High Idle on the '05

[46300]

Does the Sequoia seem to idle rather high? Especially when the vehicle is first started. The tach shows between 1-1.5k, however you really need to jocky the brake in order for it to not take off on you.

[mroy]

i just bought an 05' and brought to the shop 2x for the idle and out of control braking. in a recent snow storm i tried backing out of my garage onto a snowy drive way and couln't stop the vehicle. my brakes were applied and the rear wheels were still spinning, like a whole shot.
i ont think it is an idle problem, the idle seems to be were it should for a cold vehicle. every vehicle idles high when cold, but they dont push me like this sequia. very dangerous situation. its been in the shop for 4 days now and no one knows what to do. they did replicate the problem at the shop, but dont know what to do. they gave me an 03' seqouia for a loaner and it drives much better than mine. it does not have the high idle pushing problem.

keep me posted.

[Bakemono]

An idle of 1500 rpm with a cold motor is not at all unusual. It idles high like that so that the engine can warm up more quickly.
Mroy, my F-150 is similar to the situation that you describe, but not quite as bad. When you put it into "D" or "R" when the motor is cold you have to press down on the brake firmly or else my truck will lurch foreward when you put it into gear. Sounds like theres something funny going on with your Seqouia though.

[Firephil]

I have an 05 Sequoia and an 05 Tacoma and both vehicles do it........both high idle and learch forward, I did post a while back about the Sequoia's soft brake issue, with no feed back.

[46300]

Thanks for the feedback. I too had the issue with pulling out of the garage. I thought the drive may be icy. The brakes always seemed responsive so I never thought that was the issue.

I understand vehicles have a higher idle when they are first started, especially when they are cold. Mine idles around 2200-2300 which seems high and then when you put it in gear you really need to ride the brake to stop it from taking off. I am not a little man, just surprised and wanted others perspective.

Thanks,

Tod

[Firephil]

I know in the old days of cars, there was an auto choke and when you hit the gas it would kick down the RPM's, I don't know if this will work, I will try and get back to the group on this.

[ekpolk]

Our 01 model has always started with a roar and idled a bit high until it warms up. We (my wife is the primary driver) were bothered by this at first, but have gotten used to it. I can say pretty conclusively that it's not doing the engine any detectable harm. I've used a couple different synthetic oils in this vehicle, and I usually send a sample off for lab analysis right before I dump the oil. Our last oil change was in July, and as you can see from the lab report, the Tree's oil was still in like-new condition after 13 months and 10,000 miles use (the 2UZ-FE V-8 has a rep for being extremely easy on oil, by the way). Clearly, this engine is not grinding itself up after cold starts, which I originally feared. Before any of you allow yourselves to experience cardiac arrest at the thought of how long I run the oil in this engine, check this out: http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/...=002849#000000

Be careful of the BITOG forum -- it's extremely addictive for compulsive car care nuts -- just look at my post count over there. . .

[mroy]

it does seem as though the choke needs to be knocked down i tried that and was not effective.

[Firephil]

I am at a loss, my Sequoia does it and my Tacoma.

[ekpolk]

Remember, of course, these are fuel injected and computer controlled vehicles. There's no "choke" to speak of as there was in a carbureted vehicle. If the ECU is programmed to run the engine this way on start, we're pretty much stuck with it, unless you're sufficiently prepared (and knowledgable) to start getting into the fundamentals of reprogramming your ECU's brain. On the other hand, Toyota is very well aware that long-term durability is their stock-in-trade, and thus, I doubt they'd allow their vehicles to do this unless it was essentially harmless. I have no evidence as to the trans, but as you can see from my used oil analysis results, see links in previous post, our 2UZ-FE is holding up quite nicely and showing very, very low wear numbers. I'm not worried.

[Bernd]

While our 1994 Caldina 3S-FE injected engine idled above 1500 while cold, our 2005 Noah direct injection 1AZ-FSE engine idles well above 2000. I find it annoying, although the transmission in either case engages rather softly, a firm foot on the brake is needed, and the exhaust smells like a lot of unburned gas.

It may have to do with passing a stricter the emission testing cycle for the type approval. However, in the EU the testing omits the first 40 seconds after a cold start and the US test switches the exhaust gas collection bag after 505 sec. (Source: Bosch Automoitive Handbook, 22nd edition) Therefore a faster warm-up cycle may be better for passing, however, idling at 2400 pushes out at least 3 times as much exhaust gas than idling at 800. I am not sure it shortens the warm-up time to 1/3, though. Anyway I drive off with a moderate foot as soon as possible, that really shortens the warm-up time.

On the Caldina, I half-fixed this hi-idle by bridging the temperature sensor (THW) with a small 2.2 kOhm resistor, right at the connector in the engine room. After a winter garage start, high idle was just above 1000, but when the car was frosty outside, the cold engine would not start until I unhooked the parallel resistor.

On the Noah, I just recently installed a makeshift "choke" (ha!) by connecting a 10 kOhm potentiometer (volume knob) in series with a 1kOhm resistor parallel to the THW input at the engine computer. To start the engine, I turn the choke all the way up (highest resistance), the computer sees the cold engine and adds the fuel it needs to start. As the engine idles, I turn down this "choke", tricking the computer to see a higher engine temperature. I can nicely bring down the RPM below 1000 and just leave it there. Then I put it in D and drive off, leaving much less of a stink in the area. This control can bring the idle all the way down to 800, but then I see surging, as the mixture is really too lean.

When the engine is hot, the resistance of the stock temperature sensor is below 200 Ohms, so my add-on has no significant influence. It is active mainly during the "open loop" cold phase when the computer does not yet have a signal from the oxygen sensors and eyeballs the fuel amount anyway.