Micro Image Intake Manifold thread

[tooter]

If you installed the 1ZZ 6 months ago and aren't complaining... then it didn't need to be turned down. So how does the car drive? Do you notice any difference?

[skeck]

Okay, So I just got done with my first freeway test...and OH MY! The mid and even high range pull is amazing...definitely a noticeable difference...Before I knew it I was up to 95 with ease and before this MOD it took WOT for a bit to get even close...For N/A folks All I have to say is BUY ONE!!! Now, keep in mind I have the following MODS as well... Throttle Body Swap, Weapon R Throttle Controller (Which I always keep on highest setting), Nitto Midpipe (Cat delete), DC Sports Exhaust, DC Headers, Injen CAI, Micro Image Crank Pulley and removed the following weight (Passenger Seat, 60/40Back Seat, Spare Tire Cover). I still need to get my Camcon tuned which is running in bypass mode right now, so I will keep everyone posted on dyno numbers when I get that done. But huge noticeable difference is what i have to say. I am still grinning ear to ear and I was literally laughing uncontrollably while I was driving. Again...BUY THIS!!!

[tooter]

That's good to hear.

I actually installed the throttle body about 6 months ago or so

What manifold were you running the 1ZZ on before the MI manifold?

[skeck]

Stock

[1.5]

Awesomeeeeee. Any change in sound?

[tooter]

Originally Posted by skeck

Stock

That's one reason you experienced so much improvement. The increased capacity of a 1ZZ throttle body isn't fully realized on a stock manifold.

[cali yaris]

Woo hoo!! It's alive!

[skeck]

Originally Posted by 1.5

Awesomeeeeee. Any change in sound?

I'm sure there is but because my car is already running a catless mid pipe and DC sports exhaust I'm not hearing much over those:)

[4/20 NEVER FORGET]

Well, it's in the car



I installed it earlier today with a 1ZZ throttle body. I was able to re-use my K&N typhoon intake but I had to buy a new coupler that doesn't reduce for the connection from the intake to the new throttle body. I had to buy a new coolant line to run to the throttle body because the lines are at a different angle from the 1NZ throttle body.

The install of the manifold itself was very easy. I also installed a Golden Eagle thermal gasket at the same time. I had to take off the hood latch mechanism to make it easier to slide the manifold into position easier, just an FYI.



As for the throttle body, based on what I read on here, I did not do a chip swap. My part number is ending in 030. After driving it around for a couple hours tonight, I think I am going to have to do a chip swap. On initial start up the idle would not stabilize, it would climb in RPMs then drop quickly, then climb and drop over and over until shut off. I remember tooter saying to back the screw out a turn so I did so and the idle stabilized but was still very high. After backing it out further I was able to get the idle to stabilize.

I took the car out for a drive. The change is noticeable. I normally drive the car in pretty low RPM range (I don't have a tach installed) and the power down low didn't change much. Once it starts to climb in revs, probably in the 3k RPM range, the car pulls stronger than before. 3rd gear around 45-50 mph and up is a LOT of fun. I'm quite interested to get this thing on a dyno once I get a bung for a wide-band installed into my exhaust.

Now, I need some advice on what to do about the throttle body. The car threw a check engine light each time I reset the ECU today, and I went and got it scanned at a autozone:



My guess is I need to do a chip swap. The car doesn't drive perfect. When I am coasting off of the throttle, say at 30mph (or any mph, doesn't matter), it doesn't matter if I barely touch the throttle or hammer the throttle, the car has a tiny "hiccup" feeling, as if the throttle was partly open then it closed and then opened. It's hard to describe. Also, when I am at partial throttle and I let off the throttle, it hangs for a second or two before closing and starting to decelerate. Is that normal? I know the car did it before, but it is far more pronounced now.

I also had some problems with high idle and idle hang, but I found that adjusting the throttle screw to a higher rpm idle has fixed it. I'm idling pretty high right now, probably around 1000-1200 rpm, but I haven't gotten a check engine light since I adjusted it this way (maybe 10 miles worth of driving where it would happen immediately before) so I think I am just going to leave it for now.

What do you guys think? I thought I had the right throttle body part number, but I'm thinking a chip swap is in my future.

As for the manifold, wow guys, it's a superb part. My friends who are all Honda guys were extremely impressed by the fit and build. The engine looks wonderful with it on there. If you're on the fence about getting one, it's a really well designed and built part. I can't wait to get this car to a dyno.



Sorry if my grammar sucks, I've been drinking.

[tooter]

Originally Posted by 4/20 NEVER FORGET

As for the throttle body, based on what I read on here, I did not do a chip swap. My part number is ending in 030. After driving it around for a couple hours tonight, I think I am going to have to do a chip swap. On initial start up the idle would not stabilize, it would climb in RPMs then drop quickly, then climb and drop over and over until shut off. I remember tooter saying to back the screw out a turn so I did so and the idle stabilized but was still very high. After backing it out further I was able to get the idle to stabilize.

My guess is I need to do a chip swap. The car doesn't drive perfect. When I am coasting off of the throttle, say at 30mph (or any mph, doesn't matter), it doesn't matter if I barely touch the throttle or hammer the throttle, the car has a tiny "hiccup" feeling, as if the throttle was partly open then it closed and then opened. It's hard to describe. Also, when I am at partial throttle and I let off the throttle, it hangs for a second or two before closing and starting to decelerate. Is that normal? I know the car did it before, but it is far more pronounced now.

I also had some problems with high idle and idle hang, but I found that adjusting the throttle screw to a higher rpm idle has fixed it. I'm idling pretty high right now, probably around 1000-1200 rpm, but I haven't gotten a check engine light since I adjusted it this way (maybe 10 miles worth of driving where it would happen immediately before) so I think I am just going to leave it for now.

What do you guys think? I thought I had the right throttle body part number, but I'm thinking a chip swap is in my future.

Did you try backing out this idle screw about one turn counterclockwise? (it's the small screw at the top center of the picture just under the black plastic chip...)




That should solve all of the problems you just described. Mine exactly the same symptoms, and they all disappeared once the idle speed was reduced.

[4/20 NEVER FORGET]

Originally Posted by tooter

Did you try backing out this idle screw about one turn counterclockwise? (it's the small screw at the top center of the picture just under the black plastic chip...)

That should solve all of the problems you just described. Mine exactly the same symptoms, and they all disappeared once the idle speed was reduced.

Yea, that's the idle screw I was talking about. At this point I've tried adjusting it to nearly it's full range and the thing still won't idle right, it also is still the engine code listed above.

Do you (or anyone with a 1zz throttle body) have the symptoms I described in my post above? Particularly the long throttle hang when you take your foot off of the gass, and the hiccup when you press down on the gas?

At this point I think I am going to buy another 1ZZ throttle body and chip swap it in my spare time.

[tooter]

Originally Posted by 4/20 NEVER FORGET

Yea, that's the idle screw I was talking about. At this point I've tried adjusting it to nearly it's full range and the thing still won't idle right, it also is still the engine code listed above.

Do you (or anyone with a 1zz throttle body) have the symptoms I described in my post above? Particularly the long throttle hang when you take your foot off of the gass, and the hiccup when you press down on the gas?

Yes.

I'm running a 1ZZ throttle body right now, and I had all of the exact same symptoms that you've been describing. They were all caused by the butterfly not being able to close enough for the ECU to stabilize the idle. Take the chip off and check to see if the butterfly is actually closing when you back off that little allen head screw.

I tell you mine runs way better than the stock throttle body ever did... once the butterfly was allowed to close.

At this point I think I am going to buy another 1ZZ throttle body and chip swap it in my spare time.

I hope you can sort this one out before you waste money on another one that will likely do the same thing.

[4/20 NEVER FORGET]

I pulled out the reciept I have for the throttle body from the wrecking yard and it says the throttle body came from a car with an automatic transmission.... I wonder if that has anything to do with it?

EDIT: Also, the throttle body required a lot of cleaning and was obviously well-used, perhaps the electronics are dirty or need replaced anyway. I might as well do a chip-swap for that reason alone.

Tooter, you ended up chip-swapping your 1zz throttle body even though in the end you said you didn't feel like you needed too, right?

[tooter]

Originally Posted by 4/20 NEVER FORGET

I pulled out the reciept I have for the throttle body from the wrecking yard and it says the throttle body came from a car with an automatic transmission.... I wonder if that has anything to do with it?

I suspected that of mine when I was having your problems, but it was just the butterfly not being allowed to close due to the screw. Take the chip off and make sure that nothing is keeping the butterfly from resting on the idle screw. If it is, back the screw out and make sure the butterfly stop continues to rest on it.

The 1ZZ is factory set to idle a 1.8. When you put it on a 1.5, the butterfly is way too far open for the reduced air requirements of our smaller engines. So you get the crazy hunting for the right idle, the bizarre 2 second hanging throttle, and the racing 3,000 rpm cold starts.

And just an afterthought... also check for vacuum leaks. One easy way is to run the engine and take a spray bottle of water and spray the base of the throttle body, and where your manifold attaches to the head... and listen for any change in idle indicating the water is being sucked into the engine.

[4/20 NEVER FORGET]

I took some starting fluid and sprayed it around all of the places where there might be leaks and found nothing. Everything is good and tight it seems.

After thinking about it some more I decided to try backing that idle screw out even more. I probably backed it out around 2 turns total over multiple short drives in the car. Over a few drives, I got the idle quite low, right before the engine starts to shake, and then turned it back a 1/4 turn and reset the ECU. (negative terminal off of battery for 3 hours)

After reconnecting the batterym I started it up and it did the thing again where it climbs in rpm then suddenly drops, then climbs, then drops, on and on. I am used to Hondas where this indicates a bad IAC, but after reading about the design of this setup a bit, I decided to wait and see if the car could sort it out. I took a while. It did the rpm surge and drop thing for about a minute, then finally it smoothed out but was at a very high rpm. It gradually decreased over about 3-4 minutes. Finally after the car was warm the rpm settled at a nice low idle.

I just went and drove the car about 40 miles and it didn't throw a CEL. The car actually drove quite well, other than some rpm hang while creeping through a parking lot, it drove nearly perfect. I'll keep my fingers crossed, hopefully backing that idle screw way, way out from where it was fixed it. (probably not lol) Thanks for the advice.

[thatbryanguy]

Originally Posted by 4/20 NEVER FORGET

I took some starting fluid and sprayed it around all of the places where there might be leaks and found nothing. Everything is good and tight it seems.

After thinking about it some more I decided to try backing that idle screw out even more. I probably backed it out around 2 turns total over multiple short drives in the car. Over a few drives, I got the idle quite low, right before the engine starts to shake, and then turned it back a 1/4 turn and reset the ECU. (negative terminal off of battery for 3 hours)

After reconnecting the batterym I started it up and it did the thing again where it climbs in rpm then suddenly drops, then climbs, then drops, on and on. I am used to Hondas where this indicates a bad IAC, but after reading about the design of this setup a bit, I decided to wait and see if the car could sort it out. I took a while. It did the rpm surge and drop thing for about a minute, then finally it smoothed out but was at a very high rpm. It gradually decreased over about 3-4 minutes. Finally after the car was warm the rpm settled at a nice low idle.

I just went and drove the car about 40 miles and it didn't throw a CEL. The car actually drove quite well, other than some rpm hang while creeping through a parking lot, it drove nearly perfect. I'll keep my fingers crossed, hopefully backing that idle screw way, way out from where it was fixed it. (probably not lol) Thanks for the advice.

I had all of that going on and had a little thread going on MicroImage on this issue (same CEL and idling issues) but after you play with the idle screw and get it down low you have to drive it for a few days for it to really smooth out. The only problem with it now is every time I disconnect my battery the ECu has to relearn the 1zz TB and will idle high and seek that good idle by going up and down at first. After driving it for a bit it settles and smoothes. :)

[jetblast]

Sounds almost like you have the hard idle (mechanical idle screw) set too low and the ECM is hunting. Maybe try turning the screw in a 1/4 turn at a time to see if you can find the sweet spot. Also, you said it was quite dirty when you got the T/B. Maybe take it back off and get some T/B cleaner and some brushes to double check your previous work. Harbor Freight has some great barrel type brush assortments which work great for getting into idle air bypass type channels (they also have inexpensive code readers so you can reset things instantly). Also make sure the butterfly is clean on all edges. You can even take the return spring off so you can "exercise" the throttle through it's range of travel to feel for any potential binding.
I have to pull my Gude T/B off today and compare the bore with my 1ZZ. If it isn't any larger, I'm gonna have to bore the opening of my Weapon R to port match. I would bet money that Garm and crew have your intake matched up much nicer.

Staring at turbo sitting on bench..............

[tooter]

Originally Posted by 4/20 NEVER FORGET

I took some starting fluid and sprayed it around all of the places where there might be leaks and found nothing. Everything is good and tight it seems.

After thinking about it some more I decided to try backing that idle screw out even more. I probably backed it out around 2 turns total over multiple short drives in the car. Over a few drives, I got the idle quite low, right before the engine starts to shake, and then turned it back a 1/4 turn and reset the ECU. (negative terminal off of battery for 3 hours)

After reconnecting the batterym I started it up and it did the thing again where it climbs in rpm then suddenly drops, then climbs, then drops, on and on. I am used to Hondas where this indicates a bad IAC, but after reading about the design of this setup a bit, I decided to wait and see if the car could sort it out. I took a while. It did the rpm surge and drop thing for about a minute, then finally it smoothed out but was at a very high rpm. It gradually decreased over about 3-4 minutes. Finally after the car was warm the rpm settled at a nice low idle.

I just went and drove the car about 40 miles and it didn't throw a CEL. The car actually drove quite well, other than some rpm hang while creeping through a parking lot, it drove nearly perfect. I'll keep my fingers crossed, hopefully backing that idle screw way, way out from where it was fixed it. (probably not lol) Thanks for the advice.

You're welcome...
Once the ECU learns and everything settles down you can easily fine tune the idle to get it exactly where you want it. When mine is idling, it's so smooth I can't even feel the engine running except for seeing the tach needle.