4AGE 20v stalling at random during idle

[BZR4AGE]

Hi guys....another sympton has appear on my car. (before I've even manage to fix my blogging issue)

At random times, during idle, the engine will stall, and the event that lead up to the stalling includes:

Rough idle
and battery voltage (according to voltage gauge) drops significantly from 14.2V to 12 then until it stalls.

If I give it some gas, the engine will not stall, and the idle will remain normal and won't occur again.

What should I check first?

I am pointing towards idle control valve, then altenator...

on a side note, recently I am getting a very strong fuel smell from exhaust...and I've just recently changed oxygen sensor, (not genuine, a univerisal NGK one).

could it be my knock sensor giving wrong signals and retarding the timing?

Thank you in advance. I am planning to take each sensor apart to check in the coming week, just want to know which to check first. Cheers in advance

[Crampy]

Just chuck on those trumpets I'm bringing in for you and all your worries will go away.... Well probably not.

Have you checked for vacuum leaks and dodgy earth connections?
Both if these can cause havoc on the way an engine runs.

Other than that, you're going have to get into some more fault finding.

[johndoe1025]

i recently did my o2 sensor, went to fit a bosch one, but they are a special type depending on vehicle year i got told, so i went and got a factory one (which retails for $400 or some shit if anyones interested, lucky i got hookups ) are you sure your o2 sensor is working? checked engine codes and watched it work on a scope?

[mr30%jr]

your using afm?

if its doing it and you have afm, jump in the check connector and put a short across FP and B+ if it still does it this eliminates the AFM shutting doo far.

if it does fix the problem it would sound like you need to wind down the idle mix valve on the AFM

if none of the above i would point towards idle control

[rollaholic]

you will be getting battery light / voltage drop cos the alt is not chucking out what it should be when the car is about to die.

does the car drive normally when its not idling? can you see black smoke when it is idling?

strong smell of fuel is more likely to be from a fuel leak / raw fuel than heaps of unburnt fuel in exhaust (which you would be unlikely to smell from the cabin anyway)

if you have been fiddling with stuff and taken injectors off and not replaced the O-rings that'd be my first port of call for solving the fuel smell

[BZR4AGE]

Hi mr30%jr...no is not afm, is blacktop, so is map.

rollaholic....the car drives normally when its not idling. very smooth, and no battery light at all. (apart of the random blogging that I get previously that I am yet to solve).

Haven't touch anything around the injectors etc.

I've always used gull's E10, and just recently I've started noticing the ethanol smell if I have the window down.

In saying this, I am noticing oil appearing at the most weird places, not alot, just little...

I found fresh engine oil at the top of the oil cap, and then at the top of the throttle body airbox. I've wiped it clean, and then when I go for a drive and rev it abit, it appears again...so maybe I DO have a leak somewhere?? but will that affect idle??

Sorry for the long message

Cheers!

[rollaholic]

random blogging?

[Crampy]

random blogging?

I think he means bogging. Commonly caused by a stuffed O2 sensor.

[KinLoud]

check that the power steer idle up connections are plugged in
- look at the steering rack where the steering column joins the rack - there will be 2 rubber houses going to a fitting.
My mate had this problem and it took us ages to sort out what was wrong!
Hope this helps

Ken

[BZR4AGE]

Sorry for the spelling mistake....not always good with english.

Thanks Kinloud. will check it out on sunday! Cheers

[rollaholic]

how long have you been using E10 for? was your car on the 'approved' list from toyota for biofuels?

[BZR4AGE]

Been using for nearly 4 months.

No is not in the approved list. I started using it under someone's recommendation which had same engine spec as mine with high compression mods and cams.

He is still using E10 no problem at all, and his is silvertop 20V

[johndoe1025]

i use gull force 10 if its the same with no problems. sounds like maybe stuffed or jammed PCV valve? if oils coming into the airbox?