Honda Element Owners Club banner

idle air control valve (2003-06)

72K views 29 replies 25 participants last post by  christinahardy6116 
#1 ·
I think I need to clean or replace my idle control valve. When I start my
Element it idles around 500-600 rpm. With the A/C on it idles a little higher.
It has been stalling out at intersections and when I turn. I got a code P0172
which indicated the fuel mixture was too rich. Where is the ICV located ? I assume on the throttle body. Does anyone have a picture of one ?
 
#2 ·
idle air control valve

Does any one with a 2003 DX 2WD manual transmission have or had problems with the engine RPM's fluctuating concerning the idler air control valve? I got about 114,000 miles on my E. Any one tried cleaning the IACV? Much Mahalo's for feed back!
 
#3 ·
idle air controller out at 39,000

a very unusual part failure....car started stalling a few times and managed to restart it and get it to pompano honda here in south fla. a part they said was "like the old carburetor" went and had to special order it...called an idle air contoller, cost $100 bucks plus over 200 in labor. go figure....otherwise nothing else has gone wrong since i bought it in oct. of 2004.
 
#6 ·
Idle Control Valve Replacement Help!!!

Okay, Car won't start this morning, first I thought it was the Battery but isn't, finally got started but noticing low Idle, usually at 1300 rpm and comes down in few mins. 2 strong suggested mechanics states ICV now, my questions/help needs, I got the parts from Honda Dealer...does anybody have a pics suggestions on how to replace it or have done it? I know it's under the throttle body, is it simple as taking the 2 cross screws and wire harness? Plug and play? Any help would much so appreciated.
 
#9 ·
Erratic idle - SOLVED!

Long time reader, first time poster.

In any case, the past few days, my 2004 Element MT with 107k miles had erratic idle. The idle would hunt from 1k-3k, and sometimes pulse at 1k-1.5k. Driving was a pain as off throttle or lo throttle, the car would jerk from the pulsing.

Codes that were thrown were P0507 and P2279. I read in a few posts here that it's likely a vacuum leak (didn't find any) or a dirty IACV and cleaning it would help. Well, I cleaned mine THOROUGHLY twice. It would spin, but still just barely, just barely, stick at some points in the revolution. Anyone less anal would think it'd be fine. However, that didn't solve the problem.

The actual IACV P0511 code never showed up. So, I was skeptical about replacing the IACV. However, lo and behold, after replacing the IACV (and becoming $128 poorer) and letting the idle relearn itself, everything is now butter. Oh, replacing the throttle body gasket at the same time isn't a bad idea either ($4).

YMMV, but I thought I'd post this to show an actual solution to a seemingly common problem.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Thanks for that, Bandicoot, and welcome.

Just to be clear, the idle air control valve is what Honda calls "valve set, rotary air control," p/n 16022-RAA-A01?


Throttle body gasket: Honda p/n 16176-RAA-A01
P0506: Idle control system RPM lower than expected
P0507: Idle control system RPM higher than expected
P0511: Idle air control system RPM higher than expected
P2279: Intake air system leak detected
 
#11 · (Edited)
Correct!

Valve set, rotary air control as seen in illustration #1 here:

Majestic Honda Throttle Body Parts

It comes with a new blue (silicone?) seal. Anti-seize on the threads of the phillips head bolts are probably a good idea too, as I nearly stripped the heads of the bolts trying to break torque on my second and third round of disassembly.

It would've been cheaper if I ordered it online, but I needed it fixed yesterday, so I went to the local dealer.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Weak Start/Low Idle = Bad ICV

For the better part of a year, perhaps longer, I have been battling an intermitant problem with my 2003 Element. As I said she's a 2003 and she has about 98,000 miles on her now. The problem I have been having is a weak start and subsequent low idle. Usually the low idle works itself out once I get going. About a month ago, it wouldn't work itself out. I started off for work in the morning and had to nurse the car along with my right foot on the gas to maintain the idle and working the brake with my left. When I got to work I parked the car and went about my business. A couple of hours later, I tried to start it and had the same issue. I turned it off and went back to work. Several hours later when I went to lunch, I had to do the brake pedal gas pedal dance all the way home. At home I put the battery on the charger and tried the ECM reset. Still no joy. Mind you, I had been searching this forum all along for solutions to the problem. Before returning to work I came across something about the Idle Control Valve. The fact that it had been sticking came up. I then decided to give it a little whack. I took a long screwdriver and a small hammer and tapped the ICV a couple of times. Damned if she didn't fire right up! well, nearly a month has gone by since that remedy. I was still not 100% certain till today, if that was the problem. Less than an hour ago, I went to start the car to back it out of the garage and it happened. Weak start and low idle. The car was maintaining 500rpm's, but just barely. I popped the hood, hopped out and grabbed my screwdriver and hammer. One tap, I heard a slight woosh and the engine roared to life.

I mention this because I have seen quite a few threads about similar problems and many left unresolved. I imagine I am not the first to find this to be the problem, but in any case this is what I found.

Now I am left with, can this thing be cleaned or do I replace it? Looks to be just under $100 to replace it
 
#13 ·
Hey Turk. Most likely replacing the Idle Control Valve would have solved his problem. I had similar symptoms in my '05 starting at around 80k miles (give or take). After putzing around for a long time trying to figure it out I decided to go with the common advice and replace the valve. Everything has been great ever since. You can find the thread where I detail my problem here:

http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56041&highlight=

If you skip down near the end you will see that I finally updated it with my solution. Just replace the valve and life will be good once again!
 
#14 · (Edited)
Idle Air Control - need advice finding it and how to install myself

I have an automatic with 184,000 miles. Yesterday my E started idling in rhythm up and down between 1,000-2,000 rpm when in park, sometimes wanting to shut off as well also setting off the check engine light. Then, when stopped at a light I'd have to apply a little extra pressure on the brake as the car would want to surge off from a stop a little more aggressively than normal. I ran the codes at the auto parts store. Came back with one of 3 things...a large vacuum leak, throttle body concern or faulty idle air control valve. With my high mileage i'm pretty sure it's the IAC. I'm picking up the part from Napa auto parts tomorrow and would like to attempt this maybe tomorrow night. I am slightly mechanically inclined but have never done one of these before. I should add that I have done most of the routine maintenance along the way. I have not cleaned the throttle body or had the valves adjusted. I just recently changed the spark plugs, transmission fluid, oil, oil filter and air filter. Any insite and pictures on how to replace the IAC would be a great. Thanks in advance to the Element community!
 
#16 ·
You can find do-it-yourself instructions for cleaning the throttle body here:

http://www.elementownersclub.com/for...ad.php?t=57729

Cleaning the Idle Control Valve is part of the whole procedure. I didn't have much luck with the cleaning and decided to just replace the whole Idle Control Valve. It was only $130 or so from the dealer and there's nothing like brand new parts for solving this problem!
 
#17 ·
Ordered mine through rock auto.com for $83 bucks
Easy remove and replace
Idles perfect.
I love this car.
2003 element ex
Original owner
Only 76k miles.
Both my boys learned to drive in this car
Had to change driver window regulator
And fan motor rheostat.
Other than that....awesome car.....;-);-);-)
 
#18 ·
wow, ur problem sounds a lot like the problem I have with my civic...it would idle all over the place and at signal lights or stop signs it will sometimes just die out. tried replacing the IACV with an extra one my friend let me borrow, and yeah, didn't help. Ended up taking it to a shop and I had low compression in 3 cylinders...hopefully your problem is not like mine though. Hope the IACV replacement or cleaning does the trick for u!
 
#19 · (Edited)
Hello all,

I am also having an intermitten trouble with stalling on cold starts.

Here is a list of what was done so far.

New timing chain, one coil pack, iacv(from ebay), new plugs, cleaned throttle body and fuel injection system, valve adjustment (3 needed adjustment).

Still getting intermitten P0172 code and still cold stalling during high rpms.

I am at a complete loss, can anyone help?

Should i replace the IACV again but use a honda part?
 
#20 ·
Hey "johnny",

I did a little research on this and found someone with the same OBDII code as you and the stalling issues. This was a CR-V but thee freeze frame he did on his code scanner/reader indicated that essentially the engine is not seeing enough oxygen in the air/fuel mixture and therefore greatly reducing the amount of gas being used to even it out. The air filter is likely clogged/dirty meaning the amount of air coming in isn't as much as there should be which is giving the ECU a false reading of rich fuel/air mixture. Try replacing/checking the air filter. Here is the Link:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061102175435AA4AQmt

Hope this helps and apologies if you've already fixed this issue.

-Jack
 
#21 ·
Well my mechanic of 20 years ordered some part. He said EGR valve. It will be put in next Friday. To update. I have a 2005 auto. No codes. Starts fine. At first stop is when it starts to act up until it is warm and then it's fine. My mechanic said the EGR for some reason on the Element is connected to the cooling system. So we'll find out soon. :)
 
#23 ·
I want to say thank you for the information in reference to Honda Element idle problems. I have found a lot of people who have complained about the issue but rarely has anyone posted a fix. My 2003 Honda Element is located in Belize C.A. It sits for weeks sometimes months at a time. This time it sat for 6 weeks. Started right up as normal but I knew something was not right but I made the 3 hour trip through the rain forest to my cabana. Once I got here I began to work on this problem. Your forum lead me in the right direction. Remove and clean a stuck IAC motor. Problem solved.

Thank you
 
#24 ·
Coolant in the iac valve vacuum hose

I have a 2004 Honda Element it was having a rough idle so I decided to clean the iac valve since it's common for them to get dirty or what not but I disconnected the vacuum lines going to the iac and the other shot coolant out of them? Idk what that means a bad head gasket, bad heads, I need some advice on what to check next? Any ideas? Thanks
 
#26 · (Edited)
I fixed the problem with a hammer!!!

I read all of the tips on idle surge and IAVC repair. Several folks
remarked that when cleaning their IAVC they noticed the rotating valve was stuck.
I went around the IAVC body with light ball peen hammer tapping and lo and behold it must have unfrozen the valve and idle returned to normal.
BTW this problem occurred just from a starter motor replacement, maybe some dirt fell into the TB causing the IAVC valve to freeze up.
 
Top