surging idle at stop. thoughts?

[olsan100]

Hey all. 92 525i A.

I did a search and couldn't come up with anything on the following...

Car starts fine and when it gets warmed up, occasionally at stops, the car will start to idle down like it's going to die, then go back, then idle down again... then go back up...

once I press the accelerator to get moving, it's fine.

It doesn't do it all the time.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!

[SRR2]

Have you ever cleaned your idle control valve?

[632 Regal]

or looked for intake leaks?

[olsan100]

Have you ever cleaned your idle control valve?

No I haven't. Is it a fairly easy process?

I'll do a search on it.

Thank you.

[olsan100]

or looked for intake leaks?

No, I haven't done that either.. sounds like a couple things I need to try though.

Thanks guys.

[SRR2]

Yeah. You take it off, seal off one of the two openings and pour carb cleaner or Goof Off into the other. Then seal that one off (I use Saran Wrap and rubber bands for that, you can use anything that can stand up to the solvents) and shake it around. The valve operates by vibrating axially, so the best way to slosh the solvent around is to twist it rapidly back and forth on its axis. You will look stupid as hell while you're doing this unless you have some Jamaican folk music playing in the background. Otherwise, perform the cleaning activity while no one else is around to make fun of you. When it's clean, you should be able to hear the armature clicking as you twist the valve back and forth.