Idle Control Valve?

[JMI]

So to clean the ICV (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HD23&mospid=47408&btnr=13_0167&hg=13&fg=15)...
Does that mean remove part #17 and spray with the carb cleaner or does #17 connect a valve disc inside the rubber boot (PN #8)? If so then the disc inside the boot is what needs to be sprayed?

TIA

Jim

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

and spray the crud away inside the valve body. You'll be able to see a little rotor inside that should move freely.

As far as # 8, that's the intake boot/hose. I usually just wipe it clean, too much solvents can make them go brittle.

Don't forget to clean the throttle body and #1 Air flow sensor flap inside.

P.S Use Throttle Body cleaner over carb spray

[JMI]

The reason I was asking about the ICV was all of a sudden my car started stalling or coming close to a stall and then rev up to 1100 RPM or so and then drop to a normal idle. So I did some research and focused on the ICV. So I cleaned the ICV with throttle cleaning spray, no change.
Then I change the spark plugs.
I'm no expert at reading plugs but they looked OK to me.
You know what? The car idles normally!

[t_marat]

The reason I was asking about the ICV was all of a sudden my car started stalling or coming close to a stall and then rev up to 1100 RPM or so and then drop to a normal idle. So I did some research and focused on the ICV. So I cleaned the ICV with throttle cleaning spray, no change.
Then I change the spark plugs.
I'm no expert at reading plugs but they looked OK to me.
You know what? The car idles normally!
still having that problem or fixed?

[JMI]

still having that problem or fixed?

The problem has mostly vanished. Just prior to changing the plugs it was happening at almost every stop (almost stalling). It has been very infrequent since. Put about 40 miles on the car today and it happened just once and this was with city driving for the most part. I'm conviced it was an ignition problem and intend to change the distributor and rotor just for the hell of it :D

[bagpuss]

Rather than start a new thread I've been a good boy and done a search and found this info. I have a similar problem - car is a 94 530i manual (v8) and it idles fine but on reversing or after stopping, it occasionally revs itself up slightly (only to about 1000-1500 rpm) - its as if an invisible gremlin has blipped the throttle for me !

Is the ICV, item 9 for my car 'T-Shape Idle Regulatng Valve' in this diagram ?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HE12&mospid=47381&btnr=13_0384&hg=13&fg=15

So, do I need to clean my ICV or is this a recognized issue, the cure of which lies elsewhere ?

Cheers.

[JMI]

Well it turned out that (the ICV) was not the problem. I ended up replacing the valve, 135.00 for nothing, although I have rationalized it as PM. It couldn't hurt to try cleaning it, it appears to have solved the issue for others.
I still working on my idle problem :(

[bagpuss]

Well I cleaned it - not sure I did it right as I had no carb cleaner and shop was closed so used Iso-Propanol and some paper towels then a final spray with WD40. Put it all back together and it run like crap ! But it settled down after a while - must have been metering all that alcohol left in there as air or something. Anyway, too early to tell if its fixed - the idle was fine anyway, just the gremlin blips. Will report back in a few days, whether its fixed or not. Might have to do it again with carb cleaner ? (Iso-Propanol maybe not strong enough ?). Cheers.

[MBXB]

When I cleaned out my ICV, I used up 2 cans of cleaner. Keep spraying till it drips out clear. Shoot it in the crevices around the rotary valve. Wipe clean then install. I don't know if WD40 would be good in this application. It may be too gummy.

The
Well I cleaned it - not sure I did it right as I had no carb cleaner and shop was closed so used Iso-Propanol and some paper towels then a final spray with WD40. Put it all back together and it run like crap ! But it settled down after a while - must have been metering all that alcohol left in there as air or something. Anyway, too early to tell if its fixed - the idle was fine anyway, just the gremlin blips. Will report back in a few days, whether its fixed or not. Might have to do it again with carb cleaner ? (Iso-Propanol maybe not strong enough ?). Cheers.

[bagpuss]

Thanks MBXB, I'll get a can tommorow and have another go and leave out the Wd40 then - its only I saw in another post to give it a spray of that, but if ppl have had success without it then I'll skip it. Cheers.

[BillionPa]

speaking of WD40.....

i cleaned my ICV with valvoline cleaner a few months ago, and now when i crank the car and it starts.... it only goes to like 500rpms, then clips up to 700 a few secs later. im thinking there isnt enough lurication in the ICV and it takes a second for it to respond.

im going to clean it again before winter and use some sort of lubricant in there, was thinking of WD40 as it contains no particulates.

[bagpuss]

Re-done it with carb cleaner (mainly Xylene I think). It was spotless with iso-propanol yesterday (ran clear) today with carb cleaner, a load of crap came out, so definately iso-propanol not strong enough ! Only needed half a large can though so at least the iso-propanol cleaned some of it and saved me buying 2 cans !

Went with a touch of WD40 afterwards. Car running fine but too early to tell on the 'blip-gremlins'. They were still there after the iso-propanol clean so I think it might be something else, but fingers crossed, the xylene might have done something extra, we'll see......

[MBXB]

Did you 'reboot' the car? That might help.

[bagpuss]

No reboot yet, see how it goes tomorrow. Cheers.

[bagpuss]

Just to update on this:

The cleaning of the ICV and a reboot of the car did not fix the 'blip gremlins'.

Any further thoughts ?

[JMI]

The idle problem was fixed:
see this (http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=25309)