Help! car starts but...

[ran]

but then it struggles to keep running and eventually dies out. here's the deal, my s13 starts up fine but then the rpm falls below 1k rpm and struggles to stay up but eventually dies out, all within the first 2 seconds of turning. while it struggles, i need to rev it a bit to avoid the die out. anyone know what's wrong.

i have:-stock motor-no major replacement of parts. -exhaust and catback. that's it.

[AHall]

Try to clean your idle air control valve (IACV). This could be the problem, someone had a post on this a while back. It provided the details on how to take the valve off and clean it.

[ziggy682]

Vacuum leak.

[ran]

i checked out the other threads and read a repair manuel, i pop the hood and i have no clue what to look for. i've seen a cross section of the IACV air regulator and nothing really looks like that. don't know where the valve is either. im a noob as a noob can get.

[ziggy682]

The IACV could cause your idle to jump around, and dip low when you put your clutch in, but it won't cause your engine to die right after you start it. Check to make sure you TPS is plugged in, it controls your idle. When it's working properly, it adjusts your idle to keep it around 750 rpm. If it's unplugged or not working properly, and your idle is set too low, it could die right after you start it. However, you most likely have a massive vacuum leak. Just look at all your vacuum hoses, and see if one is split, broken, or has come off. I give it a 95% chance that's your problem.

[Arrow]

I had a similar problem with my 90 240... If you just got the car and it has a decent amount of miles on it, I would suggest that you look at the rubber adapter that connects the air intake pipe to the Throttle body... It is corrigated and has one pipe going from it to the valve cover (at least on the SOHC's...) That was my problem, it was cracked all the way around the little corrigations...

hope you find your problem! Also if it is a vaccume leak, check your spark plugs b/c they get fouled up quickly and if they aren't cleaned even fixing the vaccum leak won't help...

So, find the vaccum leak (hope it is that as it would be the easiest fix...), fix the leak, and check/clean your plugs!

[ran]

so how do i check for a vacuum leak? i did a visual check, felt around and it looked okay.

[Arrow]

Did you try to flex the pipes and see if they opened up anyplace that they shouldn't?? A good idea might also be to have the car idling then push the lever by the throttle body to rev the engine and see/listen for any hissing noises or anything out of the ordinary...

[ran]

now im really confused, car idles like normal now.

[Arrow]

That is strange... Did you do anything to it?

[ran]

i haven't done anything but that first and only visual check, i haven't even pop the hood since then. now it idles just fine after the start up, before i even got a chance to do any pipe flexing. though i have a feeling that it's going to come back.

[Arrow]

That is odd... Those darn intermittent problems are the worst! It's so hard to narrow down the part(s) that are affecting it when the problem isn't always there... Or worse seems to change!

I have a weird idling problem with my car... Haven't been able to pinpoint the problem, but I also haven't had the time to check all of the sensors and other stuff aswell.... Hope I find out the problem soon and get it resolved... Then I can better look into upgrading!!!! (I don't want to upgrade anything until I find and fix any/all problems that it has.... Long and painstaking process)

[Krux]

My car had this problem, car turned off when I was on a circular exit ramp getting off the freeway lost my power steering and almost slammed into the wall cuzz i wasn't expecting the car to turn off. anyways turned out to be my O2 sensor it was umm a little melted and caused my car to die when the clutch got pushed in, before I figured out it was my O2 i cleaned my IACV valve also