Troubleshoot, low idle..

[neliconcept]

regardless of the truck sitting and being driven maybe 6 weeks out of the last 6 months, I really want to know wtf is up with this idle situation.

lowdown

A/C will keep the idle at 500rpms, in drive, sometimes going up and down from 450 or so to 560ish... take A/C off, it goes lower then 500 and acts somewhat weird

Battery and alternator have been tested and seem to be putting out ample power. whats odd though, is the lights will dim when at idle however a little bit of gas, the lights are at full power again. (all lights)

another thing... battery dies or just does not have enough juice to turn the car over if it has been sitting more then a week or so. so Im starting to think it has something to do with the connections themselves. I have no freakin idea, but it drives fine (except for the rear diff that is still out of it for the second effing breakge this side of 6 months)

any ideas? I need to get this thing running soon, I have to make a huge roadtrip to miami for a major editorial for oceandrive and would rather drive and have fun the fly and try and murder another flight attendant for pissing me off.

MAF is cleaned too btw.

[Scuba]

When the truck isn't idling at normal, it's not putting out the required voltage to run your lights, thus they dim.

My first thought is the IAC and throttle body need some cleaning..

[CJM]

Your battery most likely has a bad cell or is just shot. If it sits for a week it is not good despite whomever tested it.

I would check all connections, clean them and buy a new battery.

I also second Scubas advice about cleaning the IAC and TB.

[Okie81]

Battery and alternator have been tested and seem to be putting out ample power. whats odd though, is the lights will dim when at idle however a little bit of gas, the lights are at full power again. (all lights)

Had the exact same issue. I thought it might be a grounding problem so I did the big 3 upgrade, no change.
Then, I cleaned the TB like I was putting it on Ebay, and the idle issue disappeared.

[neliconcept]

ill check the battery and clean the TB

if anyone thinks of anything else let me know.

Wont be able to do so for about 4 days as my truck isnt in the same state as me

[brian2sun]

Test the battery's cold cranking amps, not just the voltage like most people do. A bad battery can have 12+ volts, but low or no cranking amps. The battery should say on the top or side how many CCAs it should have - usually between 600-1000. If it's more than a few years old, just replace it.

[MTL_4runner]

ill check the battery and clean the TB


My money would be on one of those two items.

[corax]

Clean the throttle body and IAC - if you're gonna drive a tank or so out of it, you could also add some acetone to the gas tank (2 oz per 10 gallons unleaded). I read a few years ago about acetone increasing fuel mileage (http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Acetone_as_a_Fuel_Additive) - I don't believe the claim that it helped, "improve the fuel's ability to vaporize completely by eliminating the surface tension that causes an increase in particulate vaporization temperature" (sounds like a snake oil sales pitch) but I do think it could help clean the system out and maybe dissolve varnish deposits in the injectors. For a few bucks worth of nail polish cleaner, it's worth a try.

[neliconcept]

I'll try everything suggested this weekend, (i think ill be back then) battery is about.. 2 years old now? well will be during springbreak since i fried the other one while at nc994run's house in blacksburg va and destroyed the alternator then so i had to get new alt and battery.

I would like to go with a redtop or odyssey now anyways, i think i have some pos battery from the zone.