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cold mornings...
hey, i have a 97 accord if that helps, and i live in the upper part of new england.
we recently had a cold spell where its been about zero farenhiet in the mornings, and when i turn my car on to go to school and let it idle for a few minutes, it revs up from about 1500 to 2300 or so, then back down, then up again and so on untill it warms up. i know a little about cars, so i assumed this was just its way of idling a little higher to warm up because its so cold, so im thinking its nothing to worry about.
just making sure that nothing is wrong...
thanks for the help
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well i'll say this much. a rough idle, or sketchy idle is a timing issue. now your engine timing has probably gone astray from it's original setting (i don't know the valve timing on a 97 accord, i haven't looked into it) but i do know that when timing is off your idle, as well as RPM's love to bounce around and never stay still. i had a 1977 jaguar XJ6 and the timing on that was way off. it liked to idle at 3000 RPM's and then drop down to 800 RPM's and move around all the time. i think what you should do is get that checked out. now timing also involves several parts of the vehicle. a timing belt, a belt tensioner, a timing chain, your pistons, your valves, your camshafts, camshaft sensors, and your engine's ECU (engine computing unit). a timing belt replacement is only like $40 but a new ECU will run you into the thousands and could cost more than just a new car. it all depends these days. but you do need to get that looked at.
secondly get your fuel injectors, spark plugs, fuel lines, gas tank, and fuel filters checked, and your distributor (though the accord you own might be coil on plug and not have a distributor again i haven't done my homework on that engine)these can also deal heavily in fuel management and idling. your fuel filters clean the fuel before sending it to the engine, the injectors directly inject fuel into the engine. the spark plugs provide the electrical spark needed to make the fuel explode inside the engine, and the coils and distributor provide the electric energy to make the sparkplugs spark. if any of these are dirty, or damaged you're gonna have a definate problem with idling, and engine performance. has your car been running slower and more sluggish lately as well? has it been moving with a bit less power? all of these need to asked and can be assesed by simply checking your fuel injection and electronic distribution system.
thirdly check the air filter and air intake system. if not enough air is being delivered to the engine what will happen is an almost choking of the engine and driving will become narry impossible. an air intake system's job is to take air from the outside, clean it, filter it, and run it cleanly into the engine. once in the engine it mixes with gasoline and is sparked to make an explosion that powers the car. but if the air is not getting in you're going to not get as much power and suffer for it. the air filter and idle don't have much in common though. which is why this comes thirdly.
everything listed here is where you should start at, and work your way down from. your best bet if you're not a mechanic yourself is to take it to someone who is and have them give it a once over with the right tools and equipment. and at the same time though, before you spend any money and any time on this. it could just be it's way of idling when it's cold and heating up the engine. unless you notice it doing this even in warmer weather and at stoplights and such i think you might be fine but once it starts to spread and grow then you need to give it a checkup.
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