IAC Problem?

[John S]

First, I'm working on a 2006 LJ w/ 4.0 & 6spd.

I'm having an issue that I suspect is the IAC. I have removed and cleaned both the throttle body and the IAC itself but my surging problem persists. One thing I noticed reading this is that my IAC does not have the typical male plunger like those pictured in a Resource thread here, mine is female. I sprayed it out and cleaned it as best I could but really couldn't get inside it. It looks exactly like the image on O'Reillys site so I don't think any parts are missing or broken.

Mine looks just like BWD brand part # 50596 on the O'Reilly Auto Parts web site. (see pic)

Can this be successfully cleaned?

 

[Chris]

I think it can indeed be cleaned. I haven't actually compared how the IAC changed visually over the years, so I'm not sure if this is what the IAC is supposed to look like on 2006 models, or if perhaps you have an aftermarket unit. Does yours have Mopar part numbers anywhere on it?

I think with something like that, it's just going to require a lot of q-tips.

 

[John S]

Yeah, it's completely virgin under the hood except for plugs and a water pump. I'll try some q-tips tonight and see if that helps. Thanks!

 

[Bird]

My 2005 is exactly like yours and different then earlier model TJ's.
I removed mine and noticed that there wasn't much to clean so i reinstalled it and simply sprayed throttle body cleaner down the air intake at idle and again with wife giving it gas.

 

[Chris]

Interesting! Maybe on the later model IACs it's easier to buy a new one. On the earlier ones you can definitely clean them pretty easily.

See if the q-tips work though, this may just be one of the time consuming tasks.

 

[John S]

I kind of thought that too about replacing it but a buddy at the dealer says they hardly ever sell them. Q-tips it is...

 

[Jerry Bransford]

No need for Q-tips. Start the engine and with the engine at idle RPMs, spray throttle body cleaner into the throttle body. With the engine idling the IAC will suck the cleaner through itself. At higher than idle RPMs, the IAC will not suck the cleaner through itself. The engine will die from the IAC being flooded with cleaner, no problem just restart the engine.