I'm experiencing an intermittent high idle situation. I've narrowed it down to the IAC. I read somewhere that it can be cleaned, but my Haynes manual says to not use solvents to clean it. Is there a safe procedure to clean the IAC? Or should I just go out and buy a new one?

 

Any Air Intake/Throttle Body Cleaner will work (STP, Valvoline, etc).

Most everything you want to know about the IAC can be found in this thread:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...hreadid=136188

 

Thanks Rockledge. I just cleaned it out. I'm not sure yet if it helped or not, but it was encouraging that the truck still started, and the idle seemed to return to normal faster than usual.

 

Did an oil and filter, and differential oil change this morning. The filter on the `98 (B3000) 3.0L is a bear to put back in. Had to let it cool for almost an hour so I would`nt burn my wrists. Anyway--while I was waiting I was looking thru my Haynes manual for the IAC Valve on the 3.0L. It actually sits on top of the air intake at the throttle body. The manual says to pull the electrical connector off of the valve to test it. The idle should slow or the engine may stall. I yanked it and it stalled almost before I had the connector off. I guess mine works just fine!!!

 

I tried cleaning the IAC in my 98 4.0L to cure an intermittent low idle. I also had the 'foghorn' sound going on once or twice. Took it off and found it covered in black on the inside, so sprayed it out with TB cleaner, and then I got the foghorn noise all the time. I bought a new one at Napa for $60 or so and it idles much smoother. After seeing how dirty it was, I doubt it could ever be cleaned enough to work like it should. By the way, my ranger has 86k miles on it. See how dirty yours is on the inside, may just be better to buy a new one.

 

I had the same EXACT thing happen today. It was noisy once in a while but after "fixing it" it is now noisy all the time! I have to get another one tomorrow but don't have a NAPA close to me. Does anybody know what the part number is for AutoZone or Kragen - they want the OEM number which I couldn't find anywhere.

 

So far it seems to be working. I can't say it's working perfectly, but it's not sticking me at a 2,000 rpm idle anymore. The valve operation still seems to be a bit sluggish, but three sprays of TB cleaner is much cheaper than a $48 part.

 

Nevermind. It didn't work. It's slowly starting to do it again. Replacement part is coming soon.