Well I just wanted to give a little something back to everyone that’s helped me so far in my ZT journey of pain and pleasure so I thought that I’d knock up this little how to…
I’d been suffering from a couple of different problems. The first was that the car used to rev to about 2500 rpm when it was started from cold, just for a couple of seconds, then it would drop down to normal. Then over time it started holding its revs a for a second or two when you let off the throttle, so sometimes when changing gear it sounded more like an automatic as you let out the clutch and the revs were still quite high. Finally things got worse still when it started ‘hunting’ and the revs were fluctuating on tickover. It would drop its revs to 400 rpm and then rev back up to 1000 and then back to 400 and so on and so on.
My research and some advice from some top members on this forum pointed towards a faulty idle solenoid. The guys at xPart referred to it as the fast idle solenoid. I found a thread on the XPower forums on how to clean the idle solenoid but thought that I’d see if I couldn’t do a better job and throw a few pictures in to the mix.
Cleaning this has rectified all of the problems that I was having with my 190.
Initially I took it all apart and cleaned it as per the instructions that I found on XPower but the gasket on my car was badly perished so I then ordered a gasket kit from xPart for about a fiver and have taken it apart again to fit this. For the small expense, I’d recommend getting the kit and fitting the new parts when you do the clean. I had to make a temporary gasket out of a cigarette packet to put mine back together after the initial clean as the gasket was leaking air It worked like a charm but as you can see I’ve gone back and done the job properly.
A word of warning… Do this when the engine is cold as if you move the plunger on the solenoid, when you re-plug it in again it will reset itself to its cold starting position and you may find that the car won’t start or won’t tickover until it’s cooled down. I’ve done it with the engine cold and had no problems. Started first time and ran like a dream ever since! Others have said that their car wouldn’t start afterwards (because the engine was hot when they did this) but after 30 mins or so their cars started and ran as they should!
Right…
The idle solenoid is attached to a housing on top of the throttle body. It’s held on with two allen bolts and there’s an electrical connector (arrowed) and an engine gas return pipe (arrowed) going into it, as well as the pipe off the air box (arrowed). It’s nice and easy to get to on the 190 in between the engine cover, air box and battery box. The first thing you want to do is make some room by taking off the air box cover. There are two Philips screws on the top of the air box and also a hose clip (arrowed) on the large pipe that goes from the airbox to the throttle body. The cover then wiggles off and the pipes to the throttle body will come with it. The smaller pipe that goes to the idle solenoid housing isn’t held on with anything and just pulls off.
You’ll then have some space to see and you’ll notice the throttle body and air box pipe are full of oil (I’ll cover this in another how to as soon as I get some more parts that I’m waiting for), it’s worth giving them a wipe clean to prevent it getting sucked back into the engine (don’t worry, the engine will burn it as it’s been designed like this, but it’d be better if it wasn’t there).
Once you’ve got that off you need to unplug the electrical connector and the gas pipe (it uses one of those connections where you push the outer ring on the housing down and the pipe pulls up). Undo the two allen bolts and lift the housing off. As you can see below, my gasket is looking worse for wear with a torn corner.
You’ll now have the housing off as below and will need to remove the solenoid from the housing using a torque bit. Be careful not to move the plunger if you can help it and be careful not to lose the o ring that sits between the solenoid and the housing if you didn’t buy the kit with a new one!
I’ve arrowed the parts that need cleaned. They look ok now on mine as I’ve already cleaned them all but they were badly coked up the first time I took it apart. Some meth’s will probably do the job, but I used some pipe cleaner that I had handy. You should also clean the throttle body where the gasket sits so that you get a good seal when you put it all back together again.
The little yellow bit that I’ve fondly named the doozle wotsit sits inside the throttle body, under the gasket and it should be white like the new one. The gasket kit came with new bolts, the gasket, a new o ring for the solenoid and also a new doozle wotsit. You can see where that fits under the gasket in the pics below.
After cleaning and drying off the relevant parts. Refit the solenoid to the housing with the new o ring and new torque bolts. Fit the doozle, the new gasket, re seat the housing and tighten the allen bolts to the desired degree of tightness. Plug in the electrical connector, engine gas pipe and re-fit the air box.
There you go…
Turn the key and listen to her purr!! :Lol:
If i've missed anything then i apologise but i'm pretty sure that it's all there!
The above is a quick account of what I did and I had no problems and didn’t break anything. Just be warned that you do this at your own risk. This is simply an account of what I did so I can’t be held responsible for any problems that other may experience or cause as a result of the above.
Enjoy!!
I’d been suffering from a couple of different problems. The first was that the car used to rev to about 2500 rpm when it was started from cold, just for a couple of seconds, then it would drop down to normal. Then over time it started holding its revs a for a second or two when you let off the throttle, so sometimes when changing gear it sounded more like an automatic as you let out the clutch and the revs were still quite high. Finally things got worse still when it started ‘hunting’ and the revs were fluctuating on tickover. It would drop its revs to 400 rpm and then rev back up to 1000 and then back to 400 and so on and so on.
My research and some advice from some top members on this forum pointed towards a faulty idle solenoid. The guys at xPart referred to it as the fast idle solenoid. I found a thread on the XPower forums on how to clean the idle solenoid but thought that I’d see if I couldn’t do a better job and throw a few pictures in to the mix.
Cleaning this has rectified all of the problems that I was having with my 190.
Initially I took it all apart and cleaned it as per the instructions that I found on XPower but the gasket on my car was badly perished so I then ordered a gasket kit from xPart for about a fiver and have taken it apart again to fit this. For the small expense, I’d recommend getting the kit and fitting the new parts when you do the clean. I had to make a temporary gasket out of a cigarette packet to put mine back together after the initial clean as the gasket was leaking air It worked like a charm but as you can see I’ve gone back and done the job properly.
A word of warning… Do this when the engine is cold as if you move the plunger on the solenoid, when you re-plug it in again it will reset itself to its cold starting position and you may find that the car won’t start or won’t tickover until it’s cooled down. I’ve done it with the engine cold and had no problems. Started first time and ran like a dream ever since! Others have said that their car wouldn’t start afterwards (because the engine was hot when they did this) but after 30 mins or so their cars started and ran as they should!
Right…
The idle solenoid is attached to a housing on top of the throttle body. It’s held on with two allen bolts and there’s an electrical connector (arrowed) and an engine gas return pipe (arrowed) going into it, as well as the pipe off the air box (arrowed). It’s nice and easy to get to on the 190 in between the engine cover, air box and battery box. The first thing you want to do is make some room by taking off the air box cover. There are two Philips screws on the top of the air box and also a hose clip (arrowed) on the large pipe that goes from the airbox to the throttle body. The cover then wiggles off and the pipes to the throttle body will come with it. The smaller pipe that goes to the idle solenoid housing isn’t held on with anything and just pulls off.
You’ll then have some space to see and you’ll notice the throttle body and air box pipe are full of oil (I’ll cover this in another how to as soon as I get some more parts that I’m waiting for), it’s worth giving them a wipe clean to prevent it getting sucked back into the engine (don’t worry, the engine will burn it as it’s been designed like this, but it’d be better if it wasn’t there).
Once you’ve got that off you need to unplug the electrical connector and the gas pipe (it uses one of those connections where you push the outer ring on the housing down and the pipe pulls up). Undo the two allen bolts and lift the housing off. As you can see below, my gasket is looking worse for wear with a torn corner.
You’ll now have the housing off as below and will need to remove the solenoid from the housing using a torque bit. Be careful not to move the plunger if you can help it and be careful not to lose the o ring that sits between the solenoid and the housing if you didn’t buy the kit with a new one!
I’ve arrowed the parts that need cleaned. They look ok now on mine as I’ve already cleaned them all but they were badly coked up the first time I took it apart. Some meth’s will probably do the job, but I used some pipe cleaner that I had handy. You should also clean the throttle body where the gasket sits so that you get a good seal when you put it all back together again.
The little yellow bit that I’ve fondly named the doozle wotsit sits inside the throttle body, under the gasket and it should be white like the new one. The gasket kit came with new bolts, the gasket, a new o ring for the solenoid and also a new doozle wotsit. You can see where that fits under the gasket in the pics below.
After cleaning and drying off the relevant parts. Refit the solenoid to the housing with the new o ring and new torque bolts. Fit the doozle, the new gasket, re seat the housing and tighten the allen bolts to the desired degree of tightness. Plug in the electrical connector, engine gas pipe and re-fit the air box.
There you go…
Turn the key and listen to her purr!! :Lol:
If i've missed anything then i apologise but i'm pretty sure that it's all there!
The above is a quick account of what I did and I had no problems and didn’t break anything. Just be warned that you do this at your own risk. This is simply an account of what I did so I can’t be held responsible for any problems that other may experience or cause as a result of the above.
Enjoy!!