I agree. It's hard to say whether the IAC is the problem or not. I had mine replaced in late March after complaining about sticking and rising RPM, which the dealer attributed to a "sticky" IAC valve.
About 2,500 miles later, the problem came back. The funny thing is, that with mine, it seems to get worse with time. By that I mean, at first, it'll do it once in a week, then it'll do it every two or three days, and now, about four weeks after it first re-appeared, I'm getting the sticking RPM practically all the time.
I took it to a different dealer last Friday, and of course, the problem was not evident. I did talk to the shop foreman at some length. It took me 15 minutes to get him to admit that it is not normal for a Contour or any other car to behave like this. (i.e., RPM stick for several seconds, sometimes rise, and idle is 500 RPM above spec)
As for disconnecting the battery to reset the computer, I've done that several times, with very inconsistent results. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, and when it does work, it doesn't last long, so I'm assuming that resetting the computer in this way is not making any difference at all.
I plan to return to my previous, usual dealer in the next week or so, and we'll see if they have any other ideas.
I can't say how p*ssed off this makes me. Aside from the premature wear on brakes and clutch, the excess fuel consumption, and the complete lack of driving enjoyment, I just hate sitting at a stoplight with my car roaring away at 3,000 RPM.
