Re: alfa-digest V7 #1375

[Pottree@domain.elided]

In a message dated 02/21/2000 8:22:03 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:

<< 91 Spider.  It runs great.  It does something
 annoying though in that it surges at idle.  When cold, it idles relatively
 smoothly at 1k.  Once warm though it falls from 1k to 500 and oscillates
 back and forth.  Never stalls, but threatens to now and then.  Its annoying
 as heck, especially when stopped at a light and other drivers look at you as
 if your cars falling apart.  Mechanic says its normal for a fuel injected
 Spider, but I don't believe it.
  >>
I believe there are 2 different ideal idle speeds (forgive me, I forget what 
they are ideal for, something like emissions on one hand I think -- more 
coffee!) and the computer oscillates between the 2 to yield the best of all 
possible worlds.  But the difference should be very small, just about 
unnoticeable.  Mechanical gurus, correct me if I'm wrong, but 15 years of 
spider driving (1750 and 2L) tells me 500 RPM. at idle is too slow, and 1000 
is too fast.  I believe a 2L should be idling within the indicated 750 - 900 
range (I am not positive how accurate the indicated tach readings are, but 
they're probably close).  

My GTV6 has a slight indicated oscillation at idle as does my spider.  Or 
else this is a myth and it should stay dead on the idle speed, which with the 
sophistication of computer control seems unlikely as I think that would mean 
that all ambient conditions would also be static.  

As a side note, once in a great while in the GTV6 (and I think also in the 
Milano) I observed this phenomenon at idle: a very windy day, a fierce blast 
of wind into the AFM, a transient idle speed fluctuation. This amount of wind 
could also be felt to move the whole car a bit, so it's not something that 
happens with any gentle zephyr.

Charlie
LA, CA, USA

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