6n iratic idling

to cut a very long and very painful story short, ive been told a new idle control valve will solve my iratic idling and constant stalling.
Question is, do i get a new valve off ebay or get a new throttle body which will have the valve fitted off ebay lol problem is i want to avoid taking it to a garage n having the idle set n being fleeced of my money!

The reason i ask whether a new throttle body/valve combo would be better is would i need to set the idle as the car wouldnt no its a new valve? I hope you understand this, im confusing myself lol

can i set the idle myself, is it an easy job?

isit a 16v ? id say get the thottle body, no you cant set it up your self need the equipment, i can give you the number of some1 i know who wont rip you off to set the idle?

no mate its a 1.6 8v. Ive had a sudden lightbulb moment! ill get back to you if it doesnt work!

Right people, this iratic idling problem seems to be coming back to haunt me. I adjusted the throttle cable a while back and it made the problem a lot better, but for the 1st 15mins or so after start up in the morning it keeps losing revs and stalling which i assume is the idle control valve. After this 15mins its back to normal!

So im thinking of getting a new throttle body of ebay for £50 or so and seeing if it fixes the problem, question is can the throttle bodies from different engine codes be swapped? Ie could i swap a 1.4 16v body for my 1.6 8v?! Does anyone know if this will work?!

the 16v wont fit, you will need 1 off a 8v, for a couple off quid try your water temp sensor, could be messing up the choke.

Is this the little blue thing on the front under the block cover on the right? Sounds a bit random i know but think ive seen a thread on this at clubpolo?

have had a lot of similar porblems with loys of the mk4 polo's that i have had and believe me the easiest route is to just change the whole throttle body for a new/secondhand one. i have a good spare but am keeping it for a spare as we run 2 6n's, let us know how you get on...... joe

Let me know the car model and I will do some research and let you know how difficult a job it is.

Its a 98 polo 1.6 8v GL, thanks

Hum, all the info I can find is that it is just a part like on the other 8v heads. This would mean you can replace just the valve and not effect the timing.
Have you tried cleaning it? I usually use carb cleaner.

I can try it i suppose before i go any buy a 2nd hand one, its just it was a garage that told me it was the idle control valve that needed doing?! Where can i get carb cleaner from, will halfords be good enough?

i should think halfrauds will sell it mate

Halfrauds will sell it, as does the great car part show in Apsley that was a few doors down from GSF. They sell loads of gaskets too and univeral radiator pipes but that is another story.

The problem with buying one off ebay is it might be rubbish and that is why it is being sold. A new one is often expensive so I alway got them from that scrap yard near MFI in Hemel. See if they have an 8V polo and if it has bad body work damage then it is likely it was being driven at the time.
To try to clean it disconnect the valve and spray in the carb cleaner, then let it run out. It is a solvent that break down gum and you should see the liquid come out black. Keep doing that until it comes out clean then reconnect.

The idle control valve does what it is called, the symptoms of a bad one are often that the revs drop lower than the expected idle rate when you take your foot off the throttle before going back up. A leaky top crankcase breather could also be involved but you would smell that as a smell similar to a leaky exhaust.

Had a go at this earlier this morning and touch wood everything seems to be ok at the moment. Hasnt stalled from turning on the ignition but most of all - it feels so different its alot more responsive and really goes to show how just keeping things clean matters.

While i was down at halfords buying my Wynns carb cleaner i had the royal privelige of seeing the cleanest white mk1 golf parked outside!

Re-started from fold last night and it stalled like before, only good thing is that it picked up almost imediately, and didnt take 15mins like before. Im beginning to wonder if it is the idle control valve, because once its past the inital stall it idles fine :s Its like when i turn the key there isnt enough mmpf to get it going and i have to give it some beans to get it started.

could it be the alternator, not holding its charge? I had a new battery fitted just before xmas so cant be that?

So it is fine when it is warm but bad from cold?
If it starts and cranks over then the battery and alternator are likely to be fine.

Its bad when its been left for a while, ie when i go to start it in the morning or when i leave my gf's to go home in the evening. Its just the 1st inital start up. I have to have my foot on the throttle to start it, just the key isnt enough. After that is fine?! its really confusing!

That sounds more like a vacuum leak to me, however the ISV plays a part. I would still try a good one off another car and see if that solves it, do you know anyone who can swap it for a test?

No i dont know anyway i could try a clean one, except for buying one :s

It is an electronic choke isn't it.....
How much is just the valve, ask Fitzy if he can get you one....

Im not sure found a few on ebay just to get an idea of what i should be looking for and they seem to be around £27? Getting the valve is the easy part, the idle has got to be set after re-fitting hasnt it?! Thats a garage jobbie?

best thing to do is get a 'basic settings reset' and i think you should be fine (as you have already cleaned out the throttle body -we usually do them both at the same time)

I can get that done at my place (work at vw main dealer)

I don't know why the idle would need to be reset unless the car has had the idle set with defective parts. Swap it over and see how it goes, then take Fitzy up on his good offer.

£27 sounds cheap but enjoy you get a new one, because I have a collection of useless ones from ebay and other sources, better to buy a new one once than two useless ones.

Fitzy: How much would this cost? Would you be able to reset the SERVICE INSP warning aswell lol