idle air valve
 

is the idle air valve on my 86 300e supposed to spin, its not that dirty but does not rotate

Spin ? The idle valve is buried under the intake/hose assembly.
Are you refering to the CISe air flap ?

If so, this is secured by the center bolt and the plate/flap is centered in the funnel with slight clearence all round.



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yes its under the air cleaner but its the valve in front of the fuel dist. the one hose comes from under the fuel dist. the other goes to the intake

It's a rotary valve, but it does not 'spin'. The angle of rotation determines the air valve orifice size. Total rotation is less than 180 degrees.

Steve

should I be able to rotate it the 180 degress by hand? it doesn't move at all

The valve can carefully be rotated by hand. In the resting position, it leaves a small gap (adjustable). The direction of rotation is where it first closes the gap before it opens at the other side.

Se attached drawing.

could not move it open at all, and only a hair towards closed

The valve is opened by the motor -- may not move real easily by hand.

Probably time to clean it though -- are you experiencing occasional stalls upon stopping? If so, time for cleaning the valve and probably replacing the idle hoses -- the get hard and leak air, causing all sorts of running problems including serious throttle lag.

Peter

I don't know if the valve can be moved by hand. If you supply dc current to it, however, it will move. The amount the valve opens depends on the voltage supplied, between 1 and 12V. Try connecting it to various dry cell batteries and see what you get.

Hello Minnet,
I have posted a picture of the Idle control valve of my car.
Is the adjustment screw the one mentioned in my picture?

Do you know the method to adjust it?

thats what the manual calls it, at first I thought it was a grease fitting, I am just getting the car back together after a valve job and I never had a problem before, but put new hoses on anyway because they were hard, now its hard to start and bad idle so I took it back out and I had ripped the new hose, so as soon as I get another hose will report back, I will try the batteries, thanks

Mine was locked up. I shot some carb cleaner in there, and let it soak.
I was able to free up the valve by forcing it with a screwdriver, Then ran test-wires to the battery, and let the action of the motor complete the job. If you apply 12 volts to it, it will move from stop to stop.

Jeff Pierce

Yes, it should move easily against only light spring pressure. Probably needs to be overhauled or replaced. Try soaking overnight in rubbing alcohol - see if it loosens up.

Steve

Yes, that is the adjustment screw. However, I do not think it should be field adjusted. It is factory adjusted to provide a specified amount of air flow resistance until the engine is started and computer control takes over.