ICV Cleaning/Replacement for hesitation/splutter/flat spot

AndyBeech

AndyBeech

Senior member
 Wiltshire
So I've had the ICV off the car today. Now obviously when you flick it, you should hear the butterfly clunk open/closed, mine seems quite loose as in it seems to have quite a lot of play inbetween clunking open and closed like it almost 'drifts' around quite easily inbetween. I'm comparing this to when I brought a new one from BMW and it was very solid between being open/closed, as in it needed quite a solid flick between the open and closed position and there was no 'drift' inbetween.
Would this be considered normal behaviour from a ICV that's used and obviously a bit looser as it seems to me it just has too much play inbetween the open/closed position or am I barking up the wrong tree with this......
 
Ok so a potentially interesting find in the cure for the hesitation/idle dip/splutter that quite a few of us are experiencing....

So this is what mine has been like which is pretty much what other people have been experiencing.....
[youtube]e8YHOUcMd6A[/youtube]

The usual splutter from idle, rev dip, annoying.

Having taken apart the intake manifold and cleaned everything out (pretty much spotless anyway), then took off the Idle Control Valve to clean and inspect it. First thing was it seemed like it had free movement and not really dirty at all. However, it was almost as if it had too much free movement like just giving it a little shake made the valve inside rattle and move about (see video below). Compare this to the new ICV valve which took a good flick to make it close and open and had no play inbetween, this to me would suggest a problem. Having spoken to James at Redish Motorsport, he also confirmed that this is not 'normal' behaviour in his eyes and shouldn't wiggle around with little movement, he suggested that this could indeed be considered faulty and replacing would be a good course of action.

ICV Valve Movement
[youtube]d7965JP2UwA[/youtube]

Now I've ordered a new ICV from BMW which I'll pick up tomorrow and I'll put up a video of the movement of that when shaken around/flicked. It should I believe literally snap shut or snap open, no movement inbetween. I *could* be wrong with this, but Im 99% certain this is the case. I'll bite the bullet and install it on the car and see how that makes the idle, throttle blip issue. Hopefully it'll cure the problem, and we can have a confirmed fix for this issue which has been a long time coming. That's not to say other sensor's might be causing an issue as well but for anyone that's cleaned their ICV and the problems come back, watch this space and I'll confirm findings tomorrow.

For anyone that's cleaning/has cleaned their ICV, I'd be interested to know what the movement of your ICV vavle is and how freely it moves about....

(Note: I've changed both TPS sensors previously to little positive effect)
 
Hello Andy,

It was me who gave you the INPA stats on the other thread and pointed you in the direction of the ICV.

Can you confirm your symptom is an awful kangaroo and flat spot when transitioning from overrun to moderate throttle opening at low RPM - less than 1200. e.g coming to a roundabout in second gear with no throttle and revs around 900RPM, when you depress the throttle, the car will hesitate and feel like it is about to stall for a second before it suddenly kicks in and shunts you forwards?

Excellent information and videos etc above. Would you mind either linking or posting this information into the main thread on this issue:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=39891&p=1035800#p1035800

With the work you are doing here, we may be able to categorically close out that thread.

Mine has started to worsen 6 months or so after cleaning, so I will be looking to take it apart in the next couple of weeks. If I find mine is flapping about, I may well be ordering a new ICV as the long term fix.
 
AndyBeech said:
For anyone that's cleaning/has cleaned their ICV, I'd be interested to know what the movement of your ICV vavle is and how freely it moves about....

(Note: I've changed both TPS sensors previously to little positive effect)
Click to expand...

Hi Andy,
I've cleaned mine and it was exactly like yours in de video (lose) but I think it should be like that, its probably a solenoid of some kind so when its powered the magnetic field will keep it in place (be aware, this is all speculation from my side).
Cleaning it did improve the hesitation issue in my case but I'm very curious how the new ICV works out for you, keep us informed :thumbsup:
Thanks for the videos
 
captainmorgan999 said:
Also is it easy to replace ICV. thanks :wink:
Click to expand...

Not very difficult but requires some fiddling.
Its located below the airbox so that needs to come off, most people struggle a bit with the thottle body clips but if you have a decent pair of groove pliers and a sharp small screwdriver it is actually quite easy. There is one hose connected at the bottom of the airbox, don't forget to remove this (clip) before taking the box out. Rest is quite straight forward.

Extra bonus, you will be rewarded with a glorious view of your 6 throttle bodies (see my avatar) :D
 
Its located below the airbox so that needs to come off, most people struggle a bit with the thottle body clips but if you have a decent pair of groove pliers and a sharp small screwdriver it is actually quite easy. There is one hose connected at the bottom of the airbox, don't forget to remove this (clip) before taking the box out. Rest is quite straight forward.

Extra bonus, you will be rewarded with a glorious view of your 6 throttle bodies (see my avatar) :D[/quote]


Thank you, i may well give it a go at the weekend :fuelfire:
 
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