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1987 - 1996 F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks 1987 - 1996 Ford F-150, F-250, F-350 and larger pickups - including the 1997 heavy-duty F250/F350+ trucks

Erattic idle/dies

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Old Jun 19, 2025 | 12:08 PM
  #16  
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[QUOTE=Soup bean;21596361]Awesome if it can be that simple.
Here's a video on various under hood components.
[/QUOTE
I'll take a look at it, thanks
 
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Old Jun 21, 2025 | 01:53 PM
  #17  
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Originally Posted by Truckwardo
So random idle fluctuations and no codes of vacuum leaks? Step one if you havent already is just unplugging the battery for a few minutes.
​​​​​​worked for about 2 days then started up again now going up to 3-3.5k rpms but it's either normal or all the way up there so it's not fluctuating anymore
 
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Old Jun 21, 2025 | 06:56 PM
  #18  
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Ok next is unplug the IAC and foot start the truck and get it to idle. See what it does. Seems like the IAC motor is going fully open. The idle air control fails a lot.
 
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Old Jun 21, 2025 | 11:43 PM
  #19  
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Originally Posted by Truckwardo
Ok next is unplug the IAC and foot start the truck and get it to idle. See what it does. Seems like the IAC motor is going fully open. The idle air control fails a lot.
alright thanks man, been a lot of help
 
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Old Jun 22, 2025 | 08:59 PM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by Truckwardo
Ok next is unplug the IAC and foot start the truck and get it to idle. See what it does. Seems like the IAC motor is going fully open. The idle air control fails a lot.
what exactly should I be looking for when I do that
 
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Old Jun 22, 2025 | 09:24 PM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by Bogman
what exactly should I be looking for when I do that
Warm up the truck until it idles ok. Then while its running unplug the idle air control. See what it does. The try to do the same when it's idling really high.

[ Unplugged idling normal ] you just try and drive it to make it do the problem again. And just see how it's running.

[ Unplugged high idle ]you want to shut it off. Wait a few minutes. And fire it back up and see if it does the same high idle. To let you know if your IAC is just getting stuck.

Now ill admit to skipping all these steps and just replacing the IAC motor since it's pretty cheap. And generally it fixes idle problems as long as they're not vacuum leaks.

 
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Old Jun 22, 2025 | 09:57 PM
  #22  
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Originally Posted by Truckwardo
Warm up the truck until it idles ok. Then while its running unplug the idle air control. See what it does. The try to do the same when it's idling really high.

[ Unplugged idling normal ] you just try and drive it to make it do the problem again. And just see how it's running.

[ Unplugged high idle ]you want to shut it off. Wait a few minutes. And fire it back up and see if it does the same high idle. To let you know if your IAC is just getting stuck.

Now ill admit to skipping all these steps and just replacing the IAC motor since it's pretty cheap. And generally it fixes idle problems as long as they're not vacuum leaks.
I'll probably replace it, but I'll still check the whole unplugging thing cause it's not too old of an iac
 
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Old Jun 22, 2025 | 09:59 PM
  #23  
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Originally Posted by Bogman
I'll probably replace it, but I'll still check the whole unplugging thing cause it's not too old of an iac
The usual culprit of early IAC failure is coking from a faulty EGR or blower or the circuit on the ECM itself is faulty. The EGR valve has about 100 000 miles of service life.
 
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Old Jun 22, 2025 | 10:07 PM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by Truckwardo
The usual culprit of early IAC failure is coking from a faulty EGR or blower or the circuit on the ECM itself is faulty. The EGR valve has about 100 000 miles of service life.
I just put an egr on it it might be the ECM so I'll check that out I'll also need a obd2 reader cuz there is a check engine and it would have probably told me a lot but I like making my life difficult right lol
 
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Old Jun 28, 2025 | 04:44 PM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by Truckwardo
The usual culprit of early IAC failure is coking from a faulty EGR or blower or the circuit on the ECM itself is faulty. The EGR valve has about 100 000 miles of service life.
just got the IAC in the mail, put it on and unplugged the batt for a while, I turned it on and was waiting for it to relearn, it's started at about 1.5k rpm then ramped up to 2.3k rpm and just stayed there till I turned it off
 
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Old Jun 28, 2025 | 07:37 PM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by Bogman
just got the IAC in the mail, put it on and unplugged the batt for a while, I turned it on and was waiting for it to relearn, it's started at about 1.5k rpm then ramped up to 2.3k rpm and just stayed there till I turned it off
Sheeeeit. It's supposed to be the exact opposite. Start at 2300 and dip to 1500 then settle to true idle. Is the computer already refurbished?
 
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Old Jun 28, 2025 | 07:46 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by Truckwardo
Sheeeeit. It's supposed to be the exact opposite. Start at 2300 and dip to 1500 then settle to true idle. Is the computer already refurbished?
don't know if last owner got a refurbished one or not, I tinkered with some connections/cleaned them and unplug the batt again and got it to kinda work, I found a new problem though, the spring on the throttle is to loose that it doesn't close fully so it gets stuck just barley off the idle plate so it "idles high" but it isn't fluctuating and being stupid off start up anymore. The spring is an easy fix gonna try to just re twist it so it's tighter if that don't work I'll buy new ones.
 
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Old Jun 28, 2025 | 07:48 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by Bogman
don't know if last owner got a refurbished one or not, I tinkered with some connections/cleaned them and unplug the batt again and got it to kinda work, I found a new problem though, the spring on the throttle is to loose that it doesn't close fully so it gets stuck just barley off the idle plate so it "idles high" but it isn't fluctuating and being stupid off start up anymore. The spring is an easy fix gonna try to just re twist it so it's tighter if that don't work I'll buy new ones.
Hopefully yeah. And maybe clean up the grounds and make sure there is no hidden corrosion.
 
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Old Jun 28, 2025 | 07:50 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by Truckwardo
Hopefully yeah. And maybe clean up the grounds and make sure there is no hidden corrosion.
alright, will do. Thanks for all the help again man, saved me from spending a lot of money at a shop and got to learn more bout my truck.
 
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