Boring grocery getter problem. Any help appreciated.

[JohnFreeman]

My wife parked her 2003 Accord when she got her newer car, battery ran down etc . I put a new battery in (Wheee... what a nice surprise to have the alarm go on while I'm under the hood installing the new battery!) .

Now the thing wont idle...surges like crazy about 500 rpm up and down.... when I wind it up to about 3 grand (above the surge level) it doesn't miss a beat. It ran and idled fine before the battery died.

I want to get the car running and sell it. It's been a good car that we've owned since new ...oil changed on schedule , all maint performed. Oh, it's a manual, 2.4l if that matters.


I appreciate your learned input!
John

 

[Butter]

@Mike Overlay

 

[Mike Overlay]

Idle air control valve out of whack I bet ya.
Coolant level full?
If so, valve may have to come off, clean and reset to proper position.

 

[Mike Overlay]

 

[JohnFreeman]

Coolant level is fine..... I've watched the vids...I'll try the tap on the thing and see if it evens out routine first, but it'll probably be saturday before I get to it.

Would you recommend replacing the module if I go to the trouble of taking that all off?

It looks quite do-able as long as the throttle cabling doesn't come unspooled. Looks like modules are anywhere from 16-40$.


Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it.
John

 

[larryh1108]

How much have you driven it since?
When the battery died, the computers may have gone into limp mode.
Perhaps driving it for 50 miles may reset it?
Just a thought...

 

[Djstorm100]

I would atleast pull the idle air valve to see how bad it is. If it has alot of carbon/ build up go a head and replace it.

Also can be a vacuum leak.

 

[Short Fuse]

I would drive it a few miles before I do anything and give the computer a chance to relearn the parameters since the battery died it probably lost all the learned data. Then if that doesn't work procede with the iac. Like dj said it could be a vaccume leak also make sure you didn't knock a hose lose changing the battery, hondas will get a idle surge with a vac leak present in some cases.