Electrical question.

[17seconds]

Whenever I have been driving a little and the engine warms up, when I stop as my car sits there and idles the RPM's drop really low to where the engine starts shaking like it wants to die, especially when I add any additional electrical load such as turning on the headlights.

Does anyone know if adding a bigger battery or alternator will help this? I've tried setting the idle higher but only helps a little. I've heard people say 4cyl cars just do that but I don't think it's normal.

[widemx3]

upgrade to the 90 amp alt. off of the 1.8 I havn't done it yet but it couldn't hurt..

[17seconds]

Yeah but I would only wanna do that if I knew for sure it would alleviate the problem.

[widemx3]

do you have any amps or subs in your car?

[widemx3]

you might want to clean out your TB and MAF with some carb cleaner...The TB and MAF tends to get gunked up from oil blow by on our cars....Relatively easy and pretty cheap($2) for a can of carb cleaner....your MAF or TB might be sticking...

[17seconds]

No I just have a Sony CD player with 6x9's, and this will happen usually with nothing but dash lights or headlights on. When I turn lights off, the RPM's go back up some.

[widemx3]

well our motor only has a 60amp alt. just about any load on the elect. will cause a strain...have your bat. checked...I have a 4 channel amp running a kicker 12 and some 6.5 in the door and I havn't had a problem...It sounds stupid but after I cleaned my TB and MAF my idle problems went totally away...

[17seconds]

Thanks. By TB you mean throttle body right and I don't really know what/where that is? Same with MAF. I'm bad with acronyms.

[widemx3]

TB=Throttle Body MAF=Mass Air Flow
Your TB is located on your intake manifold and your MAF is located on your intake...It's the box thing in the middle of the intake tube...

[anjin1982]

how do you clean it?...can so

[widemx3]

spray both out with some carb cleaner and wipe out all the dirt and oil with a rag. take care around anything electrical. after cleaning let the car sit for a little while before starting..