Low Idle Speed On Petrol Engine

[bestseany]

I've noticed that the idle speed can be quite low sometimes on my 2004 2.0 petrol. It's more noticeable after a hot start.

I've done a bit of searching on here, and someone suggested cleaning out the throttle body and the idle control valve.

However, I'm not sure which bit this is? I'm normally ok with stuff like this but I haven't got a workshop manual for the Avensis so I have no idea which bit does what for these parts. Can anyone advise?

[Gooli]

Had the same problem myself. I adjusted the accelerator pedal a tiny bit, to achieve 800 rpm

when hot (I suppose this is not the "done by the book" way, but hey, it works).

This also gave a bonus effect. Earlier there was a hesitation when driving off, that

caused the engine to stall. This was also cured.

[Roker]

My 05 Avensis has a slight hesitation when driving off. Where do you adjust the throttle as it's electronic?

[Gooli]

The accelerator pedal sensor look like this:

http://image.fbt.se/global/images/image.php?src=http://image.fbt.se/global/images/image.php?src=/mnt/newftp/133/bil/lgnr/322708_2.jpg&width=370&height=&width=&height=

Its been a few years now, but as I recall, I loosened the two screws holding the

sensor, and adjusted it to be positioned at the tipping point of raising the rpm from idle.

Make sure you re-tighten both screws when done.

[bestseany]

I don't really want to touch the accelerator pedal or the sensor for it as sometimes it idles fine. It idles low most commonly when I've done a hot start.

Is it likely to be a dirty throttle body or leaking vacuum?

[theoilburner]

I don't really want to touch the accelerator pedal or the sensor for it as sometimes it idles fine. It idles low most commonly when I've done a hot start.

Is it likely to be a dirty throttle body or leaking vacuum?

Yeah, I wouldn't bother with the pedal adjustment if I was you, I tried doing this on mine to solve the rough/low idle problem (idle speed drops as low as 590rpm - Toyota claims this is "normal"), and it didn't work. Initially the idle speed was higher, but then the computer learnt the new throttle position, dialled out the extra revs and it went back to exactly where it was before! :(

You could try cleaning the throttle body, it helped a little with mine, but it never fixed the problem completely.

[bestseany]

I don't really want to touch the accelerator pedal or the sensor for it as sometimes it idles fine. It idles low most commonly when I've done a hot start.

Is it likely to be a dirty throttle body or leaking vacuum?

Yeah, I wouldn't bother with the pedal adjustment if I was you, I tried doing this on mine to solve the rough/low idle problem (idle speed drops as low as 590rpm - Toyota claims this is "normal"), and it didn't work. Initially the idle speed was higher, but then the computer learnt the new throttle position, dialled out the extra revs and it went back to exactly where it was before! :(

You could try cleaning the throttle body, it helped a little with mine, but it never fixed the problem completely.

How difficult did you find it to get the throttle body out? I'm not sure if it's similar to the 1.8, but the body on my 2.0 looks like a nightmare to get off!

[theoilburner]

How difficult did you find it to get the throttle body out? I'm not sure if it's similar to the 1.8, but the body on my 2.0 looks like a nightmare to get off!

It was OK, I just had to remove the air intake, which was a little awkward but nothing worse. There may have been a couple of things I needed to unscrew in the way, but it wasn't too bad. I left it partially connected with the coolant lines, as I could still give it a good clean with those attached.

[bestseany]

Just thought I would update on this...

I cleaned out the throttle body and it was initially revving quite high (around 1200rpm when warm) but it settled down and was fine for a couple of weeks.

Now it's even worse! It idles as low as 400rpm when the air con is running and nearly stalls. Not sure what else I can try now apart from replacing the throttle body completely.

[BigMo82]

Did you actually change the throttle body?

Mo