SnakeyesTx
10-24-2007, 05:48 PM
So I took the car in yesterday since I don't have access to a lift at the moment and I really didn't have time to crawl under the car anyway. My local mechanic and I have known each other for years so I get a good deal anyway.
We pulled the line coming off the intake elbow that goes down to the Idle Control Valve (it was split right at the mold-seam causing some vacuum leakage). Ordered a new one, and while taking off the end that attaches to the ICV, there was a little bit of oil on it. The valve itself had a little bit of oil too. While we were in there, we removed the dead adult blue jay that was crammed into the little box behind the alternator. Yeah... you read that correctly, somehow, a full-grown blue jay crawed under the car, weaved past the radiator and hoses, climbed down into the alternator cooler pipe, then I guess got trapped until I drove unbeknowingly with it in the pipe and rammed him farther and farther down till he met his fate behind the alternator! My mechanic was shocked as was I, and when he tried to pull on its tail feathers to get it out, it snapped about 3 inches of his rear-end off with them... cooked like jerked chicken; Who knows how long that poor guy was in there.
So... new ICV and new line.
Driving home from the shop, the acceleration does seem to be nicer and throttle response is better but I think that's more of the vacuum issue resolved. Idle is still crappy. The light came on after sitting in traffic for you guessed it, one to two minutes. The ass-end of the car started bobbing up and down again and I started feeling like a retard.
Check engine light code keeps coming up 1221 (o2 sensor). It was changed last year along with the corresponding white-topped relay. What the hell is going on? :(
Thread of reference before the change : http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=35654
We pulled the line coming off the intake elbow that goes down to the Idle Control Valve (it was split right at the mold-seam causing some vacuum leakage). Ordered a new one, and while taking off the end that attaches to the ICV, there was a little bit of oil on it. The valve itself had a little bit of oil too. While we were in there, we removed the dead adult blue jay that was crammed into the little box behind the alternator. Yeah... you read that correctly, somehow, a full-grown blue jay crawed under the car, weaved past the radiator and hoses, climbed down into the alternator cooler pipe, then I guess got trapped until I drove unbeknowingly with it in the pipe and rammed him farther and farther down till he met his fate behind the alternator! My mechanic was shocked as was I, and when he tried to pull on its tail feathers to get it out, it snapped about 3 inches of his rear-end off with them... cooked like jerked chicken; Who knows how long that poor guy was in there.
So... new ICV and new line.
Driving home from the shop, the acceleration does seem to be nicer and throttle response is better but I think that's more of the vacuum issue resolved. Idle is still crappy. The light came on after sitting in traffic for you guessed it, one to two minutes. The ass-end of the car started bobbing up and down again and I started feeling like a retard.
Check engine light code keeps coming up 1221 (o2 sensor). It was changed last year along with the corresponding white-topped relay. What the hell is going on? :(
Thread of reference before the change : http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=35654