Ry,

On the BMW forums, one person recommended using Simple Green to clean
the idle control valve.  I haven't had warm enough weather to do it
yet, but will in the near future.  I've cleaned the one on my van with
carb cleaner and it worked pretty well.  The BMW folks also suggest
some kind of lubricant after cleaning to keep the butterfly valve from
seizing up or being sticky, but I didn't do that on my van.  I did use
carb cleaner on my throttle body too, and it cleans it up well enough.
 I think I'd be careful not to get that stuff on the throttle switch;
it'll probably have deleterious effects on the plastic [speculation].
I thought I would try the Simple Green because I'm concerned about
putting all the nasty chemicals into the environment . . .

Good luck!
Marc

On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 4:17 PM, Ry <rylincoln@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> 1991 Vanagon Carat MT stock everything.
>
> I was wondering about cleaning the Idle Control Valve and various other
> parts. (not the AFM as I just ordered a new one, was experiencing "vanagon
> syndrome" before i removed this engine, figured I'd start fresh on the new
> to me rebuilt motor) � Everything is pretty oily on the inside and very
> grimy on the outside. �Parts I'm talking about cleaning include, throttle
> body, Idle control valve, crankcase breathing tower(not sure of proper name
> for this),
>
> I was thinking just some carb spray...any reason not to use this?
>
> also and sorry for not knowing the name of this part, but near the AFM there
> is a single wire going to a part that is about the size of a 14mm long
> socket It's hollow but D shaped inside, what is this?
>
> someday I'll answer a question as opposed to just asking them.
> peace,
> -Ry
> http://www.google.com/profiles/rylincoln
>