I live in St. Paul, though I work in Chanhassen. It's 23 miles each way, hence the small, fuel efficient car. My previous car was a 94 Geo Prizm. That thing was bullet proof mechanically. Finally got rid of it at 287,000 miles.KITT222 wrote:Welcome to Genvibe! Yay, yet another new member from Minnesota! Where in MN are you?
I'm already starting to forget what the 5-speed was like but in general, rpm's are about 300-400 higher. The 6-speed runs at 3000rpm at 70mph whereas the 5-speed ran around 2600-2700. It's definitely louder on the highway. It's also taking a bit to get used to the extra shifting.thebarber wrote:I'm halfway thru a 6speed swap myself....what are your highway rpm's like vs the 5 speed? For me I'd like never know as our other car is a GT and I used to have an XRS...but I'm curious
When an engine is cold it is normal for it to run at a higher rpm and stay there until it warms up. My car, on the other hand, doesn't stay at the higher rpm. After I drive it a block or two and stop at an intersection, when I put the clutch in, it revs up to around 2500rpm where a limiter or something kicks in and knocks the rpm's down to 1000. It then revs back up to 2500 and gets knocked down again. It will do that 2 or 3 times before settling down around 2100 rpm. Sometimes it will do that at 2 or 3 intersections before settling down. It's a little embarrassing pulling out of a parking lot with a spastic engine. People probably think I'm a little crazy.sideshowalan wrote:Idle 'surging' when cold is normal. It's the engine trying to warm up faster and will even out when everything is up to temperature.
Every car I've driven w/ the 1zz-fe did this.
Thanks! Yeah, I learned to drive on a stick and everything I've owned since has been manual. Sadly, used cars with manuals are getting harder to find. Took me a while to find this one. I'll post pictures as soon as I get a chance.tpollauf wrote:Welcome to this great site. Another "manual" man .... gotta love it Post pics soon of your Vibe
I already did, though I used the black gasket, not the orange one. Tomorrow morning I'm going to plug my laptop into the car and log data from the ECU while it's running to see if that gives me any clues.thebarber wrote:any chance you need to replace your intake manifold gasket?
similar issue to yours? http://matrixowners.com/index.php?/topi ... p__1285620" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The high idle isn't the problem. All cars idle higher when they're cold. The problem is that the idle isn't stable. After I drive a few blocks and stop at a light or stop sign, the idle bounces between ~1000 and ~2200 rpm a few times. It will do that at every stop until the engine warms up. I doubt it's doing any damage but it's obnoxious.Brandort3 wrote:From what i have read and seen with both my '03 GT and my sisters '06 Base, the high idle is normal for these motors especially in cold weather. It's just their way of warming up! If you just let it warm up a bit and come back out when your car is nice and toasty in side, you should be able to turn the heater off and it should go back down to normal idle. (1000-1200 rmp.) I'm no mechanic, but based on my experience this is what i have found.