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High idle after engine bay wash

  • Thread starter Thread starter five_oh18
  • Start date Start date Sep 4, 2008
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five_oh18

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Jan 22, 2008
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Sep 4, 2008
#1
  • Sep 4, 2008
  • #1
Yesterday evening I washed my engine bay at the body shop where I work part time. I used orange power degreaser, and a pressure washer, but stood far enough away not to wreck anything. When I pulled the car in, it was idling around the usual 800-900 rpm, but when I pulled it out, it was idling between 2000-2100 rpm. After letting sit for the day I tried it again, but it did the same thing. Any ideas as to why its idling so high?
 

jrichker

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Sep 4, 2008
#2
  • Sep 4, 2008
  • #2
You probably knocked loose or broke one of the small vacuum lines. A vacuum leak will often upset the idle speed and quality.

See the "Surging Idle Checklist for help with all your idle/stall problems. The first two posts contain all the updates to the fixes. At last count there were 24 possible causes and fixes for surging idle/stall problems. I continue to update it as more people post fixes or ask questions.
 
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