Griffith Idle problem

[mickygee]

I guess this is fairly common problem but with a twist.

The idle on my 4.5BV always a hunted up and down, with the odd stall. I Put it down to the Kent 218 hybrid cam and the lightened flywheel(engine rebuilt by V8 Developments). Anyway I thought I would clean the stepper motor to see if it improved things, and now the car doesn't want to idle at all unless I give it a little help with the throttle. Approaching junctions it now always stalls.

Before I cleaned the stepper, it only stalled now and again. Any ideas ?

The ECU has a John Eales (Mark Adams ?) chip fitted matched to the engine spec.

[Guillotine]

check the stepper again.

my guess is that you have an air leak in the plenum / inlet manifold, and you now have one on the stepper.

reclean and check for crap INSIDE the stepper housing.
also check the stepper gaskets. one could be fouled or damaged.

by the way, the whole stepper housing comes off the back of the plenum so you can see what you're doing.

4.5 cammed with lightend flywheel...mmm nice

>> Edited by Guillotine on Sunday 11th May 11:03

[2 sheds]

seems that the stepper motor is stuck / seized in the closed position, BTW if the feed to the stepper fails it normally stays open.
The hunting that you previously experienced is probably only down to base idle out of adjustment & mixture needing adjustment, has the car been on the rollers since the modifications ?
Tim

[david beer]

There seem to be a few suffering. Mine was the airflow meter connector on top,give it a wiggle and the car stall or nearly.

[mickygee]

Thanks for the tips guys I will check them out.

[Dai Capp]

I had something similar on my first Griff and it turned out the Vacuum Advance had come loose. Took it to the dealer 30 mins and £30 parts and labour later I was cured and back on the road.

[mickygee]

Took off the plenum removed and cleaned the stepper housing (it was quite gungy) and the stepper iteself, resealed and reassembled back together. The car is back as it was before I cleaned the stepper - it stalls only now and again. Checked the airflow meter connections no probs, and all other connections on the induction for leaks (nothing found). I will check out the advance and retard just in case.

It still might be I lightened that flywheel too much ......at least the car is usable again.

Thanks

Mick