[1upPipes]

Sometimes, my del sol when at an idle will run at very low steady RPM's

Not enough that the car is going to stall, I have never had it stall on me.

But it shakes the car very lightly.
I'm not too sure why.

Most of the time it runs at a normal RPM rate at an idle.

Any ideas on why sometimes it chooses to idle low?

 

[AceDelSol]

Ohh hey my '97 does the same, but no ideas on why.

 

[liquidblue]

have you done any work to the car? has the head been shaved or an adjustable cam gear installed? have you checked your compression? have you checked the timing belt marks? there are two sets of marks on the cam gears. depending on what engine it has depends on what mark you use. lots of people do not realize this and use the incorrect marks. the si uses the mark towards the bottom lined up with the plastic arrow behind the cam gear. using the two marks that line up with the bottom of the head/top of the block it will idle poorly and you will feel a torque drop off at the higher rpms. the spark timing will not line up with a timing gun, a slight decrease in gas mileage and a poor idle will occur if this is the case.

 

[1upPipes]

have you done any work to the car? has the head been shaved or an adjustable cam gear installed? have you checked your compression? have you checked the timing belt marks? there are two sets of marks on the cam gears. depending on what engine it has depends on what mark you use. lots of people do not realize this and use the incorrect marks. the si uses the mark towards the bottom lined up with the plastic arrow behind the cam gear. using the two marks that line up with the bottom of the head/top of the block it will idle poorly and you will feel a torque drop off at the higher rpms. the spark timing will not line up with a timing gun, a slight decrease in gas mileage and a poor idle will occur if this is the case.

Ah, very useful information.

I actually have not done any work like that.
I have a worn transmission though from the previous owner, would that have anything to do with the problem?

 

[liquidblue]

Ah, very useful information.

I actually have not done any work like that.
I have a worn transmission though from the previous owner, would that have anything to do with the problem?

nope.... but if the last guy wore out his trans. who knows what kind of care he took with the rest of it. i would start with the ignition timing check. that will tell you if the timing belt is on correctly. if that is not the problem check your compression and do a valve adjustment. check your gas mileage as well, when i first got my 94 si it had 200K on it and was still getting 38 MPG. that might give you a bit of insight as to the wear level of the engine. you could also take a look at the idle air control valve and injectors.take a look at your engine mounts as well. if they are worn or torn it will put a vibration in the car. it should be idling at about 850-1000 rpm

 

[AceDelSol]

Hmm I guess the same applies to mine. The trans. is fine but I get maybe 18 Mpg,

a good tune up is required I suppose...

 

[liquidblue]

Hmm I guess the same applies to mine. The trans. is fine but I get maybe 18 Mpg,

a good tune up is required I suppose...

:eek2 18!!!!! wow thats pretty bad...... i would take a good look into that

 

[AceDelSol]

So I went to the Honda dealership and they told me the 90,000 mile check costs $409.95:eek2

Is it worth it?

 

[liquidblue]

i dont think it is. you can do all that your self much cheaper