Does anyone else have a ridiculously high idle after a cold start w/ a manual transmission? I noticed the engine idled around 1200 RPM after a cold start. I waited 30-60 seconds and it did not drop down, but I had to move the car so I shifted into first and had to keep my foot on the brake to prevent a "Joey's new Eleanor" from happening. With the clutch fully out, the engine was idling at 2000 RPM (no throttle application from me whatsoever). Is this normal? My 4.6 2V/4R70W crown Vic drops down to about 800 RPM within 30 seconds and the same goes for the 5.4 2V/4R70W E-250.

Do I have to kick down the throttle on the GT like a carbureted car? This new-fangled drive-by-wire system is confusing...

 

did you just put in your SCT?

 

It's 110% bone stock! It's so stock that it'd probably make most of the TMS modders quite sick!

 

This might sound dumb but worth checking. Sometimes the floor mats slide a bit when you get in the car, make sure your floor mat is not covering part of the gas pedal.

 

Hmmm when I had my SCT installed tune, it did the same thing, Doug from Bamatunes has seen this often and fixed it for me, evidently a problem with SCT at the moment, but if you're still stock I have no clue. Why does your signature show an SCT tuner?

 

I just started my car after it sat for 2 days in -20 C and it idle at 1200rpm for a bout 45 seconds...I hit the gas and let go and the rpms dropped to normal...FYI...

 

My car has been in storage for about 3 weeks. I start it about every 6-7 days. Yesterday my car did the same thing. It idled @ 2000-2200 rpm "forever" (1-2 min.). Noticing that the revs did not drop, I put it in gear and moved it back and forth (10-12 inches). After doing that, the revs then settled down to 850-900 rpm.

Weird. I'm glad to hear it wasn't just mine. I assume that it has something to do with letting it sit for a few days.

vegasgold: "-20 C"!! WTF! It's 7-10 in T.O. Not a drop of snow yet this season.

BTW-100% STOCK.
t.o.

 

When it is cold out the car will idle higher (1200) until you start to move, or I guess if you hit the gas pedal. You shouldn't have to hit the pedal though before you move it, just let it do what it does, it's just trying to get warm faster. The 1200 is normal, nothing to worry about there...it will idle that way for a while, depending on how cold it is.

The 2000rpm's is not a normal "idle" speed, but unless it does this regularly, I wouldn't worry about it too much. How long did it take for the idle to come down from 2000? If it was only a few seconds, no problem. If it was more than 3-4 seconds, not right.

 

It held 2000 RPM for about 60 seconds+ but only with the clutch fully out in 1st gear. Once I shifted into neutral, it dropped to about 1200 RPM and kept it there. It wasn't that cold outside (35F-40F) and I had driven the car about 6 hours ago.

Edited to add: I never once touched the gas pedal... The manual never said anything about kicking down the idle.

I just tried the throttle recal trick to see if it would change anything.

 

Mine started doing it recently. I usually let it idle for a minute or so until the idles comes down and recently it's been longer than a minute but it doesn't do it all the time. Weird.

 

I found that I have to wait roughly 3-5 minutes before the idle drops down to a more manageable level.

I find the drive-by-wire system (in stock form) to be much less sensitive than a cable system.

 

Even when cold (20F) outside mine starts up high, (2000) then drops down to around 1300 or so after 5-6 seconds. As soon as I start to move the car, it either stays around 1200 or drops to 800 regardless of the engine temp. Just be easy on it while it is in high idle, it is not jumpy or scary as long as you don't let it scare you! If you get nervous about it, you will drive it differently and it WILL be jumpy.

 

I had an old Mustang that did "this". I would just hit the gas pedal and it would level out. Are you sure that you didn't install a SCT- maybe you forgot? Maybe Justin did it, remember?

 

The SCT PRP/tunes are for the Crown Vic.

 

Mine has been doing this for a while now. 2-3k rpm on cold start for a minute or so until it calms down. Kicking it down helped at first, but not so much now. I've been trying to tell myself it's not the tune, but it seemed to start after I got it tuned. (Yes, SCT. why do we keep asking that?)

I was thinking that maybe it was a vacuum leak. But that doesn't explain why it goes away.

Ideas?

 

I've noticed all kinds of odd idle behaviour with my stang both post and pre tune. I suspect some of it is due to Ford trying to pass emissions requirements. For example a fast idle when the engine is cold would get the cats working faster... But who knows, that's just a guess.

 

We have a winner !!!!

You are correct, the reason for the high idle speed at startup is to warm up the cats faster to lower emissions. This is required to make a car meet ULEVII requirements.

These days once a vehicle is warmed up they run so clean that 80% of the polutants they put out occur within the first 60 seconds after a cold start.

Get used to it, most new vehicles have fast idle startups.

 

It also wears out the engine faster, since most of the engine wear occurs at startup. Revving to 3000 RPM right at the beginning, where the oil hasn't made its way up to the valvetrain completely, isn't very good for the engine. The other latest Ford we have is the 03 E-250. It revs up to about 1500 RPM and then drops to 600 RPM within 30 seconds. The 00 Vic revs up to about 1500 RPM and drops to 800 RPM.

It just seemed abnormal to see it rev up to 3000 RPM as soon as you turn the key!

 

Evidently there is a ( temporary ) flaw in the SCT tuners that give a high start idle, Doug from Bamatunes was telling me about it as he fixed it. Yea mine went to 3000rpm too untill he worked on it, but only after I put a tune in with the SCT. From the factory I had no problems.

 

Reminds me of the old fast idle cams from the carburetors in the 60's. When it was cold out a bi-metallic spring mechanism in the carb would engage a cam on the throttle body and bump the idle up. As the spring warmed up from engine heat the idle would drop as the cam racheted down to normal position.

Sorry, just had a flash back.

It's all controlled by the ECU now. I'd just let her idle high till your ECU decides your engine is warm enough. If it keeps happening when it's warm then go see the service dept for a diagnostic check.