Hey Bud, been reading through your thread. What throttle body do you have? I assume stock because I didn't find any mention of one. If you have a mono blade it may be leaking air. Mine leaks air like crazy and is very annoying. To prove it was the source of the leak I packed it with putty like this.
That cured my vacuum leak issues and made my car idle like a champ etc.
I noticed you were asking if the car should idle or die when the IAC is unplugged and you got a variety of answers. The reason is because it depends. If the car is already getting enough air to idle it will stay idling although the RPMs may or may not drop depending on how much air it's getting. If the car is not getting enough air it will die. How can a car be getting enough air? Well if your throttle body for example leaks a fair amount of air the car can continue to idle. I've also seen cars idle through the PCV system. Air is drawn through the intake tube (between air filter and throttle body) into one valve cover, through the block and out the other valve cover and into the intake. Pinch a PCV line in that case and the car dies.
You've mentioned a few times that your TPS is showing 19% at idle. Is that through the Torque app? Have you data logged it's actual "counts" with SCT software or handheld? You could even just check it with a digital volt meter (DVM). I use a safety pin or similar to press through the insulation of the wire near the sensor and then hook up to the DVM. You should see between .90 and .98 volts with the car idling. You can test/adjust with key on engine off. The closer you can get it to .90 the better I've found. If you're above .98 that's an issue. You have to take a dremel and slot the holes on the sensor to allow adjustment. They are super sensitive. The readings will change just synching down the screws to hold it in place. Take the time to check and recheck and then verify with the car running.
As for vacuum I saw you say Torque app. While that may be correct bare in mind I'm pretty sure the Torque app uses inferred values from calculation of engine load to give a reading. There is no vacuum/boost sensor on our motors to datalog that actual value. In fact GT500s from the factory used this very inferred calculation for their boost gauges on the dash. It makes it tricky when upgrading blowers or changing anything on the motor because that gauge is now completely wrong because it's calculated values.
My point it get a real vacuum gauge and stick it on the car and check that way. If you're truly seeing -20 of vacuum with cams in the car that's pretty amazing. Granted they are just GT cams.
That popping in your exhaust is weird for sure. Never heard anything like it.
Another thought.... Kurgen had to add 20% fuel just to get the car to idle. You know i had to do that on my own car when the boost bypass valve was stuck. My blower wouldn't go into recirculation mode and was just pushing boost into the motor constantly. I didn't realize what was going on at first and confused why I had to add so much fuel just to get a crappy idle. Would be worth checking. Take a hand operated vacuum pump and hookup to your bypass valve and see that it actuates correctly and if it does then next make sure its plumbed in correctly.
I know you're frustrated and looking for another tuner but remember Kurgan is no stranger to tuning our cars. He's probably correct in that there's something not right with your car.
Good luck and keep us updated.
That cured my vacuum leak issues and made my car idle like a champ etc.
I noticed you were asking if the car should idle or die when the IAC is unplugged and you got a variety of answers. The reason is because it depends. If the car is already getting enough air to idle it will stay idling although the RPMs may or may not drop depending on how much air it's getting. If the car is not getting enough air it will die. How can a car be getting enough air? Well if your throttle body for example leaks a fair amount of air the car can continue to idle. I've also seen cars idle through the PCV system. Air is drawn through the intake tube (between air filter and throttle body) into one valve cover, through the block and out the other valve cover and into the intake. Pinch a PCV line in that case and the car dies.
You've mentioned a few times that your TPS is showing 19% at idle. Is that through the Torque app? Have you data logged it's actual "counts" with SCT software or handheld? You could even just check it with a digital volt meter (DVM). I use a safety pin or similar to press through the insulation of the wire near the sensor and then hook up to the DVM. You should see between .90 and .98 volts with the car idling. You can test/adjust with key on engine off. The closer you can get it to .90 the better I've found. If you're above .98 that's an issue. You have to take a dremel and slot the holes on the sensor to allow adjustment. They are super sensitive. The readings will change just synching down the screws to hold it in place. Take the time to check and recheck and then verify with the car running.
As for vacuum I saw you say Torque app. While that may be correct bare in mind I'm pretty sure the Torque app uses inferred values from calculation of engine load to give a reading. There is no vacuum/boost sensor on our motors to datalog that actual value. In fact GT500s from the factory used this very inferred calculation for their boost gauges on the dash. It makes it tricky when upgrading blowers or changing anything on the motor because that gauge is now completely wrong because it's calculated values.
My point it get a real vacuum gauge and stick it on the car and check that way. If you're truly seeing -20 of vacuum with cams in the car that's pretty amazing. Granted they are just GT cams.
That popping in your exhaust is weird for sure. Never heard anything like it.
Another thought.... Kurgen had to add 20% fuel just to get the car to idle. You know i had to do that on my own car when the boost bypass valve was stuck. My blower wouldn't go into recirculation mode and was just pushing boost into the motor constantly. I didn't realize what was going on at first and confused why I had to add so much fuel just to get a crappy idle. Would be worth checking. Take a hand operated vacuum pump and hookup to your bypass valve and see that it actuates correctly and if it does then next make sure its plumbed in correctly.
I know you're frustrated and looking for another tuner but remember Kurgan is no stranger to tuning our cars. He's probably correct in that there's something not right with your car.
Good luck and keep us updated.
