car was idling down below 750rpm but was rough due to low fuel pressure, so i brought the fuel pressure up to 40 psi and now the idle is up high? i tried to mess with the idle adjustment but that doesnt seem to be doing anything, does anybody have an suggestions?

 

messing with the set screw doesnt seem to always help on a stuck AAV.

pull the cleaner and filter element off, and stick your hand over the hole for the AAV and see if that brings your idle down.

 

Plenty of stuff on that, especially from me! I still haven't got mine down, I am living with it @ 1100rpm while in drive stopped. It idles at 1600 now while in park, it was at 1900-2000

 

There's a procedure in the Kirby Palm manual that describes in detail a modification to the AAV. It entails removing the AAV and usign a vice to press the internals a little farther into the body to adjust the range of the temperature bulb. I did it to mine about a year and a half ago and it's worked perfectly since.

 

I disassembled both of mine and rebuilt them and pressed them back together so they close completely, however now neither one of them gives me a high idle when cold. They don't seem to open up enough now. Once you lose travel from the wax bulb I think you're SOL. Luckily I just happen to have an adjustable Toyota SAV lying around that I am going to install in place of the AAV. It's 12v, so I just need to find a vac-operated solenoid so it will be controlled by the thermal vac valve that closes off the vac feed to the air switching valve when the engine is warm. With summer almost here and the car out for paint for at least the next month, that's a low priority.

D

 

For what it's worth I did also try squeezing the bulb in a vice - you get the same results either way. When they get old, they either don't close all the way, and when you play with them so they DO close all the way, they don't open far enough.

Now, obviously none of this matters if the AAV is jammed...however I have a theory that it's the excess buildup of pressure when the piston is jammed that ruins the bulb. In the end you're not hurting anything trying to take it apart and un-jam it, but don't expect much. You are better off getting it to close fully but expect cold-start issues thereon.

 

40psi is a bit high for the fuel pressure from memory I think the V12 runs between 28-32psi, the higher pressure will give you more fuel.

If the AAV is bad you can block it up but will need to use the throttle pedal to get cold start revs up.

 

I didn't run into that problem. Mine idles correctly cold or warm. I only pressed it in about 1/8". I expect the bulb to continue to degrade over time, and the next time it needs adjustment it may affect my cold idle but for now it works like a new one.

 

Guess I'm just not lucky then. One of mine was siezed and the other moving, but not far enough to shut. I ended up with the same result from both of them after disassembly and rebuild - I tuned them to close fully at 160 and now the plunger doesn't fully retract to reveal the entire opening when cold.

 

I successfully rebuilt my AAV using advice of some nice Greek man from France. His idea was to use replacement bulb from Volvo Marine thermostat.
It works perfectly now and I am able to adjust my idle all the way down to 450 RPM, just to see how low can v12 go.

 

Was it a direct replacement? Part number?

 

No, it was not a direct replacement, some modification was needed, but it was not super hard to do.
This is was the part, I think:
Thermostat | Volvo | 140°