Honda / Acura K20a K24a Engine Forum banner
17K views 67 replies 7 participants last post by  nikos 
#1 ·
Im on the last leg of my swap here. When I start the engine up it idles fine for about 10 seconds and then goes into an idle looping from 1000 to 2500 rpms.

I have no idea what might be the cause of this. I am definetly no mechnic so there could be something obvious tht I m missing.
I have taken video of the rpm's jumping long with the engine bay, including sound if this will improve my chances of finding the culprit.

Thank you very much for helping me.
-Tom

Video:
http://corncobbs.servehttp.com/k20/idle.zip
 
#6 ·
Thanks guys I have checked everything listed and the onlything I am unsure about is:

1. In the picture attached I have surrounded two tubes with red and circled a spot. The tube on the left which is at the top of the TB I have going to nothing, where is this supposed to go?
The tube on the right does not go to anything because that sensor that goes in that spot broke. I was told by others that I do not need that to go anyplace because alot of people stick the temp sensor there?

2. The other thing is this canister that is under the fuel filter, it has three tubes comming from it that I do not have going to anything, could this be something I should be concerned with?

Thanks a bunch for the help!
 
#10 ·
Okay, I have both closed off with bolts plugging up the hoses pretty good.

One thing that is also going on is that earlier today when I had the engine running for a couple of minutes a check engine light poped on so I shut the engine off real quick. The code according to hondata was the engine overheating.
Seeing as that happend I notice that my temp gauge in my gauge cluster isnt working. I have the hasport temp sensor adapter, kpro and hybrid harness. The sensor is wired up to the correct labeled wire on the harness and is grounded, just not working and Im not sure about that yet.
Seeing as I got this code I inspected my rad hoses to find no leak. I did pull off the top rad hose from the radiator and it seemed dry. Now if the engine was overheating wouldnt that hose be very wet from the coolant flowing in and out of the radiator?
I have the radiator toped off and it is brand new stock radiator.
Thanks again

Im not sure if this helps any but if I hold the engine at say 4,000 rpm for a 30 seconds or so, I can still hear some type of rpm bliping going on a little. What that means I dont know but thought it might mean something to the smart minded.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Did you happen to get the temp from K-pro?
Make sure the radiator cap is off when you are starting it up, leave it off and check to see if the fluid is cycling. Squeeze the hoses and feel for fluid moving...
The jumpy idle sounds like the IACV is stuck. Inside the throttle body, on the lower part there is a port. Plug it with your finger and see if that stops the idle surge.

 

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#12 ·
It is hard to tell from the pictures and the video, but I believe the vacuum connection on the top of your throttle body that you are referring to is for your evap sensor. The canister on your fire wall is the evap canister. In my swap I took out the canister all together. The evap sensor vacuum connection I capped off. Of course, the proper (read: environment friendly) way is to get these two to work together.

The other vacuum hose you are referring to looks like your Intake Air Bypass Control Thermal Valve. The vacuum hose on the top goes to the vacuum connection on the top of your manifold (near the valve cover). The one on the side is supposed to go to your intake air duct. I have mine capped off. The fact that it is broken may need some further investigation (depending on where it is broken).

With regard to your idle, I would first focus on the mechanical condition of your intake air control valve and make sure the vacuum inlet is clean. The next thing to check is fuel values in your low fuel map at idle. You may need to adjust those to stabilize the idle. While you are there, check which columns the engine moves through (to see what pressure values the engine is seeing at idle). Then, check the idle tab in KPro and move the sensitivity lever (uploading your changes) and watch the impact on your idle.
 
#13 ·
not sure but may be ur sensor may be bad or the wire is not connected rite i had the same problem like tht over heating but then my kpro got burned and i had an leak in the back hose by the headers check tht r ur fans working mine is connecting like hybrid require but i took out the plug from the bottom of the rediator and directed the fans so mine is fi9 noe no more p0127 its still idling or wht the noise u have i have it to when my car is idling fi9 its does tht like it missing but when i rev it its fi9 but any was start the car is see it spary the water around the im and look for bubbles let me know


check my idling


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBm2r8HnZfI
 
#14 ·
I took off the rad. cap and the water just doesnt move.

I pluged the hole inside of the TB on the bottom and the jumpy idle stoped being jumpy. Not sure what this means but we might be onto something here?
I am not using an air intake tube at this moment if that makes a difference.
When I pluged up the hole, the loud hissing noise stoped if that means anything.

I did not get the temp from kpro at that time. At what temp looking at the kpro in Fahrenheit should I start getting worried?
My temp sensor seemed to work just find in the last motor I had. Its grounded and the wires are hooked up very tight aswell.
 
#17 ·
You blocked off the IACV, intake air control valve, something like that...Prolly just needs to be cleaned out, this is a common thing. Under the throttlebody there will be two 5point star screws. You can notch them with a dremel to get them off. Your IACV will come out, clean it with some carb cleaner and make sure it spins freely, then re-install it. Turn on your car, clear your codes, and start her up.

Now...gotta figure out why your waterpump ain't working. 200*F is bad if the coolant is not circulating. I wouldnt let it get above 180 personally, not until the pump is fixed.
Do you have your fans on?
 
#18 ·
I will try to clean that thing out tonight if I can get to the store and get a five point screwdriver.
Yes, the water pump is a bad issue. What powers this pump? This engine that I have is one of those TSX engines that Niko's was selling that are like almost brand new so I would have a hard time seeing the pump being bad. Any ideas how to test this thing?
So what your saying is that when I take the rad cap off and look in there I should see the water moving around quit a bit?
I am asuming the water pump is the black like deal that the bottem rad hose connects to. Would I want to disconnect the bottem rad hose and look inside of that black dohicky and see if something is spinning inside of it or something along those lines?
 
#20 ·
Yes, do as Aaron suggests, turn your car off, let it cool off, take your radiator cap off, and start it again. Let it circulate and cap it off. Another way to do this, unplug one of the coolant hoses on the side of the head (driver's side) and prop it up (with some rags underneath). Start your car and when coolants reaches that hose, turn your car off (this works best with a buddy behind the wheel, that you can yell at to turn the car off :). Then, hook everything back up. Start your car again. With your hand on the upper radiator hose, check if it heats up.

Definitely turn on datalogging in KPro and check your ect temperature every time you start it, until you see it build to the 180's-190's and stabilize.
 
#21 ·
Tommy said:
I will try to clean that thing out tonight if I can get to the store and get a five point screwdriver.
Yes, the water pump is a bad issue. What powers this pump? This engine that I have is one of those TSX engines that Niko's was selling that are like almost brand new so I would have a hard time seeing the pump being bad. Any ideas how to test this thing?
So what your saying is that when I take the rad cap off and look in there I should see the water moving around quit a bit?
If you have a dremel you can just cut a line into the screws and use a flat tip screwdriver.
The pump is driven by the engine...is it pressurizing the rad hoses at all? You should be able to feel it in the hose. The coolant ports are not blocked right? I don't mean to ask silly questions, but I have seen some anxious people hook up hoses and not check to see if there was a rag or something blocking off the passages...
The rad cap should stay off for the first 20-30 mins of start up. The radiator will need constant filling as the motor reaches operating temperature and the pump cycles.
 
#23 ·
Thank you guys.

Okay I dremel the bolts and took that black peice off the bottem of the TB and there is a little cylinder shaped peice sticking out. The thing is orange and everything so I spray some stuff on there to clean it. Is this thing supposed to twist around? Its definelty in no shape to twist around.
Okay, small update::I just got that little thing to twist around, it was rusted to sh*t in there, so I will make sure it spins pretty good then put it back on and see if the magic works.
Thanks
I will get down to buisness on that radiator hose testing you guys mentioned in a few minutes or so.
I will tell you that there is rad fluid coming out the other side of the block because I had a small leak there I had to fix.
I will check for that pressure though in a few.
 
#24 ·
I have a great update.
I put the little sensor back in there after I got it spining, had to hit it over the head a couple of times. Started her up and she idled fantastic for about 5 minutes till I noticed that the ETC temp on kpro climed up to 200F so I cut her off. I felt the rad hoses and they have pressure in them. I still didnt see movement uder that cap exept for some water draining down a little so I put some more in.
I havent hooked the fan up to the rad yet so I am hoping that is going to keep the temps down. I will try to hook that up right now.
Comming off the fan there are two wires. I have two wires comming off theh fan switch I installed in the hasport adapter. There is a wire comming from the hasport harness. Any idea which is what they hook up too?
Thanks again
If all goes well maybee I will stick the wheels on and see if she rolls down the street after over 3 years of not rolling =)

I took the plug that came off my old oem fan and connected that two the two wires comming off of the new fan.
The only place I see on the oem harness is another plug that is up near the firewall on the driver side, is this the correct place for it?
Thanks
 
#25 ·
Great news! I would just wire the fan up with the car on, engine off. If the fan is spinning backwards switch the wires. Start it up, monitor the temps, add coolant and let it idle for 20-30 mins. Make sure the car is at operating temps (180-200*F) and no more coolant is needed, then take it for a spin.
 
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