Problem Fix

I posted a couple of times about a month ago about a problem I was having with my 2000 F-150 XLT 4.6L. It would sometimes hesitate when taking off from a stop, and would sometimes completely die without warning. Never really got any help here, but I'll post my results for those of you who might have a similiar problem. Turned out it was my IAC (Idle Air Control) valve. On the 4.6L it sits on top of the throttle body (2 bolts hold it on, has a connector hooked on the end, search yahoo for a pic) and on the back of the throttle body on the 5.4L. Turns out, these things get dirty and stick causing rough idling and hesitiation and even stalling. There are 2 things you can do. 1. Clean it. 2. Buy a new one. I opted to clean mine because it's cheaper. I bought some carburetor cleaner from Wal-Mart (about 94 cents for a spray can) and removed my IAC and sprayed the hell out of it. I also sprayed some down into my throttle body to loosen some of the junk down there (don't worry, this stuff is safe on O2 sensors and such). Replaced the IAC and started the truck. Little rough start while the engine ran the carb cleaner out of it, then ran great. I have heard that if your doing this on a 5.4, it's easier to remove the throttle body to get to the IAC. If cleaning it doesn't help they are about 40 bucks from AutoZone. Good luck.

Thanxs for the update.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/data/503/368096IAC_valve-thumb.jpgTHIS is the Ford IAC valve LOL