Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting How to clean IAC valve?

My car is having stalling problem so I'm planning to remove and clean the iac but I could'n find in the how to section,I see one screw on top is there another one in the bottom and how to clean it or can I just by pass it?

There are two bolts (both 10mm I think), the one you found on the top and another on the bottom. Once you pull it off spray the inside with some Berryman's B12 and maybe even a light scrubbing with an old toothbrush. Basically you just want to remove any buildup around the valve. I also gave it a shot of silicone lubricant. Tighten it back down and you should be set.

i was told not to clean the IAC. 2 reasons, one the "film" they coat the inside with will wear off with a cleaning, especially with a toothbrush. two if you have moosing it will make it louder and or create the moosing which makes sence. if cleaning is your choice id suggest to clean it quite often, with the "film" gone it will clog up faster. Mine was moosing like hell and stalling every 10 times or so that i put the clutch in, it was really bad. i read a thread on some cougar site, that gave a picture of a mondeo in europe (i believe) that too the stock vacume lines out and replaced it with 3 foot of heater hose from the port of the IAC right to the vacume line on the intake. i believe the opening is 7/8. i do have a pic somewhere.i posted this before you probally can find it in the search somewhere. about 2 months ago or so. i used a braded hose to replace the stock vacume lines, which is a cluster fk** to begin with. it looked very much cleaner with braded hose in there. and never had such problems again. if you need more help id be glad, but i need to find the pic. it explains it best.

If this "film" is anything like the teflon coating that's on the throttle body, its worthless. It has been shown that the teflon on the TB does very little to prevent buildup. Many people have cleaned the TB with positive results, so I think its safe to apply the same logic to the IAC. If this "film" is altogether different, then maybe different rules apply.

I also look at it this way: even if a cleaning isn't good for the IAC, it will at least buy some time before it must be replaced, since if you can't clean it then what else can you do with it?

EDIT:

Originally posted by mycainsbroken:

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two if you have moosing it will make it louder and or create the moosing which makes sence

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In my case I cleaned out my IAC and it eliminated the slight moosing I was experiencing. Immediately after I cleaned and remounted it the moosing was horrendous, but after sitting overnight the moosing has completely dissapeared. I cleaned it less than a week ago, so I'll give it some time before calling it a complete success.

the film they apply is only good to prevent the start of buildup. Think about that tiny layer of film and all the gunk you see in there.... only the first layer of gunk gets to deal with the film layer...After that the gunk starts to build up, it attracts more to itself.

Same as dust bunnies under your bed!

Check the PCV hoses on your way to the IAC.

Update:It was my lucky day,I didn't have time to take the valve off so I just gaive it many light hits and the stalling problem is gone for days now ,will wait and see how long it will hold up

Don't use silicone in the intake system. It will coat the oxygen sensors!

It won't burn off in the combustion chamber?