My G.M. just started an erratic idle and surge. I removed the idle air control valve, ( two bolts, one hose, electrical connector, gasket is reusable), and sprayed carb cleaner into the openings liberally. I then used a screwdriver to poke a rag in there and wipe out the varnish/carbon gunk. I repeated this several times and reinstalled. Problem is gone!


A little warning: using carb cleaner may shorten the life of the unit if there is a rubber seal in there (there appears to be) but it worked like a charm and saved me $55.00 at the parts store.


If anyone needs further info on the location of the part or any other help, just let me know.

 

Well that is good, and interesting news.


I did that several years ago on another car (make/model), but havenot thought about it till you were mentioning it. Sometimes you can't see the forest because of all the trees around.


Back then I used brake cleaner, and had it sitting in there over night. Then blew it out with air-in-a-can. I think I will do exactly the same with the MGM, nothing to loose.


What parts did you take off besides the air intake to get the ICV out?


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Edited by: 92Mercury

 

I removed the plastic intake cover, a rubber hose that attches to the IAC, and the wiring connector.You can then access the IAC with a ratchet, short extension, and socket (5/16 I think). On these cars, you access it from the drivers side; it's located on the back side of the throttle body/intake. You have towork the bottom bolt by feel but they are not real tight and once it is broken loose, it can be removed with your fingers. Luckily I didn't drop the bolt or socket or it would have been time to whip out the magnet to retrieve them.


It has been several days and still no signs of problems.[img]smileys/smiley4.gif[/img](gotta love freebies)If the problem does return, I'm pretty sure I'll need to replace the IAC as that was obvously the problem. I wish I had thought to clean out the throttle body while I was there, so if you have time, it may be worthwhile to clean that also.
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Thanks for the info. I figured that's the way I have to go.


Hope it continues to work. After all, the ICV works with air, so is exposed to all the debris in the air, under the hood. A good cleaning might just do the trick. Saves us about $70 or whatever we can get the valve for.


I will certainly invest the time (rather the money) and try that. I already cleaned all other parts (see other posts), that did change the effect a bit, but not all the way nor permanently.


Greetings!

 

mine does that all the time ill try it this weekend

 

87' cougar xr7, this cured the problem.. thanks !!!!!!!!!