Rough Idling And Stalling

[hondasp1]

I wonder if anyone can help me and my 2001 Avensis Verso 2.0 vvti?

I have owned the car for nearly 2 years and up until this point i have had no issues bar wear and tear.

The Battery died over Christmas and I had to remove the Battery and charge it overnight, since I have put the Battery back on the car now randomly stalls when pulling up at traffic lights etc once I have dipped the clutch I have also noticed that it get's worse the longer the car has been running.

If the car is still started once I have pulled up at traffic lights or a T junction etc all I have to do is tap the accelerator and then the car stalls when the revs drop back down, sometimes the car idles really roughly at around 200-300rpm but on first start stays at around 1500rpm till it has warmed up and then it drops to around 800rpm, on a plus note the radio now tunes in to my local radio station which it never did before but won't tune into any other ha ha!

I have not changed the plugs or air filter since I have bought the car but I had an oil change around 10 months ago but have only done around 2500 miles since. I have recently filled the tank and added an injector treatment to see if this would make any difference, as I don't do much mileage I have only used a quarter of the tank so far.

I still had random stalling so I decided to change the plugs and air filter at the weekend, since I have changed those the car is still stalling randomly and on tick over once warmed up there is a slight idling problem which I can only describe as though the car is trying for a split second to stall and then back to normal every 2-3 seconds.

I have checked the oil which I know is fine as it has not long been changed and it will be changed again on MOT in April.

I don't want to spend a huge amount if possible as I picked the car up for £1200 just over a year ago, it is not in the greatest condition and doesn't appear to have been looked after very well body wise or servicing wise it may also have been clocked or had a replacement speedo etc as it states it has only done 87,000 miles when some MOT history states at least double that.

I originally took the car to a local dealer I use to work for upon purchasing it to have it checked out and apart from a wishbone and wheel bearing that needed replacing and 4 new tyres they said everything else appears to be fine and they have since MOT'd the vehicle without any problems.

I don't want to spend too much as it is only a tool for me and my main car is my Integra Type R.

Any help would be much appreciated.

James :)

[gazza1286]

Clean the MAF sensor and throttle body. There's a few YouTube videos which show you how if you're unsure. The can of carb cleaner will cost around £10.

I suspect that it's a blocked idle control valve which can be cleared without too much dismantling.

[avensis rob]

beat to it

I was thinking idle control valve

common on many petrol cars with this type of fault

if engine is breathing because of sticking pcv or topped up with too much oil it can gum up this valve

im referring to subarus and vw cars I have experience on

don't know the exact setup with your fuel system but if you have a cable throttle you can tension the cable slightly to open the air inlet butterfly to give you a fast idle to see if that helps at junctions but not advisable to keep it that way as your engine braking will be reduced.

best to locate the icv remove and clean with brake cleaner or try sourcing new valve if the solenoid proves lazy but id think this may bring on an eml