Idle Revs (Question)

Maniac618

Guest
When I start my Ibiza up I have noticed that it sometimes chooses to idle at about 1,100RPM and on other occasions, at around 600 / 700RPM.

My question is, is this normal and what could cause the difference?
 

Maniac618

Guest
Do you have air con on when you start it?

Not specifically although I was messing with the air con a little bit between ignition attempts etc, but would that cause lower idle revs, and if so, why?

I must add that I have the engine dash light on a solid orange and recently had a new alternator installed after it wasn't charging the battery.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

mjstokes85

Diesel Power
Nov 14, 2005
1,519
26
39
Long Eaton
Not specifically although I was messing with the air con a little bit between ignition attempts etc, but would that cause lower idle revs, and if so, why?

I must add that I have the engine dash light on a solid orange and recently had a new alternator installed after it wasn't charging the battery.

What engine size is it? On my old 1.2 the revs went from 800ish to 1000ish if the AC was on at idle. There is no change in revs on my new car though, I think the bigger engines cope better with the extra load.
 

Maniac618

Guest
What engine size is it? On my old 1.2 the revs went from 800ish to 1000ish if the AC was on at idle. There is no change in revs on my new car though, I think the bigger engines cope better with the extra load.

1.4 SE (2002 but a MK4 I believe)
 

Badger

Active Member
Dec 2, 2012
2,888
7
Newcastle, Staffs
Thought this was normal on petrol models until the coolant goes to 50'c then the idle drops down.

Warm starts it won't happen, and idle normally.
 

faz777

Guest
My tdi 1.9 FR does this too. On a cold start. After the first rev it just drops down to normal. Think it is normal I'm guessing?
 

chrisRibiza

Active Member
Sep 27, 2007
1,194
51
Totally normal.

My old mk4 when cold in the morning etc idled at 1100rpm and gradually dropped to 800rpm after a few mins as the engine heated.

When I started it and there was still some heat in the engine, it idled at 1100rpm and then all if a sudden dropped to 800rpm once the engine temp got over 50c. This seemed to be some sort of fault as the car only started doing it after it was a few years old but it always dropped to 800 eventually.
 
Last edited:

Barkers

Guest
When the cars cold, the automatic choke comes on and puts more fuel into the cylinders revving it higher. When the engine is warm the automatic choke is turned off and the fuel trim returns to it's normal range and the revs drop to a minimum for the engine to keep turning over. If it didn't rev higher in the cold your car would struggle to start/run. This is for petrols of course. I'm sure diesels have a similar principle but couldn't say with certainty


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

krussel

Active Member
Oct 31, 2008
1,713
2
Hertforshire
Sounds pretty normal. One thing to try is to get your toe under the throttle and pull it up. Sometimes they get a bit sticky.
 

Roffel

Dutch Newbie
Jan 6, 2011
113
0
Netherlands
www.teamibiza.net
Came upon this 'problem' before on a forum.
People, let me convince you!
All VAG cars (petrol of diesel) have a electronic choke system which pushes the RPM's to around de 1100 - 1300.
Once the temperature is around 50 degrees it lowers the RPM.
this is completely normal!!!
 
Lecatona HPFP (High-pressure Fuel Pump Upgrades)