AAR aux air valve/regulator?

[odie]

is the AAR supposed to block ALL air after it closes? I've been playing with mine trying to solve a high idle problem. The AAR valve appears to function, it's getting voltage and the element heats up. the valve inside moves.

The problem is that I can still easily blow air though the valve when it appears to be closed. I had removed the heat element and the valve mechanisim appears to be fully closed.

there is a nut/stud on the valve body, what does it do?

[Bleyseng]

The stud on the body bolts the AAR to the plate it sits on.
The AAR should close completely and block off all air. If it doesn't I would say rust is still keeping it open alittle. Use PB Blaster to free it up or if you have it apart, lightly buff the shaft with 0000 steel wool.
Geoff

[odie]

so ZERO air should pass when the AAR heats up? I'll try a little PB blaster. Is there a seal, gasket or something inside that could have worn out and is letting air pass even though the valve is closed?

[odie]

actually, when the valve is closed AND I plug the hole when the element goes with my finger, I can only blow a little air through. Still not air-tight but an improvement.

[Bleyseng]

It should be air tight as it is connected on one side to the plenum/manifold. If it does not close tight it is a vacuum leak resulting in higher idle rpms or lean idle. That is its function to be a controlled vacuum leak for cold start up high idle rpms. When the engine/AAR is hot it is closed for normal operation.
Geoff

[odie]

well I'm still getting a pretty strong vacuum at the AAR even after warming up. The engine seems to have no problem sucking lots of air thru it even when it's closed. So I'll have to work at it some more or find a replacement.

I pulled the AAR hose and the rpm stays high. But as soon as I plugged it and the idle dropped to 1000. But as soon as I hit the throttle, the rpms stay high again???

I then plugged the deceleration valve hose and the AAR hose and now it idles at 1000 and snaps right back to 1000 when I let off the gas. Strange but I don't think the Decel valve is bad cause it pulls a strong vacuum everytime I hit the throttle and then the vacuum fro the Decel valve drops as rpm return to idle.

I'm guessing that the AAR and Decel valve are meant to work together since they have that common "Y" fitting at the intake bellows. Blocking both of solves the idle problems and the car drives great. But leaving the Deceleration valve hooked up without the AAR did not improve anything.

[RustyWa]

Is there any PREVENTIVE maintenence people should do with the AAR? Maybe squirt some lube inside it once a year?

[Bleyseng]

I squirt in some PB Blaster once a year to keep it lubed, that's it.
Geoff

[3D914]

Odie,

You can get the AAR sealed tight and still have a problem, because its sounds to me like you have the hoses for the AAR coming from the wrong place.

The AAR valve has one intake (points toward the passenger side of the engine bay) and the outlet (points toward the drivers side and back). The intake should be routed to the Air cleaner ABOVE the thottle body. The AAR outlet goes back to the valve just beneath the Cold Start valve (which is BELOW the throttle body).

The decel valve has three ports, basically in the shape of an inverted "T". The medium size port (inverted T port) goes to the Air Cleaner ABOVE the throttle body. The other two ports, one large, the other tiny, both go to the plenum BELOW the throttle body. The tiny hose connects together on a 3-way fitting that plugs directly into the plenum, with a large hose the routes to the oil filler (breather). The large hose of the decel valve goes directly to a vertical fitting on the plenum, again BELOW the throttle body.

Hope this helps.

[odie]

3D914...your description of the AAR hoses seems backwards to me. Are you perhaps describing D-tronic? I have a 1.8 AFC L-tronic. Not sure what all the differences are though.

[3D914]

Odie,

Sorry I didn't clarify. Yes, I was tlking about D-tronic. Guess the brain is really out of gear. Perhaps that explains why I've been on my butt all day instead of out installing my new engine.

Regards,

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

There isn't actually that much difference in the AARs between the 2.0 and 1.8 engines. The shape is different (except for some very early 1.8s) but they work the same way and are plumbed in similarly. On the 1.8, one hose goes to the rubber boot between the air flow meter and the throttle valve. That's upstream of the throttle plate. The other goes to the manifold--downstream of the throttle plate.

The decel valve has one large line going upstream of the throttle, and one large and one small going downstream of it.

--DD

[odie]

I got the "Y" fitting from the intake bellows plugged. the Deccel valve and AAR are now linked directly to each other. the engine is a little rough starting cold but runs great after a couple of minutes warming up.

I'm pretty sure the AAR is the culprit so I'll be trying to take it apart and clean & fix it up. Spraying PB Blaster didn't help much as it wasn't frozen to start with.

But it's now a secondary project...big turn signal wiring problem just happened

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The DV and AAR shouldn't be hooked to each other. They should be hooked "in parallel"--both hooked to the manifold on one end and the air cleaner (on 1.7 & 2.0 engines) or the intake hose after the air flow meter (1.8 engines) on the other end. The DV also gets a third hose hooked to the manifold...

They can be hooked into the manifold and/or the "upstream" location at the same place on a Y. But you shouldn't have the air going through the one, then through the other, then back to the manifold.

--DD

[odie]

yeah, I know it's not correct, but it works for the moment. If I block off the AAR completely and leave the Decel valve hooked up normally, it doesn't seem to "decel" and rpm stays around 1500-1800 if I blip the throttle. but will still idle at 1000 if I let the rpms drop to 1000 while in gear first.

but just pulling the "Y" plug at the intake bellows and plugging it, leaving the AAR and Decel still attached, results in a smooth running engine and no idle problems after 1-2 minute warm up.

I don't know why, but it works. I'm still gonna have to solve the AAR problem so I can return everything to normal.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The behavior you mention (RPMs that "stick") sounds like a vacuum leak to me.

--DD