Ran across an interesting issue with trying to get a steady idle on my 1.7 d-jet. I purchased a voltage gage that plugs into the cigarette lighter out of curiosity. When the car was idling, the voltage would vary wildly between 13 and 17 volts. Thinking the gage was bad, I tested it on a different car and it held a steady 14 volts. So, I grabbed a spare voltage regulator and bingo, the voltage runs a consistent 13 volts. It leveled out the idle and the car is running much better and now has a smooth idle. Just another datapoint to check for when trying to track down an inconsistent idle.

Chris

Good information to pass along. Just curious if it was a Bosch unit?

Sure was, looked to be original to the car... It was a weird anomaly that I thought I would pass along..


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Seeing rust, might be the root of the problem.