IAC question: Did I break it? (Ooops)

[caddisguy]

I took my IAC out to clean it. While I was wiping the tip with a shop towel, I was inadvertently adjusting (unscrewing) it. The tip/sleeve/spring all came right out.

From what I know (which isn't much) about this is sensor, is that you want the length no more than 1 & 1/8" or it can interfere with the throttle body. Once in place, the IAC will adjust itself to the correct length.

So I have screwed the tip back in and set the length to 1 inch. My concern is whether that tip was actually supposed to be able to unscrew all the way out or if I have broken it. If I re-install it, when it "adjusts itself", could it fully unscrew itself and fall out causing some kind of damage?

Or is this all normal (ie: yeah it will come all the way if you unscrew it, but once you have it back in the housing, it's not going to be able to unscrew itself far enough to come out?)

Appreciate any insight. I've had this out and cleaned it in the past, but this is a first

 

[caddisguy]

Update: I looked at the intake and don't see any possibility of that getting through the port. Seems to be running fine. Didn't plug in the Bluedriver but looks like it is idling around 550-600 warm. One of these days I'll take off the whole TB and have a look inside the IAC housing and see how all that works. I'm sure the housing is so filled with gunk cleaning the IAC is pointless

 

[Mike_H]

You can thread the tip back in, no issues. On mine (with 155,000 miles), the threads got a little "sticky" so it would unscrew a little bit every time it adjusted. That one was a bugger to figure out! Cleaned the threads and all is well again.

 

[caddisguy]

You can thread the tip back in, no issues. On mine (with 155,000 miles), the threads got a little "sticky" so it would unscrew a little bit every time it adjusted. That one was a bugger to figure out! Cleaned the threads and all is well again.

Thank you for the confirmation on that!

I found the threads on mine to be tacky as well. All seems well. I plugged OBD2 scanner yesterday and it is idling 650-670.

I wasn't having any noticeable idle issues to begin with though and odds are this won't solve the issue I'm chasing. Had two cases in the last week or so where it stalled when shifting into drive or reverse. Had that happen in one-off situations (like maybe once every 3 years ) but twice in a week is odd. So I figure just go over all the usual suspects.... disconnect battery, clean IAC, new fuel with some treatment, checking grounds, wiring. Transmission might be a hair low on ATF... pan gasket is seeping a bit (dipstick level is to the first "HOT" hole) ... hopefully not the torque converter itself. Guess time will tell. It hasn't stalled since I disconnected the battery and cleaned the IAC, but that was only yesterday. Though I did do a weeks worth of shifting into drive and reverse trying to make it stall

Thanks again for the feedback on the IAC. Not sure why I can't find the "Like" button on here LOL

 

[Mike_H]

Thank you for the confirmation on that!

I found the threads on mine to be tacky as well. All seems well. I plugged OBD2 scanner yesterday and it is idling 650-670.

I wasn't having any noticeable idle issues to begin with though and odds are this won't solve the issue I'm chasing. Had two cases in the last week or so where it stalled when shifting into drive or reverse. Had that happen in one-off situations (like maybe once every 3 years ) but twice in a week is odd. So I figure just go over all the usual suspects.... disconnect battery, clean IAC, new fuel with some treatment, checking grounds, wiring. Transmission might be a hair low on ATF... pan gasket is seeping a bit (dipstick level is to the first "HOT" hole) ... hopefully not the torque converter itself. Guess time will tell. It hasn't stalled since I disconnected the battery and cleaned the IAC, but that was only yesterday. Though I did do a weeks worth of shifting into drive and reverse trying to make it stall

Thanks again for the feedback on the IAC. Not sure why I can't find the "Like" button on here LOL

You might need a few more posts to get the reactions to post. Glad it’s working out for you.