indy300

My 2001 idles fairly rough (at about 700 rpm) and the car shimmies. When I bring the rpm's up just a little it is very smooth. I replaced the spark plugs and wires a few months ago and it helped a tiny bit. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Mike

99Red&White

You could try a Fuel Injector Service, or better yet, run a can of CLEENS through your engine and clean it out. Another name for CLEENS is seafoam. Just go to your chev dealer and ask for 2 bottles of CLEENS. Read the directions. Have someone maintain Idle while you pour it into your intake. (There are several area's you can do this). Let the car sit for awhile then start it back up. It will run rough for a minute or two, but stand back and watch all the white smoke pouring from your exhaust. This is all the carbon build and crap being blown out!

Jason

vetterdstr

Use an inductive pick up light (timing light) to check the coils... we have learned over time the coils can be marginal (not hitting all the time) and yet not throw a problem code in the computer. SO when you hookup the inductive unit, what you are looking for is a steady strobe on each coil. IF one hits with an irregular beat... you have found a bad coil.

VR

RedC5

My '98 has done this since I drove it home new from the dealer....with the exhaust sound....I like it a little shakin'. Some passengers have also said they like it....

RonJ

Now, there's a good idea!!! Sure beats checking coils with an ohmmeter, and an ohmmeter doesn't always show intermittents!!

RonJ ... TY ...

kendo347

I had a rough idle when cold of my fbody. I replaced the o2 sensors and that cured my problem.

Cobra4B

Mine shakes at idle some, but I have a fidanza aluminum flywheel with less weight to dampen the motor. I'd try the basic tune up stuff.

1. Clean MAF wires with alcohol (something that evaporates)
2. Check/swap spart plugs.
3. Check wires with OHM meter to make sure all are good. I believe factory spec says under 700 is good.
4. Do what vetrdstr says and check the coil packs to see if they're working right.

If you putz in your car try to sea foam setup to break up any carbon deposits.

mrtoner

I had put a pick up light on mine a few months ago, and saw irregular flashes on several coils - I thought my light was bad. Now I will look closer....might be why my O2 sensors are black and sooty...

vetterdstr

let us know how it works out for you!!

VR

JR_VETTE

Mine has always had a slight shake. When I questioned it a few months ago with the rest of the forum, it was the consensus that some shake is normal.

Jake T

LotusFan

Has anybody looked into an engine grounding kit to smooth the rough idle?

I have one on the Nissan 350z I bought for my wife and it idles and revs MUCH smoother than other 350z's we tried.

I did a search here on "grounding kit" and got zero results. The Z forums are crawling with talk on this. It's very popular with that crowd.

It's supposed to somehow make the signals the ECU reads much cleaner, thus the better decisions by said ECU.

Claims made by grounding kit makers:
- increased throttle response
- a cleaner spark
- a cleaner ECU signal
- an improved idle

Can any of you senior guys comment on this idea?

thanks,
Rich

vette98c5

Do a compression check if your car is a mn6,and you missed a shift you may have bent a valve. That is exactly how it acts have seen it many times

jers98vet

Clean your MAF. It's probably dirty. Especially if you are running an oil empregnated filter such as a K & N. Oil can cet on the element and cause a rough idle but will run fine at higher rpms.