Hanging Revs Fix

[Kiapet]

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!

[Doohickie]

At full size the notes cannot be read. Zooming in doesn't help; the letters are too distorted. Looks like a cool fix though. I'm cross-posting this to Elantra forums.

EDIT: Thanks for fixing the notes!

[Yozick]

This is for manual trans or auto i forget?
And yeah you might want to repost the notes. lol

[Doohickie]

I think they both do it, but it is more bothersome on the MT. I only notice it on the 3-4 shift on the freeway; sometimes I think I am pretty much up to speed and I let up on the acclerator and it lags a bit before 4th catches. I've pretty much gotten used to it, and yeah, it's normal. Emissions are reduced somehow by not allowing the throttle to immediately drop.

Anyway, this mod is already all the rage over at ElantraXD.com!

[Kiapet]

Sorry about the notes. I'll try again. It looked great when I wrote them, then horrible when posted. Basically there are only 3 bolts which I point at, so the notes are a little redundant.

[ron1004]

Good work Kiapet

Just in case someone thinks of using a gasket sealant with this mod, just don't use silicone - apparently the silicone vapours given off will trash the O2 sensor.

[Kiapet]

I made changes to the picture, so you can now read the text. You definitely don't need sealant. The soft aluminum does a good job of sealing and it's all you need.

[Flipipino]

This is a great mod.

[landiscarrier]

What an easy "real" fix to a annoying issue!

Thanks alot!

[mantraelantra]

Here's my original post on an Elantra forum for my 2005 Elantra GL:

Hi. When I rev it up to 3000 rpm in first gear and depress the clutch, the rpm's remain high, sometimes only dropping when I shift into second and engage the clutch, which forces the revs down. It only does this between first and second. In any other gear, it drops quickly after depressing the clutch. I had the service manager at the dealer go for a ride with me this morning, and he says the computer is doing exactly what it is supposed to, keeping the revs high to avoid a spike in emissions. He suggested short shifting, but doing so lugs the engine in second. I don't want to burn out the clutch and/or transmission prematurely by shifting with the revs high. Any ideas out there?

I received the following reply from "doohickie":

All the information agrees with what I've heard. Here is a link to a post by Kiapet on Kia-forums.com where he made a mod to correct the hanging revs (the Spectra has the same 2.0 liter Beta II engine as the Elantra).

My question to you is, did the rev's on your Spectra hang in every gear, or just betwen 1st and 2nd like mine? It works perfectly in all the other gears, dropping the rev's to exactly where they should be when letting the clutch out in the next higher gear. My amateur mechanic theory is the air/fuel mixture on starting from a dead stop is not very good, and the rev's stay high to burn off the extra fuel. Just a theory, mind you. Thoughts?
Thanking you in advance,
Herb (oops I mean mantraelantra)