My name is Madison and about a month ago i bought a used 2002 WRX that was supposed to be a donor car but i ended up trying to fix it up.

Fast forward to the present...

I gathered up all the parts needed to start the engine up but the idle is very weird. When i start it up it goes to 500 rpms then slowly increase to 2000 then it would suddenly drop to 1000 then slowly rise back to 2000. Ive done research and it said that i should clean my iacv but its impossible to remove because one of the previous owners put in hex screws that are now rusted and completely stuck.

I was wondering if theres any other way i could clean my iacv without removing it or could there be other reasons why my idle is acting up?

 

No, pretty much classic IACV stuck symptoms. It should also throw a code. Put some PB blaster on 2x per day for a couple days. Should loosen up. Also, make sure you have an IACV gasket in hand before taking it off, the old one will never go back in. And do the coolant mod. It'll allow you to reuse the next gasket.

 

this wouldn't happen to be the dark red bug would it?

 

no, its not.

 

Any luck yet?

 

i was able to clean my IACV but the idle is still surging... Im getting a CEL P1507 so i looked it up and it said it could also be my neutral safety switch so i just ordered a new one. hopefully that fixes it

 

Are you sure you cleaned it right? I've cleaned them before but not gotten the rotating barrel valve fully free. It has to be 100% easy to turn all the way or it still won't work right. 99% certain it's not your neutral switch as I've had this happen several times.