97 GTX Water Control Valve or Rave Valves

[gbone87]

I got a 97 gtx and took it out for the first time this weekend after numerous hours of working on it. Eveything ran ok except for the fact that when i accelerated it would hold at 5500 rpms or so and after a few seconds kick in and i would get full speed and about 6800 rpms. The hesitation leads me to think water control valve or rave valves. My next job will be to clean the raves. I did replace the bellow in the water valve along with the clamps and springs. I didnt replace the barrel or needle and before i put it on the barrel in the bottom casing of the valve seemed sticky. Could this be my problem?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Dr Honda]

If your RAVE valves are hanging... then you will hold in the mid 5000 RPM range until the pop open. Get them cleaned, and let us know what happens.

Also... when it's hanging at 5500 RPM... is the engine running smooth, or is it sound like it's missing?

 

[gbone87]

It seems to run smoothly but almost has a lag like its trying to get there but can't then all of sudden kicks in and runs the full rpm. I know i need to clean the raves and will because the gaskets look original. Now on the trailer with no load on the pump except for the flush kit it will rev to max rpm with no problems and no hesitations. A couple more symptoms I am dealing with that may be related or may not are I tried to fire it up before putting it in the water yesterday and it would hardly crank over like the battery was dead and the info center was flashing
12v low. The battery was charged so i pulled the plugs and tried cranking it and it cranked fine. Put the plugs back in and it fired right up no issue. The other thing is i was idling around the dock for a few minutes and it seemed like it was going to stall. it idled at about 1200 rpms in water and 2300 out of water so i know i need to adjust it back up to the 3000 range out of water that the manual calls for. Could be all be related or not im not sure but i have spent so much time and money working on this thing its driving me crazy. Any thoughts would be great.

 

[Dr Honda]

Put a meter on the battery... start the engine, and bring the RPM's to 5000. You should have 13.5 to 14.5 volts. If it's higher, or lower... your regulator is going bad.