Trouble Idling When Cold

[musselman]

Been having some trouble with my apex lately when starting it cold, trying to figure out what it could be. The sled is a 2008 apex with 22,000 km.

When starting it on the weekend it was about -10C in the morning, it fired right up but then the idle started dropping, sounded like it was struggling to run and it finally died. I tried to restart but it would only fire the odd time and not keep running. I had to hold the throttle open a little and it finally started, still sounded bad for about 45 seconds, then the idle came up above 2000 and it ran normal. The rest of the day it ran and started fine. There were no engine codes at all.

I also noticed lots of black spots being spit out the exhaust after it ran as well, not really sure if there is a bad sensor causing this or another issue, any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[steiner]

Time for some new sparky plugs.

 

[musselman]

They are brand new this season unfortunately. Still pulls 10,500 to 10,800 at WOT so no lack of power.

Also forgot to mention the exhaust donuts were replaced with copper this year.

 

[steiner]

Spitting out black would tend to indicate a rich condition. Have you tried a fuel injector cleaner product?
You could also check the idle air valve. There have been a few members that had issues with the idle. Cleaning this valve seemed to help most.
There is also the TPS. There are a few posts on this subject as well.
You could also try adjusting the CO lower.

 

[musselman]

Ok I will add a few more details, I ran a can of seafoam through last year at the end of the season, seems to help it. I will try running half a can through again and see what that does.

I removed and disassembled the IAC, cleaning it throughout. I also synced the throttle bodies after putting it back on. I tested the TPS through the gauge diagnostic and everything checked out, 16% at idle and 96 at wot.

I want to avoid adjusting the CO as I think this is just a band aid and would like to try and find the actual problem. Thanks for all the suggestions so far, there has to be something I am overlooking.

 

[steiner]

Maybe its time to check the valve lash.

 

[musselman]

Do you think the valves need adjusting already? The manual specifies 40,000km. This is something I will do after this winter but hoping it's something else.

 

[Winderallday!]

Riding bud of mine has an 06 Apex with similar kms as you , he was having idling issues and stalling as you describe. Checked, adjusted and changed out multiple components, in the end a valve adjustment was the ticket, problem solved. (the valves were out of spec).

 

[steiner]

Do you think the valves need adjusting already? The manual specifies 40,000km. This is something I will do after this winter but hoping it's something else.

There are a lot of factors that come in about when to adjust metal parts that can wear.
How was the break in period? When was the first oil change? How often the oil is changed. Type of filter and oil. Warm up time and soo on.
Some may need to adjust the valves at 20k and some may need to adjust at 40k and others at 60k. Depends on how you look after the motor.

 

[87gtNOS]

If not already mentioned, I think a lot of these over time idle lower because the idle adjustment screw backs off ever so slightly, so just warm the sled up and reach a long screwdriver in there and turn up the idle.

 

[musselman]

That's interesting, I guess some sleds need it sooner than others. Not sure exactly how this sled was looked after, just got it this year. From what I know it wasn't treated poorly but I don't know what the maintenance was like exactly. I will plan to check the valves this summer and update this thread once I do so.

If anyone else has any other suggestions please post them, thanks.

 

[musselman]

If not already mentioned, I think a lot of these over time idle lower because the idle adjustment screw backs off ever so slightly, so just warm the sled up and reach a long screwdriver in there and turn up the idle.

I have synced the throttle bodies and adjusted the idle to 1600rpm when the engine is warm. It holds the idle in most cases when warmed up, better if it is colder out.

It's just when it is started cold that it idles low.

 

[baggs66]

Maybe stator getting bad, my 06 did the same starting hard and couldn't adjust idle , replaced stator and fires right up and idles better.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G530AZ using Tapatalk

 

[musselman]

Just wanted to give an update, I see there are many others having the same issue. Last night I went out and had a few stalling problems. The snow was a bit hard so the sled was pretty warm with the fan running. When I coasted up to a stop sign the engine died and it would not restart. I let it sit for a minute then it started back up and idled fine, it did this 2 more times until I got it back home.

Once home I took the IAC apart at the thermostat end and cleaned it out. It was not dirty but I noticed there was a threaded rod inside with a nut on the end. Dose anyone know where this should be set? I'm sure it would make a difference to the idle.

 

[musselman]

This is the nut I am referring to.