Is the air regulator necessary?

[c-rad]

I was reading the FSM, and noticed the air regulator was for cold starts only. I don't mind waiting an extra minute for the car to warm up here in frigid Florida. Just one less component to deal with. I can just block off the bigass nipple on the manifold. Yes?

[boost_boy]

I was reading the FSM, and noticed the air regulator was for cold starts only. I don't mind waiting an extra minute for the car to warm up here in frigid Florida. Just one less component to deal with. I can just block off the bigass nipple on the manifold. Yes?

YOu can block it off and you are already aware that your morning starts will be a bit troublesome!

Dee

[c-rad]

YOu can block it off and you are already aware that your morning starts will be a bit troublesome!

Dee

Yeah, I've dealt with it before, it doesnt seem to be too big a deal. I may also block off the coolant passages that go through the TB as well. Depends if I go with the KA-E throttle body or not.

[sjbsuperman1425]

argh imma takin over this thread!

this coming winter, im pulling the motor to do alot of things (clutch, belt, w/p, etc..) and im looking to add a BOV to my system, but in order to run it where i want to (cold pipe) i'd have to cut out the bungs for the air regulator..so heres my question.

i know of the coldstart problems involved with removing the air regulator..but what about the IACV also? if i remove both of these, would i just set the throttle body to be open at 1000rpms to be able to let it idle? and when everyone says you have to hold/press the gas to start it, do you mean you have to be in the car for "X" amount of time babying the throttle to keep it alive?

i want to clean things up under my hooded area but not if its going to be a PITA everyday..btw, this is a summer car only. Thanks in advance..i thought i'd probably get flamed if i opened a new thread about this

[rico05]

I blocked that coolant nipple Chris. No issues. As far as the regulator, most dont work anyway. But I would keep it. I know that Tim removed his IACV and AAC and just uses his throttle cable tension to keep idle up enough to keep it from dying. But he runs a MS. Don't you run an SDS anyway?

[float_6969]

No, he runs stock ECU.

Chris, what is the coldest temperature that you will try to start the car in? If it isn't under 50°F, you'll be fine. Under that, be prepared to have to start it a couple of times and baby it to keep it alive for a few mins.

If it works and you don't want it, I'd buy it from you.

[ca18detgabby]

why not just relocate the air regulator?

[rico05]

Oh, ok Ryan. For some reason, I thought that Chris was part of the standalone crowd lol.

[r34 gtr]

The cracked TB trick is where its at, so long as you don't mind your idle speed being different depending on temperature, pressure, etc. Mine is usually dead solid at 900rpm, but sometimes it can be as high as 1200rpm if its a particularly cold/hot day, respectively. It never idles lower than 900 though, which is nice.

If you do it, I would suggest loctite on the TB crackin screw, as it has a habit of working itself back out when it gets really hot in the engine bay.

[sjbsuperman1425]

so no air regulator + no IACV = cracked throttle via bottom screw and babying it in the morning? nothing else? for those that have done it, would you recommend it?

[bentvalves]

on a stock ECU, I would use the AICV to control idle.

[r34 gtr]

Yeah, with the stock ECU its an incredible pain in the a** to coax her to run on colder mornings. Sitting there revving the engine like an idiot for five minutes or so, until it has the guts to back down the driveway. I know it well. My car used to fall flat on its face when you tried to coax it into driving, unless the temp gauge had moved.

I run a stand alone, so I was suggesting the cracked TB trick for fellow stand alone users, as they are designed to be run in the absence of a AICV or whatev.

[BLKTOPS14SR]

Would you be able to run no IACV with a JWT tuned ECU? Thanks

[sjbsuperman1425]

what about just byspassing the Air Regulator? a straight line from the IC piping to the manifold?

[dattodude]

You could, but you'd probably end up with a high idle. It needs to pretty much close up when warm. Installing some sort of 'electric choke button' using something like the 'step up' solenoid used by the A/C idle circuit could be a better alternative. But you really need something automatic that is time or temperature based, so that anyone can drive your car.

If you want a car that normal people can't drive..you should have started with a 70s Datsun :-)

[splintercell]

rhdjapan is the only place ive found that sells new oem replacement aav. i bought mine months ago and i love not babying the gas anymore for 8 min. mine was just old and not working that great anymore.

[sjbsuperman1425]

sorry to bring this back up, but i want my car to not idle like poop anymore. If i remove the IACV assembly but KEEP the air regulator, that would take care of the cold starts and I would still have the TB screw trick for when its warm correct?

[float_6969]

Sort of. Remember that the reason that they use an idle control valve is that if your idle is set via a fixed throttle position, the idle is only going to be at that RPM at that load. If you turn on things like the headlights, A/C, Rear defrost, stereo, wipers, roll down the windows, ETC, your idle will drop. I don't have any idle control simply because it's not available with my standalone. One of the drawbacks for me is that I've lightened up the reciprocating mass so much that load has a very noticeable effect on idle. I have to actually set my idle at 1100 RPM with no load so that when everything is turned on, the motor still turns fast enough to maintain a smooth idle and not dis-charge the battery, which is about 800 RPM.

If I had a stock idle control system available I would use it. And actually, I did end up going back to the stock air regulator for the fast idle as it just works better than anything else.

[sjbsuperman1425]

Dee is hooking me up with the air regulator and IACV for a fair price, then this winter I will be purchasing NIStune, so things will be rolling and hopefully idling ALOT better. My friend worships my car because its the only running CA and the cleanest reliable 240 within 100 miles, but I can't stand the poop idle..Its very annoying for how much money i have into this already lol

[seth_jxl]

Hi All, new to this forum but not new to these engines unfortunately.
I have been reading over this thread and its seems a few of you are rather knowledgeable in regards tot he intake system for CA18DET's.
I have a N13 Exa with a S13 DET and a EMS dualsport thats was pulled from a working U12 Blue Bird. The install is about finished however i am yet to do the intake piping as i am unsure how to resolve the idle issue.
At present i have only Brake Assist, Cold Start Solenoid and Air regulator connected to the throttle body. under this setup the engine idles at around 2g and if i remove power tot he cold start the engine chokes and dies. I believe the issue is due to the air regulator and as far as i can see it is only getting about 9v, i have tested its continuity to be at 72 ohm which i believe is correct if not very close.
So far it seems to be the general consensus that to resolve the issue, remove both and crack the butterfly valve. This would work in the interim however i would like to have automatic control over my idle.
I have applied 12v to the Air regulator and attempted to blow through it and found it rather restricted (not nearly enough to let an engine idle). I have also tried this with a second regulator i had lying around from a ca18de and found the same thing... Are both regulators stuffed of do i need to look else where?

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Edit: My apologies for digging up an old thread.

[float_6969]

Just to make sure, the air regulator is the valve under the throttle body. Unplugging it shouldn't do anything but keep it open. A little backround on how it works;

The air regulator is pretty simple. Here is how it works. There are 3 main parts of the air regulator. The heater, the bi-metallic strip, and the air regulator disc. When cold, the bi-metalic strip twists in such a way as to align the largest opening of the disc into the air path of the housing on the regulator. When the car is started, power is supplied to the fuel pump AND the air regulator (they're wired in parralell). The power supplied heats up the bi-metallic disc, causing it to "un-twist". This rotates the disc to a smaller opening and the idle drops. The process continues until the opening of the disc is no longer present. At this point, all of the idle control is now taken over by the IACV mounted on the side of the intake manifold.

What commonly happens is that some component of the air regulator fails, either the heater, the bi-metallic strip, or the disc gets gunked up. I've had limited success un-sticking them. It's a $75 part IIRC.