I have posted a thread before regarding this issue and have also searched and looked for an answer but I cant come up with anything, and I'm not real proficient on the '94 Ranger 2.3 with a manual transmission I've recently purchased. Trucks in great shape with less than 100k miles. Problem is when driving along, the throttle is VERY hard to keep in one spot. Because of this it causes the truck to feel like its accelerating or decelerating.....with nothing in-between. This makes it really hard to simply cruise along so I find myself driving in a taller gear than necessary just to trying keep the edge off the throttles ever lurching at the slightest change of the gas pedal. Very annoying. Someone said that maybe its in the manual tranny so I even pulled it and had it gone through by a shop but the tranny and drivetrain is fine. It has to be something with the engines throttle. Also, if you slip the tranny in neutral while driving, the idle will jump up to about 1500 RPM or so until you come to almost a stop, then it will drop to about 1000 or so. I'm reading about the IAC possibly being an issue but I have no idea what it is and I'm reading about the EGR valve causing something like this too but I dont know what to look for. I was thinking of pulling codes but the CEL isn't on. Will there still possibly be any codes anyways? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

IAC= Idle Air Control motor. The round thing that sits right beside the throttle butterfly. It opens/closes to regulate how much air is drawn into the engine when the throttle is closed. It handles the idle speed for cold starts, warmed up operation, and A/C use.
It can get dirty, and stick. Cleaning can help, but replacement is usually the only way to fully resolve the issue.

 

Hmmm. There is a plug on the back of the throttle body. Is that it? I'll have to look for the round thing. Also, when I start it up, it automatically rev's up to about 2000-2500 RPM. Is this normal?

 

my 96 ranger 2.3 had a similar problem. it would bog when you had it at a certain rpm, but any touch of the throttle and it would pull. i went to change the plugs and found that it had a broken plug wire and when i changed the plugs and wires, the problem disappeared.

 

Here is link on IAC for reference .

IAC Cleaning Idle Air Control Maintenance

 

Thank you guys. I found the IAC and guess what?.....It was nasty and not moving right. I called around and the cheapest IAC I could find was about $110. So just out of curiosity, I put it back and left it unplugged. As figured, the idle was way to low and the engine didn't start great but I turned up the idle to about 800 and then took it for a drive. It drove 100% better and would start fine. The idle ended up around 1000 after it warmed up and when the A/C kicked on, the idle dropped to about 700-800 again. Yes its not the "right" way to have it but can I leave it like this until I get $110 or will it hurt anything or cause fuel mileage to drop? The CEL isn't even on which I thought was weird.
Not to mention, the radiator started leaking and stop leak wont fix it so there's another couple hundred $$$. Oh well, at least it gets good fuel mileage.

 

Rock Auto has em alot cheaper than 110.

1994 FORD RANGER Idle Air Control (IAC) Valve

 

did you clean it out with carb cleaner or similiar before you reinstalled it?.............You can buy an IACV for about $50 form autozone........shop around, ie, advance, pepboys, oreilys,etc..........also..stop leak can be nasty for heater cores etc....luckily your heater core is a cheap easy fix.........you can buy a radiator on rockauto for leas than $100 or from advanced auto for about $100 with the online discount and with your 5 speed it is a 20 minute project...........next time you have an issue post the problem first and you will get some good advice and then just do what works best for you

 

Yes I did clean it and I hooked it up to power as well and the movement was minimal at best. Kinda looks like the spring had lost its tension. The real reason I had to put it back on was because I had to drive it and no one had a replacement in stock. I was just surprised that it drove so well without it even plugged in. It drives now like a carbureted engine. And the cheapest replacement I've found was at O'reilly's for $105. Haven't priced a radiator yet.

 

Well everyone, I finally got a new IAC and, yes, the truck drives better than it did before with the old IAC but it still has this herky jerky throttle control while just trying to drive down the road. There is little to no area in the throttle position that wont cause the truck to try and accelerate or decelerate which causes an abrupt change in throttle, which causes the jerky feel. This is annoying. Disconnect the IAC and all the issues go away. Hook up the IAC and it seems that the IAC is so busy trying to control the intake air that its causing the throttle to move one way or the other at the slightest change in throttle position. I even thought about trying to rig up a way for the IAC to tie into the A/C compressor so that the IAC only comes on with the A/C and leaves all other intake air conditions alone. It drove so beautifully without the IAC connected that I may just leave the stupid thing unhooked and just turn up the idle.....which is wrong but its better than what I'm having to go through. Any suggestions?