75 - 79, 80 Fast Idle Valve "FIV" 1606776, 1617956, 1628898, 1181290, 1181835

[79 Eldorado]

1975-80 Cadillac EFI FIV Fast Idle Valve Choke Heater Replaces GM PN 1606776, GM PN 1617956, GM PN 1628898 and is also known as Bendix PN 1181290 and Bendix PN 1181835

The history of this listing can be found here:
http://forums.cadillaclasalleclub.org/index.php?topic=158787.0

1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 Cadillac EFI Fast Idle Valve “FIV” or sometimes referred to as a Choke Heater Assembly â€" Or in the GM parts catalog as “Heater” in the “Baffle-Heater-Switch-Valve” section. This is a new part but not a NOS part. It replaces Delco Remy GM PN 1606776, GM PN 1617956, GM PN 1628898 and is also known as Bendix PN 1181290 and Bendix PN 1181835; All w/ EFI (See note at the bottom of the description detailing all model years using this technology EFI).

This valve is installed in the vehicle throttle body and controls air bypass. When the vehicle is cold additional air bypass is allowed which results in an increase in idle RPM until the vehicle is warm enough to run at a slower idle (normally not completely warm but warm enough to run without additional bypass).

This offer is for one NEW (NOT NOS) replacement FIV. The function is the same as the OEM original GM/ Cadillac part but there are some notable visual differences, some control differences and as well as some significant durability improvements.

I tried to sift through the applications to the best of my knowledge. You should verify your application. In 1980 these were only used on the 5.7L (350 cubic inch with California emissions option CA only). If you have a 1976 to 1979 Cadillac and it has fuel injection this should be the correct Fast Idle Valve for your car.

I own one of these cars myself. If the FIV goes bad you will have issues with idle RPM. The RPM should decrease in a reasonable amount of time which is normally around 1.5 to 5 minutes depending on temperature. The most common original failure resulted in a valve which would no longer close and thus the car would never come down from fast idle or would come down but over a very long time. Often people compensate for the reduced function by adjusting the main idle screw. In all cases the main idle screw should be adjusted after replacing the FIV. If you are tired of long waits with high idle this part will correct the issue and will restore the operation to a normal/reasonable fast idle operating time.

There are a few reasons why the original FIV’s fail and I have attempted to address all known failure modes. The original FIV had a mechanical arm on an external micro switch which allowed a two-step heating; one for closing the FIV and one for maintaining closed (lower heat). I have eliminated the arm and instead an internal sensor monitors and maintains to a precise target temperature which is the same value as the original target value.

A second failure mode of the originals is the thermal paste leaks out. I’ve seen NOS parts where the description mentions that this is “normal”. Ironically that is true but it is due to a design flaw and seeing white thermal paste means at least some of the thermal paste/wax is no longer where it needs to be. The wax seems to serve two functions: The first is it bridges the wax motor/ wax actuator to heat sink gap. The gap is small but for the heat sink to warm the wax actuator efficiently thermal paste was used. The second, less obvious, function seems to have been to ensure the heating unit was able to efficiently heat the heat sink which the wax actuator is mounted. I’ve test original FIV’s which have the proper internal two step resistance but take an extremely long time to achieve the desired wax actuator extension. In contrast the same wax actuator heated directly is able to achieve the intended extension which indicates the internal heating elements have lost the ability to transfer heat to the actuator. To address this failure mode my heating element is attached directly to the heat sink and second I've added an oring inside the sleeve which seals on the actuator body. The clearance is also very tight. The o-ring material was selected as the best available for exposure to both gasoline and ethanol containing gasoline. While there is no direct exposure obviously a TB will be exposed to fuel fumes.

I tried to design the most durable valve possible. It took about 2 years of design, testing and sourcing. Due to the low volume nature of the interest in these vehicles I am starting with a professionally 3D printed glass filled nylon housing. The reason the new valve is cream colored is the material selected was simply the best available, regardless of cost, and is only available in a 'natural' cream color. The parts are laser sintered technology. The heat sinks are machined from solid brass. The o-rings are fluorosilicone due to it’s superior nature when considering the potential for both gasoline and ethanol added gasoline. The internal wiring is copper strand PFA insulated. The terminals are tinned brass.

My original is shown for reference only in some of the photos (Not being sold as part of this offer). You will receive the new replacement “natural” or “cream” colored part.

-The new FIV is a "plug-and-play" direct replacement and plugs directly into the factory original harness. This is a new replacement but it is not NOS

While you will never need to cut your existing harness the FIV DOES have a +/- terminal. The side closest to the ~45 degree chamfer on the cap is the POSITIVE and the terminal closest to the round body is the NEGATIVE. Both this replacement and the original OEM part must have the wiring assembled according to the designed polarity. Current draw during heating is roughly 0.7 to 1.1 Amps. Once at temperature the new FIV will go into a monitoring mode with a minimal draw until additional heat is needed to maintain the operating temperature.

The following additional application details are based on the coolant temp sensor for the same application. It correctly lists all Cadillac series and years which the FIV should work:

Used on 76 K on cars before VIN 480001* (*before 480001 the coolant sensor had a different style electrical connector but I believe the FIV is the same)
Used on 76 K on cars after VIN 480000 (See * above)
Used on 76-77 C,E
Used on 77 K W/EFI
Used on 78-79 ALL series W/EFI
Used on ALL 1980 series W/EFI (350-8)

The assemblies are built and designed in the USA but some of the parts were sourced in other countries due to availability and willingness to work on a relatively low volume application. You may see some indication that the terminals were assembled. This is because the unit is verified to be working properly after final assembly (power applied to the connection using an OEM connector).

Housing, Brass heat sink, terminals â€" Made in the USA
Actuator foreign sourced custom PN for this application
Eldorado Biarritz Seville Sedan DeVille Coupe Brougham 76 77 78 79 80 See Note* for 75 early 1976 and 1980

[jagbuxx #12944]

Asking price?

[79 Eldorado]

Hi Frank,
$184 Assuming paypal as a purchase
$179 Assuming paypal payment as a "gift" or with check or money order.

That will include free shipping within the USA. If you are interested I would send you a PM with my private email and you can reply with your shipping address.

Thanks for asking,
Scott

[Kkozan]

do you still have this available for sale?
Thanks
Konrad

[79 Eldorado]

Hi Konrad,
Very strange as I know I replied not long after you posted but I don't see my reply.

I do still have the FIV's. I can sell them either through the forum (send me a PM if you prefer that option), on junkyardfind.com (I will match the forum price for members there) and on eBay. I've had things listed on junkyardfind for a while now with decent views but I think because I don't have selling history there yet possibly people prefer buying from eBay.

It seems cleartalk, new site security, is blocking me from sending a link here... maybe that's why my earlier reply is gone. I will try to send a PM with the links. I am punched455 on ebay.

Scott

[NatoNYC]

Hi Scott,

I have a 1979 Eldorado Biarritz and recently had the EMU corrected by Bruce Roe (great job Bruce!).

The car now runs smooth and strong, except when it starts up.  Until it's warmed up it slightly kicks like it is not getting enough fuel.  If I give it a slight bit of gas, it's fine.  It takes about 7 minutes to warm up.  Bruce thought this is likely related to the cold air valve and mentioned your replacement.

Based upon what I've said, do you think the cold air valve is the issue?

Thanks - Nathan

[79 Eldorado]

Hi Nathan,
The FIV or cold air bypass basically raises the idle RPM until the car gets warm enough to run on it's own. So if you start it cold and it struggles with the idle RPM it is the FIV (or related). They often go bad and slowly over time.

Two other things I would check before you assume it's bad are:
- Latched condition: If you have no high idle the FIV plunger may have become "latched". That can happen during assembly. There's a steel clip at the bottom of the plunger. I recommend removing it because it seems it was only an assembly aid and if it "latches" (term the Cadillac EFI manual uses) then you lose FIV function because it will be stuck closed.
- Idle screw adjustment: Second check to see how far out your idle screw is. They are VERY easy to turn. It's one large headed screw in the center-front of your TB. Carefully turn it clockwise until it just touches while counting turns by half turns. Doing that you will know how much it was backed-out so you can return to the same position. If it's around 3.5 turns out from bottomed that's normal. If it's a lot less maybe someone closed it to compensate for a FIV which was not closing because a resistor went bad, very slow close, or the thermal paste escaped (not fully closing).

Thanks for the question,
Scott

[NatoNYC]

Thanks so much Scott, greatly appreciated!