idling and stalling questions

[homer simpson]

hello i done some searching of my own but i dont seem to understand how it goes. im wondering sometimes my idles longer than 5-10 mins till the fan comes on. is that normal for the car to idle longer than 5-10 minutes before the fan comes on without the aircon going and sometimes my temperature gauge doesnt work properly, and im wondering wether i should take the chance and get some sensors and see what happens.

also how do i get my alternator off to get to the temperature sensors, i can undo one bolt closest to the idler pulley but i cant undo the other one. is there any other trick and how do i put it back on.

also would the temperature sender be why it sometimes stalls and idles a bit rough, i just took the air filter ducting off and cleaned that part of the throttle body with carby cleaner, do i have to open the throttle body by hand to clean the rest as it made some diffrence with idling but it still idles a bit rough.

thanks for your time

[14secvp]

could be normal too idle for so long and not turn on the fan ide be inclined to do a thermostat first it could be stuck open causing it too not heat up properly cheaper than sensors .the throttlebody really needs to come off to clean it you have to take the IAC valve off the throttlebody and clean the tip of it and the hole it goes in and open the butterfly and clean all in there good and all air passages dont let carb cleaner run into the TPS on the end of the butterfly shaft it will kill it .put the IAC back in bolt it back on preferably with new gaskets

[homer simpson]

in my local holden dealer it was only about 15.00 for a 2 wire one so im thinking of giving it a go if that code comes up in the computer check

[14secvp]

I paid $75 buck last time i bought one you sure thats not the price for the guage sender

[homer simpson]

no when i priced one from holden it was only about 15-17.00 for a ecu 2 wire sensor the thermostat seems ok as the top radiator hose is hot when you get home

[14secvp]

if you can hold the hose all is good it should get too hot too touch before the fan comes on what sort of temp do you get on the guage when it comes on

[homer simpson]

about 1/2 but it takes so long for it to reach 1/2 im wondering if its the gauge sender as ive been told that you can fry bacon on the manifold and the gauge will take so long to go up

[14secvp]

well the sensor is cheap enough so do it ide probably do the guage one while your there save doing it later ide do a thermostat too while your drained of coolant could be stuck part open not closed enough to heat up fast enough and not open enough to keep cool fast enough.flush the heater and radiator while your at it and put new antifreeze/coolant in it.

I know someone who bought a car the other day got used every day round town when they bought it drove it home got on the motorway thermostat didnt open cooked it motor dead

and half on the guage is pretty normal

[homer simpson]

well sometimes the engine feels like its idling a bit rough when sitting inside the car but it doesnt always loose power is there anything else that could cause it

[14secvp]

did you take the throttlebody off and clean it in the end you could have dirty injectors too have you cleaned the pcv valve

[homer simpson]

well no i havent cleaned the pcv valve do you know where it is and i ran injector or fuel system cleaner cant remember what the bottle said and no i didnt take the throttle body off to clean it i just turned the spindle to open it and sprayed carby cleaner in the otherside of it and can i use carby cleaner to clean the oxy sensor

[14secvp]

so you obviously have the s2 engine the pcv valve is under the bolt head at the front of inlet manifold in the middle theres a bolt head with a big flat washer cast on it under there is the pcv valve

take the throttlebody off and clean the idle passage and iac valve hole

dont clean the o2 sensor you could burn it off with a little gas torch but i wouldnt bother if you think its a dud change it they dont last forever and they help with fuel consumption

[homer simpson]

i have a 1992 vp v6 if that helps is it the 1992 vp engine the same as a vn series 2 engine it runs a little better with what i did to the throttle body but it still feels like it idles a little rough but not as bad when sitting in the car where is the pcv valve in a 1992 vp v6 engine. also im selling the vp soon but i just want to try and fix it as cheap as i can

[14secvp]

PCV same place as above clean the iac it controls the idle will have too take it off. idle air control valve.

[homer simpson]

if i dont bother fixing it will it affect the value of the car, what would i expect to get for it if i dont fix it

[PaRaDoX]

alternators simple, its just 1x10mm bolt and 1x13mm bolt,

*but first dissconnect the battery,
*push in the metal part of the alt clip and pull the lug out,
*get a small shifter and undo the alternator wire, this wires live and will ground on the engine so its VERY important that the pos terminal is off.

it could be a range of things, at this age of the cars the inlet gaskets usually go leaking water into a cyclinder or 2 causing stalling or running rough

it could be something as simple as a fouled lead or plug,
my advice is to go over the bascis.... and look for anything thats not right