2011 Chevy Malibu idle Issue

[moe44688]

Hey guys, so after owning three TD's and all of them turning into projects, I decided to buy a newer car that was gonna be reliable while I fix my other cars. I was gonna use my scholarship money and my parents said they would help if with about 1000-2000 if I needed it. So I started looking at N&Csrt4's, STI's, cobalt SS TC/SC, etc etc. Long story short, I gave them my money since the car was gonna be in my moms name (don't ask why, none of my cars are in my name, never cared and still don't) Well one day she came home with a new 2012 Toyota Camry.... and threw me the keys to the 2011 chevy Malibu and said heres your new car. (2.4l ecotec DOHC Auto just shy of 60k miles) not exactly what I wanted but hey it met all qualifications except power, not a 5psd and doesn't look the greatest IMO but not bad either.

Now about 5k miles later and a complete tune-up, the cars seems to idle funny when Im at a stop. It does it usually when its warm. It idles slightly under 1000rpms when its not acting up but when I'm stopped at a red light or stop sign it sometime drops down to around 700 rpms. I can feel the motor misfiring as well. Anyone know what may be causing this? this is supposed to be my reliable car, so before the problem gets out of hand I'd like to fix it. I was thinking I'll start by cleaning the TB and the MAF sensor. and check for vaccum leaks.
Now I also bought new plugs for it and I didn't check the gap for the first time cause I've noticed my plugs have always been properly gapped. I know some of you have had different experiences.
Could the plugs be the issue if they arent gapped properly? I was gonna check the gap before doing anything else.

As always guys, I appreciate your help!

Moe

[black86glhs]

Any codes? The 2.4 can have issues with the cam actuators if I recall correctly. They will cause it to run crappy at idle and misfire if they are bad. Take it to GM and have it diagnosed. I believe they have updated actuators for them.
The actuators are for the VVT system. Variable valve timing.
Also, because of the direct injection, they can and do build IP carbon on the intake valves and seats. We used to do a top engine clean on the older stuff for basically the same issue, but these do it more. I just did it to my wife's Equinox because it was starting to misfire on startup.
That's why I said take it to GM and let them diagnose it. I made a simple valve with tubing so I could hook it up to a vacuum source on the intake and another section of tubing to a can of Seafoam. The key is to not open the valve too much and flood or hydrolock the engine.

[thedon809]

I had one come in the shop and it needed a VVT solenoid (customer hates the gm dealers in our area).