My 1997 Civic was having a 'choppy' idle/near-stall issue, which the guy I bought it from said it was because of the IACV - After reading through here on the subject, I ended up removing it, and to my surprise there were WADS of duct tape balled up inside! I removed the tape, soaked the inside of the unit with carb cleaner, and freed up the valve to ALMOST perfect working order (It will not close ALL the way, like the spring is worn out). Now the car starts right up, BUUUT ... Now it's idling too high normally, and only cycles down when I gun it a few times. I know the unit needs to be replaced at some point, but right now cash is non-existent o_O

The two questions I have are:

#1. Would the high idle be caused by my freeing up the valve, and removing the tape that was lodged in it?
#2. What are the chances of finding a GOOD unit in a junkyard? (NOTE: This is not a 'normal' junkyard - They have almost 30 acres dedicated JUST for Hondas!)

 

Have you tried closing down the air screw on the top of the throttle body? This also lets air into the engine, bypassing the IACV. After putting the duct tape in the IACV, the guy probably had to open the screw wide to make it idle. That is if he remotely knew what he was doing. You should also look for hacks like turning the throttle plate stop screw, tightening the throttle cable, and even drilling holes in the throttle plate.

 

I know absolutely NOTHING about cars after about 1976 - My experience is with old Camaros, Cutlasses, etc, BEFORE all this other stuff - I look under the hood of my Civic, and I only recognize about 10% of what's under there :-P

 

*** UPDATE ***

It's been a day (And 78 miles @ 75-90MPH) since I removed and cleaned out the IACV, and after a few hours of high idling, the car has been running beautifully all day, with only a slight high idle at times, which is immediately corrected by a quick tap on the gas. Thanks to the information I gathered in this forum, I at least was able to temporarily save myself $200! :-D