM's memory and change the values to what you want them to be. That's how I did it. Buying a tuner means you should have other reasons for using it, so just setting idle RPM probably isn't worth it.

Ok, thanks Aaron! Can you use a scanner to do tuning?