Idle Problem

[iliad]

I recently adjusted my valves on my 85 325e but since then my car has been idling a little higher than usual. I tried messing with the Idle control valve, but it won't go down. Any ideas?
thanks.

 

[E30m42cab]

Check the throttle cables on the throttle butterfly.

 

[Doughnut]

I recently adjusted my valves on my 85 325e but since then my car has been idling a little higher than usual. I tried messing with the Idle control valve, but it won't go down. Any ideas?
thanks.

Did you replace the valve cover gasket?
You may also have a vacuum leak, causing the high idle.

 

[iliad]

Did you replace the valve cover gasket?
You may also have a vacuum leak, causing the high idle.

I did check the throttle cables on the throttle butterfly and they are fine, but I did not change the gasket to the valve cover when I adjusted the valves.
What is a vacuum leak?

 

[echothreezero]

Your engine sucks air which creates a vacuum. All air entering the engine normally passes through the Air Flow Meter which alows the computer controling your engine to make appropriate adjustments to make sure itruns smoothly with the correct mixture of air and fuel (and lots of other things, but I won't go into it).

If you have an air leak upstream of the air flow meter, (vacuum leak) then the computer is getting a reading of less air than is actually entering the engine causing unusual behaviour such as high idle, hunting idle, or rough/stalling idle.

May be as simple as a loose hose on the intake, or a crack in a hose, or as Joel (Doughnut) is getting at, a poorly sealing valve cover gasket.