Potential Fix for SOHC Idle problem

[atlantamx3]

A little Update,

I was just messin around under the hood today, and noticed that my Breather filter was soaked in oil.

The New one is on the left, the old one is on the right:


<small>[ November 08, 2003, 03:07 PM: Message edited by: atlantamx3 ]</small>

[Darcy]

Thanks for the tips guys. Will be checking this out as soon as possible (hopefully tomorrow).
Just bought a '93 Black RS, and am suffering from the idling problem.

I am not much of a mechanical guy, so hopefully I get this right. I need to remove the hose that connects the valve cover with the air line (After the air filter), seal the port on the air line somehow, and then get one of those breather filters? Are the filters one-size-fits-all? (unlike the stupid Teflon winter windshield wiper that I fought with in freezing weather this afternoon) If not, do I need to munge anything to get it to fit?
Also, do I have to clean out the Air intake control mechanism and anything else?

I am located in Calgary, so there aren't any PepBoys around here.
Anyone know of a Canadian Tire part # for this item or any other places locally that would have this?

[2fazed]

I had that Idle problem for a couple of years from 98. I took it to a Mazda Independent shop two years ago, and I haven't suffered the problem since. One thing they did was adjust the power sterring, they said this was a common problem in all Mazda makes. I'm really not sure what they did, but I don't stall anymore.

[hondah8er13]

OH MY GOD!!!!! you guys are so smart. this totaly fixed my problem!!! i have tried everything. full tune up, new pcv valve, new belts, cleaned hoses, i mean nothing would work it was still idling so bad.... i just did this and drove my car around the block and i can't believe it!! if i did not try it myself i would never believe it! anyway thank you all soooo much you made my wife very happy too! p.s. another suggestion: when i took off my throttle body and IAC valve i cleaned them out REAL good with carb cleaner and a rag...but to get even better results i used some Q-TIPS they worked great! well thanks again =)

[tuner]

well im reading this and cant wait to try it...but i just looked at a pic of my valve cover and, where the filter would go on, mine comes out to the side, rather then straight up like yours does. i have the dohc. anyone eles do this with a the dohc? will a filter still fit onto it?

anyone know any info???

[hondah8er13]

i don't see why you should have a problem... just make sure that it is on there pretty snug... i you buy the one from APC then it comes with a clamp..

[Guard-TL-]

I did the filter thing on my '95 RS(DOHC) last month. And it did wonders on my car. I haven't had any ideling problem sience then. Anf don't worry about the filter fitting, it's gona be a bit tight but it fits in nicely from the side.

[tuner]

thanks guys...will have to go pic up one of these and give it a shot.

just another question...what is the "nipple" thing that you use to cover the tube inlet thing on the intake? should i just ask for a "nipple"...im thinking i might get some weird looks

[hondah8er13]

well i don't really know what it is called, but i went to autozone and found it... have you ever seen the replacement parts for your car that are made be the company "HELP"? well they have some that were very cheap and different sizes.. worked perfect for me... if you don't want to say nipple just explain that you need to cap off an opening...

[atlantamx3]

[tuner]

rubber cap thats perfect...haha thanks again guys. dont know why i couldnt come up with that. anyways i picked up the breather today...hoping this will have the same result as you guys had.

[MaXPowers]

Well I tried the filter mod too and cleaned out my throttle and air flow meter and it actually really helped out alot. But the problems still kinda there. It's mostly when my cars on drive and reverse that my car still dies sometimes. My RPM's will be like at 500 or less before sometimes dying. I took it for a diagnostic test and they told me that it might be the idle control valve. Any suggestions?

[hondah8er13]

well i don't know if this will help you out or not, I was having the same problem with my 92' 1.6L sohc automatic.... anyway i ended up doing a full tune up, O2 sensor, added 4 new grounds, also reset the idle from the diagnostic plug, and one of those fixed... since i did them all at the same time i'm not sure which one fixed it.... sorry but hope this helps..

[p2ery]

I made this mod myself to my 93 mx-3 and it helped, a little. It does not die anymore, but the RPMs still drop down to 250 if not a little more, but hey atleast it does not die on me.

[Darcy]

Well, I went to Canadian Tire today to pick up the breather filter. Put it on, covered up the other hole with some electrical tape and proceeded to drive around for an hour (~95km worth).

It still has roughly the same problem, but maybe it's because I haven't reset the idle RPM.

However, I'm pretty sure in my case now that it could be lack of proper grounding as not at all lights it would dip down to 400RPM, but every time i was stopped and flicked on my headlights, it would bob down then up again at least once. Pressing on the breaks and turning the steering wheel would also cause it to drop down as well.

Perhaps I should clean out my IAC valve too?

<small>[ April 04, 2004, 07:45 PM: Message edited by: Darcy ]</small>