Problems starting in cold weather: Made it through first winter without needing repairs. Now every year the car needs a major winter repair for to start.
Is this a lemon? Are the mechanics fixing the wrong thing?
Repair History for this problem:
CAL WORTHINGTON FORD
12/4/2008 16,703 MILES
VERIFIED VEHICLE RUN BADLY HAD 2 0&C P0104 MASS AIR FLOW INTERUPTIONS. P0507 IAC NOT READING . FOUND BAD MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR. REPLACED SENSOR. VERIFIED PROPER OPERATION.
PARTS: 3L3Z-12B79-BA SENSOR ASY
12/18/2008 16,805 MILES
VEHICLE WILL NOT STAY RUNNING. GAS PEDAL STICKS. SELF TEST PCM NO CODES. STARTS FINE. PUT OUTSIDE IN COLD. NEXT DAY STARTS AND DIES. NO IAC CONTROL. REPLACE IAC MOTOR. TEST RPMS ARE NOW CONTROLLED.
PARTS: 3S6Z-9F715-AA VALVE ASY ? TH
1/05/2009 17,004 MILES
VERIFIED CAR WON?T STAY RUNNING UNLESS FOOT ON GAS PEDAL. FOUND THROTTLE BODY TO BE STICKING OPEN. REMOVED AIRBOX THROTTLE BODY. INSTALLED NEW THROTTLE BODY. INSTALLED AIR BOX. VERIFIED WORKING.
PARTS: 5L8Z-9E926-AB BODY ASY ? CAR
1/7/2009 17,011 MILES
REPAIR FOR VEHICLE WILL NOT START. CANNOT VERIFY PROBLEM.
KENDAL FORD OF WASILLA
1/25/2010 22,455 MILES
STARTS IF GAS PEDAL DEPRESSED BUT DIES WHEN FOOT TAKEN OFF GAS. EEC TEST DTC P0507 PPT TEST FOUND DEFECTIVE IDLE CONROL VALVE. TEST VALVE FOUND STICKING. REMOVED AND REPLACED IAC VALVE. MAY NEED FURTHER WORK
PARTS: 3S6Z-9F7155-AA VALVE ASY ?TH
3S4Z-9F670-AA GASKET
Wasilla, as in Wasilla, Alaska?
Sorry, had to ask.
Sarah?
Each time they fixed or replaced a different thing. It’s not a recurring problem, it’s a new problem each time. I assume this is all being done under warranty.
The scary part is the statement “May need further work.”
She lives nearby:)
Until warranty ran out.
No longer “May need futher work,” it’s acting up again almost a year to the day since last IAC replacement. Replacing IAC every year makes me think something is causing IAC to fail.
I’m not a mechanic, don’t have any mechanic friends and $400+ annual repair is getting old not to mention the inconvenience of having a car fail to start in the Alaskan. The idle sometimes goes nuts as well, races to 4500+ RPMs from about 3000 when clutch disengaged while to upshift.
From pictures I’ve found on the Internet replacing IAC myself seems possible. Should I replace it without diagnostic? Should I buy a six pack of IACs and plan to change it out every year?