After the advice of several on this site, I took my car to a repair shop to put on an idle air value because it was not wanting to stop or start on drives around town. It has the feel of 'racing" at times and it is scary. Well, after the repair it did the same thing on 2-3 occasions. Very frustrating. Should I take it to a Ford dealer. I cannot do repairs myself due to disability. Don’t want to spend lots of money chasing this thing. Other than that, I love my Taurus with 120,000 miles.
A new faulty Idle Air Control valve may have been installed.
Believe me, I’ve been repairing vehicles for almost fifty years. And you can get a bad new part.
Have IAC valve replaced again.
Tester
hmmm … well the idea above might be worth a try. I’d probably just take it to the Ford dealership at this point if it were my problem. There’s various systems designed into in the powertrain that maintain the engine rpm constant at what the driver wants it to be, based on the accelerator pedal. But there’s obviously something wrong with all that on your car. The IAC is the most likely, but there are other possibilities. I’m presuming your shop is taking full advantage of the diagnostic system built into the car in conjunction w/ their scan tool.
One other thing that can cause this sometimes is air leaks allowing unmetered air into the engine. Power brakes booster diaphragm leak, , and leaks in path between the air cleaner and the throttle body are worth checking for. Has the throttle body been removed and inspected from the other side of the throttle valve? Sometimes gunk can build up and cause the throttle valve to stick. What else? Carpets under the accelerator pedal can prevent it from moving smoothly. Remove all the carpets & mats on the drivers side floor, see if that helps.
Tester,
What’s the usual return policy on a part like that? Will I have to pay full price for the part and labor again It wasn’t cheap about $116 for part and labor.
The people I deal with are more than willing to replace the part if there’s a question of it’s performance.
Tester
They were willing, but it still does the same thing. The service guy suggested that I don’t go to a Ford dealer as they will just poke around and try things and therefore cost me lots of money.
While I do not support the idea of going to a Ford dealer, I find it ironic that the shop worked on the car twice and was unable to fix the problem, but if you go somewhere else the other guys just “poke” around.
What was their recommendation?
The recommendation was to see if it works. Most car places/people I have talked to about this problem have no clue. Been dealing with this for 5-6 years and it’s frustrating. Don’t want to spend a bunch of money trying to figure out the problem.
The same problem for 5 years and don’t want to spend a lot of money to fix it. I would have traded the car years ago, life is too short to fight something like this.
Is your engine check light on?
No codes, no lights, nothing. That’s another frustration.
What comes to mind is the Mass Airflow Sensor, but that should give you a code. I would focus on some mechanical issues. Perhaps checking the throttle cable and if you have cruise control, the cables and linkages. Ford did have some huge problems with that many years ago, but I can’t remember the year and or model.
That’s an interesting thought.
My 1999 Ranger had a recall done on the cruise control, and until the parts were available, the cruise control had to be disconnected. @pdelger, I’m not sure which engine you have, or even if that made a difference, but it may be worth calling Ford with your VIN number and seeing if any open recalls are on this car.
my cruise control works fine so don’t think that’s the problem. My want to check the throttle cable out however. Thanks.
the cruise control worked fine when it was recalled- but there was something else wrong with it. It wasn’t recalled because of lack of functionality, it was recalled for a safety defect.
Seriously, call Ford with your VIN- just to make sure. There may be nothing wrong with it, but you won’t know for sure til you call. And if it is part of the recall, and that is the issue- then the fix should be free.
If you don’t have confidence in the Ford dealership shop, an inde shop that specializes in Fords or at least American cars should be able to fix this for you. But it may take some substantial diagnostic time, and therefore you may be without the car for some time, and the invoice could be substantial too. And it is possible – unlikely in imo given the symptom but still possible – they’ll discover there is a major problem with the engine requiring thousands of dollars in repair.
I’ll add I’m just a diyer, and if I had this problem myself I’d do a thorough check for vacuum leaks first. If nothing found, I’d remove the throttle body for a look-see and general cleaning, making sure the throttle action isn’t sticking, and I’d test the throttle position sensor while it was there on the bench. If all that didn’t fix it, I’d replace the IAC again.
If after all that, still happening? With you being disabled, probably best to sell the car and buy a newer one well recommended by Consumer Reports as being among the most reliable; let the next owner figure this problem out.