Hello all, I have a 2000 Explorer with a 4.0 engine. I have a small problem with a low idle. I think I may have narrowed down the culprit but I have couple of quick questions before I go swapping parts ***** nilly. I don't have a CEL on and no codes pending. If I tap on the part in question the idles comes up and stays there for a while (minutes, hours) and the car idles great. I have no idea what this part is and if it has anything to do with the problem. Here's a couple of pics to help identify. Thanks in advance for any help you can give. The part is the silver thing with 2 bolts attached to the plastic directly (above the new DPFE) with a wire harness on the back of it.

 

That is the IAC - idle air control.

That could be the cause of your idle issue.

It can be cleaned rather than replaced, but

Some IACs are beyond just a cleaning.

Make sure you disconnect the battery before cleaning

Or replacing.

 

Thanks for the quick response khadma. I will try cleaning it tonight and I will be sure to disconnect the battery as you recommend. Will post the results.
Thanks again.

 

Darren, I almost would say for certain that is your problem. The IAC, as shown in the photo. Another symptom of one going bad, will manifest itself as stalling or nearly stalling at a redlight, especially in hot weather. Stalling after a freeway run. You exit the freeway, come to a redlight or stop sign, and the Explorer suddenly feels like it's about to stall or does stall. Sometimes it starts right up, other times, it takes a bit longer to get started.

Either way, it's a frustrating experience, and intermittent. In other words it doesn't happen all the time, but it starts to occur more often than not.

Also, let me give you a word of advice. Don't ask me why, only it happened to me - and I hope to save you some grief that I experienced.

I replaced my IAC on my Explorer with a cheaper, aftermarket part. Worked fine for about 3 months... then (you guessed it) those symptoms began to return once again!! Ahhhhhhh! Then you think it's something else ... but it's not. I tried both Autozone and NAPA IACs. JUNK. For all I know, both might be manufactured from the same aftermarket...

I bit the bullet and bought an Genuine MOTORCRAFT IAC. They run about $35-- $55 more than the aftermarket part.

Same yourself some grief and future headaches. Go to your dealer and get a MOTORCRAFT part. I did, finally, Explorer ran great ever since. Power. Pep. Smooth and crisp acceleration. Nice power at nearly full throttle. Explorer gets up to 75+ MPH right NOW thank you very much.

My Explorer: 2000 Ford Explorer SPORT (2 door) with the V6 SOHC and automatic with overdrive.

I also recommend disconnecting the negative battery cable too. (clean your posts and cable connections if needed) replace battery if older than 5 years old with a good, solid, Group 65 battery with 800+ CCA or above. Don't slap a cheap battery in, everythings electrical and cheap batteries ruin performance in Explorers of our era.

Last but not least, give your EXPLORER's throttle plate a good cleaning with the correct spray product, AND install a new, quality air filter. I use either a Motorcraft or Purolator air filter.

Good Luck. Love my Explorer Sport, 93,000+ miles, and it runs like new. Still looks new, shines. I use a SUV cover outdoors if I drive it to work. Garaged nightly and when not in use.

Ed

 

Darren, I almost would say for certain that is your problem. The IAC, as shown in the photo. Another symptom of one going bad, will manifest itself as stalling or nearly stalling at a redlight, especially in hot weather. Stalling after a freeway run. You exit the freeway, come to a redlight or stop sign, and the Explorer suddenly feels like it's about to stall or does stall. Sometimes it starts right up, other times, it takes a bit longer to get started.

Either way, it's a frustrating experience, and intermittent. In other words it doesn't happen all the time, but it starts to occur more often than not.

Also, let me give you a word of advice. Don't ask me why, only it happened to me - and I hope to save you some grief that I experienced.

I replaced my IAC on my Explorer with a cheaper, aftermarket part. Worked fine for about 3 months... then (you guessed it) those symptoms began to return once again!! Ahhhhhhh! Then you think it's something else ... but it's not. I tried both Autozone and NAPA IACs. JUNK. For all I know, both might be manufactured from the same aftermarket...

I bit the bullet and bought an Genuine MOTORCRAFT IAC. They run about $35-- $55 more than the aftermarket part.

Same yourself some grief and future headaches. Go to your dealer and get a MOTORCRAFT part. I did, finally, Explorer ran great ever since. Power. Pep. Smooth and crisp acceleration. Nice power at nearly full throttle. Explorer gets up to 75+ MPH right NOW thank you very much.

My Explorer: 2000 Ford Explorer SPORT (2 door) with the V6 SOHC and automatic with overdrive.

I also recommend disconnecting the negative battery cable too. (clean your posts and cable connections if needed) replace battery if older than 5 years old with a good, solid, Group 65 battery with 800+ CCA or above. Don't slap a cheap battery in, everythings electrical and cheap batteries ruin performance in Explorers of our era.

Last but not least, give your EXPLORER's throttle plate a good cleaning with the correct spray product, AND install a new, quality air filter. I use either a Motorcraft or Purolator air filter.

Good Luck. Love my Explorer Sport, 93,000+ miles, and it runs like new. Still looks new, shines. I use a SUV cover outdoors if I drive it to work. Garaged nightly and when not in use.

Ed

 

ED, I recently repaired a 03 Taurus with similar drivability problems.

The problem turned out to be an air leak and not the IAC. I am sending you

some rep points for your informative post!

Cleaning the IAC is the first step, but doing other diagnosis procedures

should never be overlooked.

As for the OP, there are several websites that explain the IAC cleaning

Procedure.

Keep us posted.

 

Thanks guys for all your help. Sorry it took me a while to post the results. I removed the IAC and cleaned it up, reinstalled it and its running fine. I have plans on replacing it with a Motorcraft part thanks to your recommendation. Thanks again for all your help.

 

nd925, what was your idle at when you were having problems? was it just a low idle? I have a 97 Ford explorer V6 SOHC Eddie Bauer with 154k miles on it. I ask because I have a low idle right now and it stays around 500-550 rpm no matter what. Tachometer shows very little movement if any and the car feels smooth for the most part but it just doesn't sound quite steady.

Turning on accessories does nothing for the idle speed but it was dropping my voltage a lot. Replaced my P.O.S. "high output" alternator I got from ebay because my mechanic thought that was the reason why idle voltage would drop down to 12.7 with accessories on. (alternator was also making a loud whining noise from inside the housing which was an indication of something failing as well).

The new alternator (standard 130 amp for my vehicle.) would drop voltage to 12.7v too under load and the idle was still at 500-550 rpm. No more noise though so that was one good thing. My mechanic had to install an overdrive pulley on the alternator to finally fix the idle voltage problem with accessories on. He checked all of the power and grounding cables before doing this but everything checked out fine - I had done the Big 3 upgrade before so there was little voltage drop or resistance in the charging system.

But my concern still remains. why is my truck still idling at 500-550 rpm and not increasing idle speed when accessories are turned on? There is no sound or noise coming from the IAC that others have said was a common occurance. No sound of a vacuum leak or intake leak although I haven't tested it to be 100% sure. Is my truck not supposed to idle any higher than that? I would rather not shell out money to replace an IAC if it is not needed. my mechanic said he won't touch the IAC until I'm ready to completely replace it in case it turns out it is bad since cleaning could make it worse.

P.S. My mechanic cleaned my throttle body a little while ago and it did make a noticeable improvement in startup and response but did nothing for idle rpm.

 

You need a new mechanic, one that understands the workings of PCM controlled engine management..... Philip

 

Welcome jeffjb88,

Sorry to hear about your problems, I agree with aquanaut20,

That is a messed up approach to diagnosing a problem, and not to mentioned

expensive.

You mentioned yourself in your post that the after MAF intake components

were not fully tested.

CHECK FOR DTCs and post them here.

 

I don't blame my mechanic for his approach, I came into the shop asking him to find where that noise is coming from and fix it. I told him it might be the IAC because my idle is low as well. so he had a look, and was able to pin point the noise to be coming from inside the alternator.

After he diagnosed the alternator as being the culprit I told him to go ahead and replace it since I dont want it killing my battery. The alternator I had was definitely questionable because of the loud noise it was producing and low voltage at idle with accessories on (not to mention I picked it up for $150 on ebay and it was claiming to be a 220amp high output alternator). It was by luck that I had an overdrive pulley for the alternator as I was just showing it to him as a temporary fix for low idle voltage.

As far as the rest goes I agree that the underlying problem is still there and he knows it as well. Unfortunately for me he is not a Ford mechanic and does not by any means claim to be. He is a Honda specialist but works on my ford because he knows me. He told me before getting in to this I might have to take it to someone who knows Ford PCM systems better if he cant fix the idle voltage problem.

The reason I go to him is because he is trustworthy and much better service and pricing from any other mechanic i have been to and he will tell me if he doesnt think can do something. (along with 1year nationwide warranty/roadside with all his work). I knew what I was getting into and he let me know along the way what he was trying to fix and why. Never had any issues with any of his work on my car and he always takes time out to check my car when i bring it in (wont even charge me if its a simple fix or he cant figure out the problem), but this was the first time we did something involving electrical (aside from spark plugs). Everything before has been bushings, shocks, breaks, sparkplugs, belts, idler pulley, filters, rear differential, etc. Only thing he refused to do so far was my transmission and transfer case but he recommended me to a place that was able to rebuild my transmission and transfer case along with a 18 month 18,000 mile warranty.

just wanted to get my point of view in there before any more bashing on my mechanic. lol.

back on topic though: I dont have a scan tool, next time im at my mechanic or autozone ill get him to scan it but chances are the memory is wiped. we had the battery disconnected for over an hour and i know my radio reset.

only thing i can think of is that a long time ago when I had a new radiator installed by some other mechanic, they did a poor job and did not seal everything back up (later found out that I was leaking transmission fluid by another mechanic at a chain store and was told it was whoever installed the radiator that F***** everything up and didnt reseal everything, of course I took it back to the mechanic that did my radiator and they told me all was well... 6 months later transmission dead).

the hoses coming out after the MAF were loose as well from that radiator install and one was completely out causing my truck to stall at idle. Thats when i met my mechanic, he showed me what was going on. My temp fix was duct tape and zip ties. lol. Right now there is no tape, just zip ties and a little epoxy holding it in. Not permanent but its a tight seal and requires a little effort to remove it.

edit: haven't had any CEL come on or any stalling. Every once in a while I will feel the car shake at idle but I have to really be looking for it to even notice it. the tachometer isnt sensitive enough to show it, I'm guessing it drops rpm by < 50 (still above 500 and less than 550) when it shakes but its too quick and too small for it to pick it up and it only happens a couple times a minute if that. sometimes I could see the tach wiggle a little when it happens but most of the time not.

 

jeff i got a 2000 4.o also and at times it runs low rpm also and the alt. does not keep up. truthfully i don't think any alt. will keep up at a slow rpm like that either since even my boat need 1000 rpm to put out the full voltage and it's lucky to run anything (pretty much charge the bat and run the radio and depth finder). as far as the low rpm i wouldn't worrie to much about it unless it is causing more trouble then just your worries. heck my headlights even dim out at night when i'm stopped at a light because of it. heck i wish it would run that low all the time since it's the only time my power steering is quiet

 

yorky, I feel the same way now after all of this. I might be chasing ghosts, but I do remember a while ago (probably 2 years ago, before my transmission was rebuilt and possibly before my radiator was replaced) that my idle was closer to 750 and my stock oem alternator had no problem at all with accessories on idle, only time it would dip a little was when I had my 2000 watt system playing loud (wasnt pushing 2000 watts of course, the amps and speakers can handle a good 2000W rms but my ears cant.).

I guess it is because this past year I have had a big interest in fixing my car up and getting it in top shape to prevent problems rather than wait for it to happen. 154k miles on my engine and every mechanic i've been to (including a couple ford dealerships) said it has been well taken care of and should last a lot longer. I've been fixing my car up myself on small things like the recline lever, door latch assembly, blend door actuator etc as its too expensive to pay a mechanic to do it.

As of now my car runs smooth and quiet with the new alternator *knock on wood* the overdrive pulley on it keeps my voltage steady at 14.4 with little to no movement at all with all the accessories on, even holding the power windows down or up after they stop moving barely moves the needle. My system is currently not installed as I'm re-doing the amp rack to fit in the quarter panel trim, so I cant tell how it holds up, but Im sure I won't have a problem.

p.s. oh yeah ever since I got the new radiator my temp will not go more than 1/4 above C. never thought much of it but considering it started happening since the replacement of the radiator and fan it makes me think the thermostat is not functioning. my gas mileage isnt the best either, sitting at 15.5 average. 240-250 miles per tank, used to get 17 mpg or around 290 miles per tank couple years ago.

 

you might wanna check to see if the right thermostat is in there. i believe it should be a 180. a while back i was reading where its not good for the seals on the engine when the engine is not running at right temp higher or lower. mine wasn't working and it was stuck open, since it was the summer i wasn't worried till i read that.

as far as gas mileage goes i'd flip if i only got 15.5. mine likes hess gas the best not the mix of who's cheapest but i'm getting 18.5 to 20. granted i use the cruise control as much as possible. you might wanna look at the basics fuel filter (should be under the drivers door along the rail, need a special 3/8" tool to pop the lines off, other then that easy replacment [not all gas stations keep their filter changed in the pump]) air ect. mine got 162k on it and just had the tranny rebuilt last month ($1600 but full warranty the guy will even cover tow if something happens). i got a oil leak at the main rear seal and a coolant leak (gonna try a stop leak when i flush it) but other then that (n the noisy power sterring) its in tip top shape also

 

forgot to mention just found 2 small leaks in my muffler yesterday (what do you expect when it's 12 yrs old and looks like rocks hit it when i was in the mountain) and seen that my rear blew the front seal since there is oil spin around the frame and back of the gas tank. time to replace them all (axle's and main since the pumpkin need to be taken apart) or the rear itself which will be more costly but easier