Hi all,
A while back I put a stereo in my car('95 Magna auto) and the next day it stalled when the revs dropped after about a 45 mintue trip. The RACV bloke adjusted a screw in the engine and after doing it he said I had to take it to a mechanic immediately so they could reset the computer. It ran as normal after he did it but we thought something was still wrong with it. We took it to an auto electrician who had it for a day and found nothing wrong with it after running a heap of tests. The next day we took it to our mechanic to get serviced and he said it was fine. As I was leaving though he said the revs were too low when the AC was on so he adjusted the same screw the RACV guy did but let me drive off without reseting anything.

At the time I didn't take too much notice, I was just happy it was fixed. A couple of weeks ago my battery died, we replaced it and the next day... sure enough.... car was stalling again. I adjusted the screw but it seemed to do nothing drastic to my revs. I must of gotten them high enough though for me to start the car up and get home. I came here and looked up what to do and had a bit of success. I unplugged the battery for 30 minutes, plugged it back in, then let the car idle until it was warm(temp. gauge half way). The revs were still quite low though, maybe 700-800 in Park and 600 in Drive. While it hasn't stalled yet, at 600rpm it sure as hell feels like it will. I'm a bit worried it eventually will stall so I wanted to get it idling a bit higher so the car felt smooth in Drive.

I have adjusted the screw in the engine a heap of times and it's really not having much of an effect. How can I get this screw back to a normal position so I can unscrew it? At the moment it is out so far it'll almost fall out. What else can I do to get it revving higher? Can fiddling with this screw fix it or do I need to reset something again?

I can probably get it checked out by my mechanic at the cost of a bottle of whiskey so if it's easier I'll just do that. Although I'd prefer an easy home fix. :)



Thanks, G.

profile says 95 Magna auto with a trip tronic gearbox ......oh oh

you need a guru

if it was the 4 cyl it would be the stepper motor

What type of car is this? A second gen TR/TS or a third gen (I can't remember if the third gens existed then). If it is a third gen though, adjusting the idle screw on the throttle will do nothing, as it will be compensated by the idle control motor, which will automatically change it back to whatever speed it thinks the engine is supposed to be running at. I'm not sure if the second gen V6's do this, as I know the 4 cyls definitely do not have this trait.

There is a correct procedure you must follow to set it properly, but without knowing exactly what kind of car it is, we can't really point you to any definite answer...

You need to set the "base idle" with the adjuster screw the mechanic and RACV guy were playing with. Usually around the 800rpm mark.

The idle stepper motor then raises the idle the extra 50 or so rpm to get the desired 850rpm idle. When the aircon comes on, the idle is increased again to keep the compressor RPM suitable.

Without the idle stepper motor operating, the load of the aircon can stall the car, especially if the base idle is set low.

I can't remember if the Magnas run closed loop idle control, but I have a feeling it is fairly primative and still closed loop until the 380.

You need to set the "base idle" with the adjuster screw the mechanic and RACV guy were playing with. Usually around the 800rpm mark.

The idle stepper motor then raises the idle the extra 50 or so rpm to get the desired 850rpm idle. When the aircon comes on, the idle is increased again to keep the compressor RPM suitable.

Without the idle stepper motor operating, the load of the aircon can stall the car, especially if the base idle is set low.

I can't remember if the Magnas run closed loop idle control, but I have a feeling it is fairly primative and still closed loop until the 380.


Yeah I can't remember which type of idle it has either... I do know though that when I was working on my friends V6 Mazda Eunos that if you touched the idle it would just change the idle motor position to keep it at the same RPM, so adjusting the screw did absolutely nothing. I know all the Honda's i've ever had also behaved the same way too... never really played with anything other than the 1st gen TP idle control though, which is just a basic stepper motor with a couple of screws and a switch...

how big was your stereo system? make sure its grounded well, and if ur running a few nifty things get a capacitor. but me thinks your alternator could be under chargin your battery.

my prelude idles at 1100rpm, changin idle rpm isn't goin to help forever, i need to get a bigger alternator because i have a increased battery aswell and the stock alternator just can't keep the battery charged if i'm not consistanly keeping the car at least 2000rpm, so i've had to disconnect my fully sik sytem till then.

1995 you say?

1995 was the year of the TS. none of them came with a 3.8L Tiptronic Auto.

If it is '95, the idle screw on the throttle body will aid with the revs (as with the 4cyl) but you should get timing checked instead of playing with that screw all the time. If acceleration is poor and fuel consumption high, then the car is out of timing.

best thing is to get the timing done by a mechanic if you don't have a timing gun.

that's all i can think of atm. My car was stalling a little while ago, but mine's a four cyl, that's how i rectified it.