Those who recall my unfortunate xmastime experiences with sporty breaking down, I last mentioned that after all was put back together again I brought er to Kia for a final checkup as it was now permanently idling a little high, hard starting etc. After replacing the head gasket to take care of the leak causing ignition problems, they took out -as per factory advisement, a certain solenoid valve related to idling. I don't know from where.The only side affect, I was told, was a little delay in starting after an overnight. It is true that after a week now, it is a little fussier to start. I haven't decided whether I want something done about this. I also notice (but wasn't told) thatI no longer have that rpm 'hold' when shifting to a higher gear (Axe does that give you any clue to what that valve is?) But it doesn't seem to be a problem for me because of what I will say next.

The major news (for me anyway)is two fold. One, the engine is much quieter, smoother than it ever was (I've had it from 30k (km) to now -about 51k). And the other, more exciting fact -is that I'm getting a lot more power, like easily 10% or more, and it was never sluggish to begin with. I've tested this in a variety of ways and there is no doubt about it. Acceleration, hill climbs from standing start, etc. Obviously I'm happy about this. It just remains for me to see if my gas mileage has changed for the worse or not. Oh yeah, almost forgot -absolutely NO fluctuation in rpms at idle. Steady as a rock. Nice to be rid of that.

Hey bro,

You absolutely need to find out what that solenoid valve is (was). Beg those techs to tell you. If extra power is a result, so much the better, but I'd do ANYTHING to get rid of that miserable RPM hold while upshifting. That is my only eternal gripe about an otherwise great little motor. I'm sure we'll all be waiting with baited breath.
And Axe, this is where you'll really have to earn your pay. Find this sucker . . .

I have no clue. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> It might be unique to Sportages sold in the Philippines? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I don't think more than a few dozen sportages were sold here in total.....so no, Axe, no special Philippines model!

I WILL make a point of stopping in at Kia -which will likely only be this Saturday or the next, and see if I can get the service manager to show me a)where it was removed from, and b) if possible, exactly what it looks like.

If possible get a picture of it and where it's located on the engine.

I have a sneaking suspicion it's the EGR.

this valve must be found! so that we can all remove it. . .

A high, uneven idle can be caused by a very lean idle mixture. As for the solenoid, I wonder if it has any thing to do with the purge solenoid for the vapor canister. If the EGR valve is open at all at idle speed, the engine probably wouldn't want to idle and low speed operation and fuel mileage would be terrible.

Don, y'all
.

Okay, I've spent well over 2 hours trying to figure out how to get the photo of the part here, but I give up. Anyway, it IS the part I thought it was originally. What fooled me was they left the housing unit and took out the solenoid inside. It's an IAC solenoid valve, located above the (if you are facing your engine) block and the battery, but forward of both towards the rad. It's silver (heck, I'll just send the image to Axe so maybe he can put it up if needed).

As I said before, great acceleration, perfectly smooth rpm at idle. Gas mileage I don't know yet. But I will repeat what I suspected before -and was confirmed by the service manager today: this mod is only useful to those in year round warm weather. Otherwise It would be like having no choke of some kind like we had on older cars.

So I'm pretty happy as I have considerably more power than before, with apparently no negative effects. I forgot to ask what model years this mod is good for aside from mine.....

I don't currently have a web pix host but send it to me anyway so I can take a look at it. Mjats@juno.com

Your Sportage is indeed OBD-I. They must not have gone to OBD-II in the Philippines until 1998. So yours is like CBP's in Brazil.

This is the "old" style IAC that mounted close to the throttle body.

This mod will probably work on 1995 U.S. DOHC engines with OBD-I. 1996 were an odd duck in that they had the old style IAC but were OBD-II. Dunno if the mod would work there.

If 1997 - 2002 U.S./Canadian models, forget it. The IAC was completely redesigned. It's now located on the intake pipe basically above the exhaust cam cover. And the IAC itself is completely sealed. There's no way to take it apart, although it does come off the intake pipe real easy to clean.

It sounds like this valve is a cold start assist. And I'll bethca that's why some guys have encountered problems when ordering fuel injectors. I think there's "orange" and "green" fuel injectors. One of these probably has a higher flow rate plus the ability for longer duration which would make a cold start assist valve unnecessary. I recall having a similar cold start assist on a 1986 Chevy even though it was port fuel injected. (In fact, the valve went bad and flooded the engine).

And I suspect that this mod could be performed only if you live in a mild to tropical climate. If you have freezing temps the engine will probably stall and run poorly until it warms up.

I may be all wet on this. Educated guess right now. But I'd really like to see that pix. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

yes, Axe, you're probably right. Well I've already stated about the cold start aspect not feasible in colder climates -but I wonder how that also a)controlled the rpm hold when upshifting, and b)eliminated all rpm fluctuation problems, and c) has increased my available power?