TOPIC: Success on My First Groove

Hello all!
I got a 2003 Hyundai Accent. before I grooved it I was gettin' 32 mpg city 37 mpg hwy.

first thing I did was take it apart and blocked off the idle air control valve and adjusted the idle speed with the stop screw that luckily came with the car. (It is there for cars that do not come equipped with air conditioning) lucky for me I didn't have to fabricate one. (I don't have choke now but that's ok cuz I live in Alabama where its pretty warm)

second thing was to re-route the pcv valve upstream of the throttle body. (piece of cake)

I also re-routed my gas tank evap line (also upstream of the throttle body)

then I did another idle adjustment.

after all that was done I grooved it and thinned out my throttle plate a little bit and holy smokes now I'm gettin' about 38 mpg city!!! no highway mileage test yet but will do one this weekend cuz I'm goin to Florida but I got high expectations.

I'm a carb expert and this is the best damn thing since sliced bread!

I haven't even restricted the EGR valve yet! (but that's coming the week after next and let you guys-n-gals know what happens)

(hats off to Ron Hatton)

Hey carby-tater, congrats your first Groove!I've been rebuilding carbs for years now, and I just got a few ideas from this post! A Jeep throttle body I'm going to groove tomorrow has an idle stop screw, and also a big idle bypass port. I am planning to block the bypass discharge port off w/JB and cut a discharge groove along the flat base on either side of throttle bore and put idle air out along the throttle shaft on both sides. I've been looking around to find suitable fittings to connect PCV hose into various kinds of air tubes that connect air filter boxes and throttle bodies. How did you hook your PCV hose into air stream upstream of the throttle body? I think some just tee the PCV hose into the breather side hose. But I reason the crankcase is better vented with 2 hoses into intake airstream, esp. on hi mileage engines- more blow-by gas needs more venting?? Anyhow congrats on you first Groove, TracyG

Hey Tracy, yeah my Hyundai indeed has 2 pcv hoses. one is upstream, the other is (or was) downstream.

all I did was pull off the downstream hose and "tee" it into the upstream hose although I could have just blocked it off because both hoses came from the valve cover and they are only 3 inches apart from each other anyway. (now I have two hoses coming from the valve cover that tee into one)
When my motor does get old and starts to get more blow-by then maybe I will consider running two hoses but my motor only has eighty thousand on it now so I'm sure I won't have any problems for a while at least.

However, I also re-routed my gas tank vent hose so it was upstream of the TB and for that I did have to make a new "hole" in the rubber "snorkel" hose that joins the air filter and the TB

to make the fitting...I selected a medium size bolt with threads that went all the way up to the "head" and cut it down to about one inch long...and then drilled a hole in it right through the center.

then I reached inside the "snorkel" hose and shoved that sucker right through the small hole I cut. and screwed a nut on it to secure it, ...then attached my gas tank vent hose to it! (easy as pie)

p.s. when you get to working on the jeep my advice is to block off that big idle bypass hole that you mentioned and then set the idle with the throttle stop screw and get that sucker idling in the right "neighborhood".

You should NOT have to cut a "discharge groove!!!

you should be able to get the jeep idling properly with just the throttle stop screw. and if the throttle stop screw is not adequate just get a longer screw...(or) drill an air hole in the throttle plate if you need more air

and make sure to do all your "vacuum work" BEFORE you cut the groove!!!

Welcome.
Congratulations on the awesome results. Great advice to do the adjustments prior to grooving when an idle air reduction is performed. I have been doing them after the modification. The challenge is in colder climes like here in New York one needs to really adjust when the vehicle is stone cold. If you are doing it for a customer, you need a very close and flexible customer to pull it off (the next morning the car may not start for lack of air).

Your off to a great start and welcome.

Nick Gadgetman of the Fingerlakes, New York state

Thanks Nick.

yeah you guys up there in the cold definitely will have more troubles with the idle bypass valves being blocked off. ...(especially on larger engines that take longer to warm up)

I have been thinking about it and I am probably going to experiment more with my IAC valve.

The first thing I'm gonna try is to make the IAC valve "partially operable".

I plugged up my IAC valve with a custom made rubber stopper and I am thinking about burning a small hole in it and then removing the electric solenoid and looking at the valve itself inside.

I'm thinkin' maybe I can find a way to reduce the size of that internal valve also so at least it's partially operable.

I am waiting for my groove kit and going to jump in with both hands but I will need all the help that I can get. My wife might get mad but I want to try it on her 2008 Cadlic Escalade just bought tools!!! And tool box.

Hi Nico,

If you haven't purchased one yet, a OBDII scanner will come in very handy for the newer 'fly by wire' vehicles.

I have a 2007 Avalanche (same family) with the 5.3L engine.

You'll find that the TB throttle plate has an 'off' position that is far from "at zero'

There are other posts that explain the concept of checking the idle position of the TB plate while the engine is running and then setting the TB plate position for cutting the groove.

Ron also has a video on Youtube regarding the TB for the Escalade.

There are lots of posts on the forum here with loads of info along with the Youtube video's.

Well worth reviewing before you jump in.

If you have a lawn mower or generator, they are good practice targets for getting used to the tools.

Welcome aboard

Karl Fortner
Tacoma, Wa.
Gadgetman Tacoma

Hey Dave (aka carby-tater) I like your input! I am in Reno, NV which does get cold in winter. So on my buddy's Jeep, I decided to do small IAC grooves as in my latest post. His Jeep also has A/C so I assume the IAC opens up to allow for faster idle speed w/ A/C. I will see how his Jeep does with what I did-- I may need to pull the TB off and enlarge the grooves and/or open throttle plate a bit w/ the stop screw. I'm lucky here as he's across the street, and this Jeep is mostly just sitting 'till the Trans is fixed, plus he got it for off road bashing anyway. Your drilled bolt PCV fitting sounds good. I may do that in practice. You are experienced for sure we all need to be McGyver's in this Groove gig!! Congrats to you! TracyG