How to clean a IACV (N/A)

RJM62

RJM62

Touchdown! Greaser!
Gone West
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Geek on the Hill
What kind of solvent would one use to clean the IACV on a 2000 Kia Sportage?

I searched the interwebs and have gotten everything from carb cleaner, to various fuel additives (which doesn't make any sense to me at all considering the placement of the IACV), to Simple Green, to WD-40.

Thanks,

-Rich
 
I would use throttle body cleaner, the kind that says it is safe for sensors.

I've never worked on a Kia. But typically I will clean the throttle body and intake on my vehicles every 50k miles or so.

Be careful if you disconnect the throttle position sensor. Some of these have to be re calibrated. The manufacturer's service manual will answer any of these questions. My older jeeps did not have any of this trickery. My current pathfinder (2008) needs the TPS recalibrated if you disconnect it, and for god only knows why, there is COOLANT plumbed to flow through the throttle body.
 
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Thanks.

Actually, I'm not sure it even needs cleaning. What happened was that I left the lights on last night, and after recharging the battery this morning, the car wouldn't idle. If I started it with the accelerator halfway down it would start, but wouldn't come down from 2500 rpm.

I disconnected the battery and fiddled around with enough electrical things to discharge any caps that might have been storing a bit of power, then reconnected the battery and started the car again. It surged to 2500, but then came down to idle five or ten seconds later. So it may have just been some ECM weirdness from the battery getting drawn down.

The car's due for inspection this month. Actually, I was going to get that done today, but now I have to put 100 miles on it or else it will fail because I cleared the ECM (or so says the mechanic, anyway). I'm thinking that probably I should clean the IACV just in case it was two problems occurring coincidentally this morning, rather than just the ECM needing "rebooting."

-Rich
 
It is probably not the IAC then

I've seen bad batteries with enough juice to start (albeit, slowly) but then things get all freaky and the car won't idle. PCM or ECM weirdness
 
Agreed, doesn't sound like the IACV. No check engine light or codes? Sounds more like a throttle position sensor acting up or perhaps needing to re-establish a base value. Holding down the throttle when starting it after a battery problem might have caused that.

I would drive it around and see how it acts before doing anything. Once you tear into something it's easy to create a problem when there wasn't one to begin with. If it continues then let us know what it's doing.
 
dell30rb said:
It seems to me that coolant would heat the TB and not cool it.
Click to expand...

Yep, interesting that the did it that way.

Edit, googled it, it looks like is to adjust the idle speed based on temperature.
 
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dell30rb said:
It seems to me that coolant would heat the TB and not cool it.
Click to expand...

Hmm, yeah. Certainly initially. Dunno, maybe to prevent icing? I actually had a case of TB icing on my S10 Blazer coming over Kings Grade in to Nevada. Engine sputtered out on the downgrade. I pulled over, and after a few minutes, I guess whatever ice melted and I could restart it and keep going.
 
Just wait. Once you disconnect the batt the ECU will go into 'learn mode'. The fuel map will gradually change and the idle will hunt around a bit maybe.

Once you get over 100 miles(usually 80, but who's counting), the ECU will go out of learn mode, and into it's normalized mode. If the car surges when you put it in or take it out of D or R, this might be the IAC, or if it surges when the AC is switched, it might be that.

I clean with a toothbrush and carb cleaner. There's a bunch of different ways, mine works, maybe there's something better, but carb cleaner is cheap and easy.
 
docmirror said:
Just wait. Once you disconnect the batt the ECU will go into 'learn mode'. The fuel map will gradually change and the idle will hunt around a bit maybe.

Once you get over 100 miles(usually 80, but who's counting), the ECU will go out of learn mode, and into it's normalized mode. If the car surges when you put it in or take it out of D or R, this might be the IAC, or if it surges when the AC is switched, it might be that.

I clean with a toothbrush and carb cleaner. There's a bunch of different ways, mine works, maybe there's something better, but carb cleaner is cheap and easy.
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Thanks.

I made a few short trips this evening with no problems at all. On a cold start (cold as in about 25 degrees at the time), it idled at about 1400 - 1500 for about half a minute, then came down to about 800-900.

That's a bit high, but I set it there with the mechanical throttle stop at the beginning of the winter because the car idles rough on the winter fuel. I probably should back it out tomorrow. I think they're done serving that potion for the season.

-Rich
 
Skylane81E said:
Yep, interesting that the did it that way.

Edit, googled it, it looks like is to adjust the idle speed based on temperature.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't expect that, as the coolant temp sensor is elsewhere on the block.

I'm thinking that it is to prevent icing. My intake manifold is plastic so it does not transfer much heat to the TB.

I'm considering bypassing the throttle body. It would be easy and I don't think heating it is doing me any favors in the performance department. I would think icing is a rare condition here in NC
 
RJM62 said:
Thanks.

I made a few short trips this evening with no problems at all. On a cold start (cold as in about 25 degrees at the time), it idled at about 1400 - 1500 for about half a minute, then came down to about 800-900.

-Rich
Click to expand...

Only you know what is normal for your car, but that does not sound unusual at all.
 
dell30rb said:
I wouldn't expect that, as the coolant temp sensor is elsewhere on the block.

I'm thinking that it is to prevent icing. My intake manifold is plastic so it does not transfer much heat to the TB.

I'm considering bypassing the throttle body. It would be easy and I don't think heating it is doing me any favors in the performance department. I would think icing is a rare condition here in NC
Click to expand...

My air intake is routed over the radiator. I suspect that's to prevent icing, as well. Where I live in New York, it wouldn't be a rare condition at all.

-Rich
 
dell30rb said:
Only you know what is normal for your car, but that does not sound unusual at all.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's normal for a cold start with my car. The colder it is, the longer it takes to come down. On extremely cold days (as in sub-zero F), it can take several minutes for the idle to come down, and it will also prevent the tranny from going into OD until the engine is sufficiently warmed up.

Now that the horrid winter blend fuel season is over, I also backed off the screw to let the car control its own idle speed again. It immediately settled down to exactly where the idle mark is on the tach (no number there, but it looks like about 650-700 RPM). So that seems to be working properly.

The car's running only slightly rough at that idle speed, but the fuel in the tank is probably still the winter stuff. I haven't filled up in a week or so, and the gas station I use in my sparrow-fart village doesn't get enough traffic to empty their tanks very often in any case. I'll fill up later or tomorrow at a station that gets a lot of business and see if there's any difference.

I also changed the oil, oil filter, and air filter while I was under the hood. It was a relatively warm morning (mid 30's -- downright balmy by recent standards), so I figgered I'd go ahead and get those done, too.

So now all that's left (according to my friend Bill the mechanic) is putting on some highway miles. Apparently there are seven or eight things that the ECM has to experience after being reset before it will pass inspection. I've already gotten most of them, according to Bill, but I still need the total miles and the highway miles.

-Rich
 
dell30rb said:
I wouldn't expect that, as the coolant temp sensor is elsewhere on the block.

I'm thinking that it is to prevent icing. My intake manifold is plastic so it does not transfer much heat to the TB.

I'm considering bypassing the throttle body. It would be easy and I don't think heating it is doing me any favors in the performance department. I would think icing is a rare condition here in NC
Click to expand...

Apparently it is a mechanical adjustment made by the temperature.

Seems really weird to me but that's the data I found.

FWIW I also have a plastic intake, no icing. I wouldn't worry about it in a fuel injected car.
 
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