Hi guys,

I searched and searched and this is what I came up with:

When i start my car in the morning (SoCal so its not cold or anything) it takes a really long time for the idle to smooth out at somewhere between 900-1100 rpms. I start it and it shoots to 2200, and then slowly (I mean like 2 minutes) comes down to 1500 and then another minute to 1200 and then it might bob back up to 1500 and then slowly come back down to 1100 after about a total of 5 minutes. Is 5 minutes normal?

When I looked on this site I found I'm supposed to not drive my car till the idle gets to normal. Which is how this whole curiosity started. So I tried it... and then it took forever. People on this site have said that it takes some time, but they can just "find a song on the ipod to listen to and its ready to go" or "adjust the mirros and put on the seatbelt". I can read the front page of the morning paper by the time mine is done! Any feedback would be great. Thanks!

 

I personally only get that when the temperature is really low (winter). It only takes a few seconds to settle down (enough time to buckle my safety belt) and then I just drive it nicely (try to keep RPM under 4k) for about 10 minutes to allow the engine to warm up. But from what I've heard this is normal!
Maybe someone else can get more technical on the explanations!

 

Sounds normal...+1

 

neutral position switch is going, you will get a cel in a couple of thousand miles..


beers

 

My car goes from the high idle at cold start up to lower rpm within 60 seconds.

 

Hmm... so I might get a CEL in several thousand miles and it isn't normal seems to be the consensus. I took it to the dealer for sand in a blender this week and asked them while I was there (they "could not duplicate") and they said it was normal. Guess I just gotta wait it out then.

 

actuaally i had the same problem, got tired of waiting and just start driving after bout a minute, xcept when i was runnin late to a test/class and took off jerking around...lol. but i went to the dealership and they had some recalls, so they updated my car to the specs they liked... i mean it used to jump to like 3k on my 8, after the updates still jumped to like 2... jus got my second oil change (which is why i went in the first time,,ie oil change), and now it doesnt happen at all. im in fl so its freakin hot as **** year round so temp wasnt the prob. i guess i jus wore the engine in??? i dunno but glad its gone, hopefully urs will go soon

 

Next time put your foot down and keep the clucth disengaged before you start the car in the morning , if the idle evens out quicker you may have a faulty switch

Ben

 

hey, i just started getting this too, i'm in FL and first time was on cold day (40 deg..cold for us but now does it at 70 deg mornings! tech at dealership said its a normal heat up in the morning, but i'm at 30,000, so why not to heat it up for the first 29,900?? i hear some people say 'normal' others 'neutral switching going...need a new cel'...whats a cel?? oh and why is it bad to drive off before it goes down to 1K? Thanks!

 

check your fuel level. may need a lil antifreeze in there............ perhaps a thermostat.

 

CEL = Check Engine Light

He's saying it will come on if the switch is going bad.

For both of you - After a drive w/the car heated up, when you shut it off does it do it again on restart?

 

Wow... I have to deal with that every cold morning.... It usually takes 30 - 90 seconds depending on how cold it is outside, it is Totally normal

 

umm.. sounds like the car is warming up. other cars tend to do this too.. if it really concerns you why don't you try reseting your ecu, but if it goes away when it's warm then it's fine.

 

this is a good test. do it

 

tiltmode...NO, it doesn't do it on restarts, just typically on the morning start, but at 70 degrees some mornings!!! (FL). So if it doesn't do it again on restarts, its just normal morning-warmup, but if it does do again on all restarts, then CEL/neutral switch?

by the way, at same time this happened, I'm getting a grind when i downshift into 1st, but read in the other thread i shouldn't do that over 10mph...any connection between these two problems as started at same time??

thanks for everyones help

 

sounds completely normal to me.

 

Normal - even though the outside ambient temp may be 70 this doesnt mean the fluids in the car that sat over night in much lower temps have warmed up. Remember, how long is it actually 70 degrees before your car compared to how long the car was in the much cooler night temps...

 

thanks tiltmode!!! this site rocks!!