[integra2k20]

I took apart my throttle body to clean the IACV in hopes that it would sort out an issue where my idle dropped too low. I think I made a mistake because when I put everything back together the idle is much worse.

Symptoms:

• When I start the car, it revs up normally to nearly 2k rpm, but then dips down almost to 0 (nearly stalls), then bounces back up a bit
• If I give it gas it has the same issue (dips down to almost 0 / nearly stalls after I let off the gas)
• The car sounds raspier in the intake than usual
• Things smell a little off while it is running (though sort of hard to tell if that is new or not)

Possible Issues:

When I did the install I think I did a few things that may have caused issues:

• Drained about 12oz of coolant by mistake / might have introduced air pockets
• I read afterwards there is a graphite seal you are not supposed to clean off, which I may have cleaned off because I was cleaning TB aggressively.
• My TB / IACV are also just very old (20 years) and the IACV seemed to get stuck even after cleaning. Wondering if I might just need to replace them.

What should I do to try to fix this?

I was torn between:

• Trying to bleed and replace coolant in case I caused an air pocket
• Buying a replacement TB and IACV from a donor (or new) and just replacing them outright, or maybe just a new IACV
• Taking it to a mechanic and admitting defeat.

Any ideas on what’s the most likely issue or how to fix are appreciated. Also curious if safe to try to drive it in this state.

 

[integra2k20]

Video:

 

[integra2k20]

After re starting the car a few times this issue keeps getting progessively better. I am actually wondering if I just shocked the car by cleaning things out after they'd been gunked up for so long (there was 20 years of grime in both TB and IACV).

Learned a lot along the way. None of the youtube videos / tutorials mentioned these things so adding in case they help anyone:

• If you do this, you definitely want to order replacements for the TB gasket and IACV gasket - service manual says that you should replace both when you service these parts. And can confirm they are pretty beat up if you haven't serviced them in a while (see pics above)
• Big bolts on TB have a torque spec - 22n/m, make sure to tighten accordingly
• Hoses for coolant also get seized on, I used a sharp pick-like tool and a tiny flathead screwdriver to pry around the seal and loosen them up, as well as pliers to twist it a bit and break the seal. Once I did all that they came off easily.
• Make sure to remove coolant cables in the right order, I think this is generally "low to high", someone who knows more can confirm.

 

[troye]

Is the gasket ripped at the bottom?