please help my anoying problem w. IAC cleaning

[fivespeedsteed]

so almost every oil change i take my iac off and spray carb cleaner down in it and drain it and reinstall. along with the throttle body and mass air needles. this time i did all that and cleaned my K&N. i put the oil on and let it sit for about 10 minutes before putting it in and going to get my haircut. its doing the same thing it did last time.

last time i did this it had this problem too. it has a lope in the idle, check engine light is on, and when you unplug the IAC it idles smoothly. when you plug it in it goes back to a lopey idle. the last time this happened i was at my friends house whose dad owns the body shop my car was painted in. he came out and took the t-body butterfly and just reved it all over the place for about 30 sec.s or so and it cleared out and did just fine. light went off idle back to smooth. hmmm

this time ive been beating the crap out of it revving it. ive unhooked the air filter and felt the tract behind it and theres no moisture from the airfilter (thought this was too wet at first)

what causes this problem. is there a puddle of carb cleaner sitting in the IAC i need to get out? how can i do this?

 

[vristang]

You need to pull the diagnostic codes...

I'm not sure what you could have done to cause the poor idling, but the engine diagnostic codes will help narrow it down.

Let us know what codes you get...
jason

 

[fivespeedsteed]

wouldnt it be the iac if it goes normal when unplugged, and then normal and light off if you clear it out? this has happened before...

 

[vristang]

wouldnt it be the iac if it goes normal when unplugged, and then normal and light off if you clear it out? this has happened before...

If you are going to work on that hunch, then just go buy a new one.

Other wise take the time to check into some other things AND pull the codes.
If you haven't pulled the codes, then your just pissing in the wind.

good luck,
jason

 

[Foxfan88]

ive always heard if you soak the filter with too much red oil from the K&N cleaning kit, it the engine will suck it up and get stuck on the MAF wires and jack with your car.

or you could have used to much carb cleaner. you could take the IAC back off, take the IAC apart, just 2 screws, take some compressed air and blow it out.

 

[Paul Perreca]

try unhooking hte battery cables for a few minutes and hooking them back up, maybe your light will go out and the idle will smooth out - this stupid little trick works some crazy wonders - i beleive it clears the computer out and the computer has to relocate the problems, and maybe it is faultly locating a IAC problem -

 

[iwashmycar]

i'd just buy a new one personally

 

[Fett]

Did you spray any lube in the IAC after cleaning it? Silicone spray works fine. I have seen more people make things worse by cleaning out their IAC.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

so my friend pointed out that my MAF sensor wasnt plugged in. thats what being in a rush gets you im guessing. sorry guys. the compressor trick is a good one, and next time ill try that oil in the IAC thing. thanks guys.

 

[HISSIN50]

Jason's opening thought would have found this for you quite quickly (codes). Just something to remember for next time (I myself have forgotten to plug crap back in).

Good luck.

 

[TheUser]

I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to clean the MAF or TB with carb cleaner. There is a special electrical parts cleaner for the MAF and throttle body cleaner for the throttle body...I use the TB cleaner on the IAC too. I don't know exactly what carb cleaner does to the TB, but I think it's bad for the metal. I know lots of people use carb cleaner, but that doesn't mean that's the best thing.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

oh okay, then can i get tb cleaner at advance auto?

 

[HISSIN50]

Carb cleaner removes the Teflon coating. Apparently it can remove the warning sticker too.

You can indeed get TB cleaner at any auto parts stores and some Wallymarts IIRC

Good luck.

 

[DRock9]

So your car is supposed to idle when you unplug the IAC? Mine just dies...?

 

[dragnazz5.0]

Carb cleaner removes the Teflon coating. Apparently it can remove the warning sticker too.

You can indeed get TB cleaner at any auto parts stores and some Wallymarts IIRC

Good luck.

i wasnt aware that they used a teflon coating back in the 90s. i thought that was a newer thing.

 

[ryan218]

buy a new one...mine had a loping idle...sounded like it had a cam in it...but ran like crap...replaced mine it idles 100 times better...and now it wont die if its sitting on idle for more then 10 seconds...

its was like 52 bucks or something like that...

 

[HISSIN50]

Dragnazz, I don't know but I have a warning sticker on mine.