ive been diagnosing my cold idle problem on my 92 se-r. ive found that the air regulator is probably the reason for the idle problem. i checked the terminal/plug to the regulator with the key on the on position and i got zero volts. the voltmeter was grounded to the negative battery cable. i believe the power for the regulator is shared off the fuel pump circuit, so i checked that at the fuse box and got battery voltage or about 12 volts. i guess that there is a disconnected or bad ground for the regulator or bad connector. how do i solve this ground problem? where is the ground for this connection?

TIA

It will only have voltage for like 5 seconds after you turn the key to on

that makes sense....rechecked and the regulator does have battery voltage to it! i also checked the resistance of the regulator itself at room temp and im getting ~70-71 ohms. i opened it up to check for binding or to see if it was stuck....and it seems to move freely. the shutter is open a little at room temp, about 0.045in. when its cold, shouldnt it be open all the way? i completely bypassed the regulator by connecting both of the vaccuum lines to it to each other and the car idled much better (although a little high +1000rpm) when it was cold. with the regulator connected, the car would not idle at all when it was cold. it would fluctuate, bog, and stumble from 400-800rpm. here's a pic of the regulator, how does it look?

http://www.public.asu.edu/~ramirez0/b13/air_reg.jpg
http://www.public.asu.edu/~ramirez0/b13/air_reg_1.jpg

thanks:)

Why does it only have voltage for 5 seconds. I was thinking it always has voltage because theres a heater in there that has to be powered somehow. I'm thinking of just buying a new one. I'm sick of cleaning that piece of junk.

it gets its power from the fuel pump circuit. when u turn the key to the on position, the fuel pump primes and runs for 5 seconds then turns off.....so power to air reg turns off too.

How does it get power for its heater then?

when the engine is running

oh haha durrr