This could have been a problem from the beginning. I have only had this car for a few weeks and it has always had this problem. And it appeared as though the screw has been adjusted before. There was no cap on it as stated in the manual.

As far as the procedure in the manual it only says to let the engine warm to operating temperature, allow idle to stabalize, and adjust as needed to match the idle speeds in the manual, then turn a/c on and blower motor to high and rpm should increase 50 to 100.

The only thing I could not do is use a hand held tach as suggested since I do not have one.

 

what car/motor do you have again?

 

Its a 96 civic EX with a D16Y7 with a Y8 IM.

Here is something else I found


This hose is completly collapsed at the top when the engine is running. I think this goes to the pcv vavle but can't be sure. The hose drops down below the IM and I can't figure out how to get to it without removing the IM.

 

Ok. I replaced the PCV valve. What a pain that was.
The old one was definitley stuck and covered in oil and grime.
However it doesn't seem to have improved.
I am idleing around 600-700. (estimate from tach in dash). Still not as smooth as it should be.
And if I unplug the vacuum hose going to the cruise, the emgine idles at about 1200 and seems to be smoother.

 

So now you're only surging from 600 to 700 rpms?

 

Sometimes it will surge up to 1000 or so. And it doesn't seem to be as smooth as it should be.