Hanging Revs Fix
I made this change to my Spectra 5 about 5 months ago and it has been great. The fix is very easy to do and I have attached a couple of pictures with notes on one.
You will need to remove the plastic engine cover, which I have done permanently. The Idle Control Valve is at the back of the engine where the plastic intake hose from the air cleaner goes to the engine.
Remove the bolt in front of the valve that holds the throttle cable, it makes it easier to get to the lower bolt for the valve. Then remove the 2 bolts for the valve. There is a gasket there, but is should come out easily, just try to preserve the gasket, because you may want to reuse it at some point and you will use it as a template. You will also want to unplug the electrical connector to make it easier to remove the valve.
Get a piece of aluminum sheet metal. I used roofing flashing, others have used soda cans. Using the gasket from the valve, use it as a template to cut out the piece of aluminum you are going to use to restrict the air flow through the valve. Use a drill or punch to make the two bolt holes in the same location as those in the gasket. Then use a 5/16" drill to slowly drill 2 holes in the locations shown by the black marks in the photo. This will allow some air to pass through the valve for fast idle and other idle control functions.
Reassemble with your new aluminum restrictor, you don't need the gasket.
You will find that the car operates normally, but the revs come down significantly faster when you shift. You can have them come down even faster with 1/4" holes, but you will lose fast idle when you first start the car. I tried it, but found it annoying after a couple of weeks.
This is a really cheap and easy fix. Also, easily brought back to stock.
Have fun!
Last edited by Kiapet : 06-09-2007 at 10:42 AM.
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