How to clean your IAC (Idle Air Controller) valve

i have a 2004 wrangler rubicon with 70,000 miles on it and it has been surging since 2006 and no one can figure it out. things have been replaced and or cleaned. the only thing that stops it on mine is if i use higher octane fuel. i know so many people are going to say octane rating doesnt matter but this is how i stop it in mine.
 
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dan weis said:
i have a 2004 wrangler rubicon with 70,000 miles on it and it has been surging since 2006 and no one can figure it out. things have been replaced and or cleaned. the only thing that stops it on mine is if i use higher octane fuel. i know so many people are going to say octane rating doesnt matter but this is how i stop it in mine.
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Hey man, if it works, it works!
 
Hi Chris, I was able to remove the IAC without any problem but I’m really struggling with removing the two bottom screws on the housing. It’s such a tight area I can barely even get my fingers in there with the surrounding components in the way, much less a tool... Any suggestions?
 
rogerbennett said:
Hi Chris, I was able to remove the IAC without any problem but I’m really struggling with removing the two bottom screws on the housing. It’s such a tight area I can barely even get my fingers in there with the surrounding components in the way, much less a tool... Any suggestions?
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I had to remove the Throttle Body completely to unscrew my IAC Valve and housing. Not sure if there is a special shaped torx driver that may get in there but you may have to remove the TB to get at it and clean it. (Note that if you remove the TB you will need to get a new gasket).
 
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EJD said:
I had to remove the Throttle Body completely to unscrew my IAC Valve and housing. Not sure if there is a special shaped torx driver that may get in there but you may have to remove the TB to get at it and clean it. (Note that if you remove the TB you will need to get a new gasket).
Click to expand...

Yep, I had to do the same on mine!
 
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I had a Toyota that had high idling, sticky throttle, and surging. I remember cleaning the TB and IAC with a can of throttle body cleaner and that cured all but the surging. Had to replace the TPS and MAF sensor for cure that (not sure which of the two cured it as I changed them at the same time)...

Going to do this procedure (clean TB and IAC without removing them) in conjunction with a mini tune up (new plugs, air filter) this weekend on my 04 with 50k miles.
 
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OK, had a chance to look at my current OPDA...from what I am reading it is the original and early? has 102K on the clock....looks like I will order the crown.
jeep iac.JPG
 
Jerry Bransford said:
Yes there is a gasket between the throttle body and intake manifold. And yes the IAC will have an o-ring on it.

That said, I don't believe there's any need or benefit to removing the throttle body to clean the IAC. And seldom does the IAC actually need to be removed from the throttle body to clean it very effectively. I feed TB cleaner into the TB while the engine is idling and the IAC will draw the TB cleaner in through itself, cleaning itself in the process. It will not suck the TB cleaner in unless the engine is idling, so don't rev the engine during the cleaning process. The engine will die repeatedly during this process since the cleaner is flooding the inside of the IAC but that's fine and actually good, it gives the cleaner more time to clean. Just restart the engine after it dies.

I try to use a third of the can cleaning the IAC at idle RPMs, then finish the can by spraying the inside of the TB while revving the engine a bit. Every so often I'll let it idle and spray more cleaner at the passage inlet slot the IAC draws its air through, just to make sure the IAC is perfectly clean.

The IAC's air passage inlet is just above the throttle body's valve plate in this illustration...

View attachment 14111
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Going to take a look at my throttle body this weekend and see how dirty is ... Maybe give this a shot. Just idle, spray, restart the TJ and repeat basically, huh? Seems way to easy..................... :) I like it.
 
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Forgive my ignorance when it comes to this matter... But how I get to mine seems different than others. This is what I need to get to, circled in red, correct?

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Yeah. Air box and another something as well.

I'm hoping to just spray the throttle body cleaner in there like Jerry outlined. Just gotta get all that off!
 
try that first, removal at least on mine is not hard, 4 bolts and unclip the throttle cable (just be careful not to drop the bolts into the intake after the TB is removed.
 
Thanks for the write-up. I was able to do this today and was quite surprised by how much gunk I wiped out of the throttlebody. I left it installed and followed Jerry’s directions. There was so much carbon buildup on the bore of the throttlebody that I decided to wipe it off with a paper towel. Images below show the after (should’ve taken a before picture) as well as the paper towel I used to wipe it up.

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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stylo328 said:
Thanks for the write-up. I was able to do this today and was quite surprised by how much gunk I wiped out of the throttlebody. I left it installed and followed Jerry’s directions. There was so much carbon buildup on the bore of the throttlebody that I decided to wipe it off with a paper towel. Images below show the after (should’ve taken a before picture) as well as the paper towel I used to wipe it up.

View attachment 50161

View attachment 50162


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Good job, your TJ thanks you for it!
 
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