SSV question
 

In the process of troubleshooting power loss in a new engine... My observations are as follows...

The mechanical movement of my SSV's stroke doesn't feel sticky or have any resistance to it anywhere in its range of motion.
However it does have some lateral movement if I wiggle it gently as can be seen in this video I found on youtube...

Is this a failing SSV, or is this normal?
If this is a defective ssv, can this be fixed by going through the cleaning process?
Or is this an indicator of the SSV being worn and needs to be replaced?
Again, the stroke of the SSV feels just fine...
It only rattles when I do it by hand manually, it doesn't rattle by itself with engine running

Interesting

You should try and PM Jon ... the dude that made that SSV cleaning video.
He's the SSV guru

I've never heard of an SSV wearing out, but heck why not?

and le bump

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-remove-ssv-beta-teaser-video-184663/
check this thread, and PM like WCS said

Yeah, I've been through that thread and considering the procedure, but only if this lateral play is an indicator... Simply because the actuator seems to move fine...
Sending Jon a pm.

A little bit of play is normal and you actually want that.
There is roughly a 0.010" gap to allow the shaft to move freely and can be seen in the right pic below:
Attachment 184518 Attachment 184519

If there was no gap, the shaft would rub against that plate.
The friction would make it difficult to cycle and would eventually wear into the plate.
When you move the shaft laterally and hear it tapping, you are hearing the shaft's "collar" hitting the plate.

I recently used Jon's troubleshooting guides to resolve a P2070 CEL.

Is your CEL on? It should be. Otherwise you may be chasing a ghost.

My SSV rotated smoothly... no stick whatsoever. I verified all lines (vacuum + electrical) were connected. I vacuum tested the actuator and multimetered the solenoid. Ruled out the impact switch too.

The only thing left was to pull it. Dumped my coolant then loosened up the thermostat, pulled the SSV and cleaned the shit out of it and the housing using the rags and everything. There was definitely some build up but no where near as bad as some of the pictures I've seen of others.

Put everything back together and rung her out.... No CEL ... no loss of power. Perfect ever since.

If you have a OBD2 reader you can watch the affect of the SSV not closing. At around 5000 RPM your AFRs will go pig rich.. At least that was the observed behavior of my problem, plus the (very reliable) recurring P2070 every time I tried to rev into and beyond the SSV actuator range.

I'm still a little confused over the whole thing. I had read elsewhere that if the SSV doesn't do its job then the secondary injectors are blocked.

I'm not throwing a CEL.
I also went out and got a mityvac vacuum pump and tested the actuator. I pulled and bench tested the solenoid (blowing into it, then blowing into it w/12v applied. I also did the intake manifold vacuum inspection procedure in the service manual and was within spec.

I'm fairly certain I have a clogged cat at this point. I got a little rev happy in the last 5 mins of my drive home tonight trying to listen for exhaust symptoms, and when getting out I looked under the car at the cat and could see it slightly glowing through the sensor access hole in the heatshield...planning on pulling it off 2mro to atleast inspect it... If clogged, I'll take it to a welding friend of mine and doctor up a midpipe. Otherwise I'd expect it's glowing from fuel burning up in the exhaust for whatever #*/}in reason...
I don't want to gut it, I'd like to be able to throw the cat back on for future emissions...Since it's not showing CELs.

I know both of these problems SSV or Cat "should" be tossin CELs at me, which isn't so in my case, but both problems have been known to go on with out a CEL for some people.
I just want to do what I can before I take the car to the dealership and get slammed a diagnostics fee.

Am I going along the right path you guys think?
If I don't get anywhere with this, I'll try getting a video going of my acceleration through the rpms or somethin, i dno.

BTW thanks for jumpin in the thread guys.
Jon- U da man