Newbie with 00 XLT Problem

[TXGirl]

Hi all,

I have a 2000 XLT with 93k miles, transmission rebuilt at 80k and generally well behaved otherwise. About 3 months ago I started getting the dreaded howling from the giant air hose in the front. I managed to narrow it down by realizing that I could make the howling stop by squeezing the hose. Now in addition to the howling which is still pretty intermittent and only at idle, the truck is doing a strange hiccup at 50-60 mph. It acts as if the fuel line is being pinched shut and can only be brought out of the hiccup by stomping the gas pedal.

The question is this.. what is the best way to get this narrowed down (I'm in the bad IAC camp myself but I'm also a dumb girl and am only guessing) by a mechanic without paying out the rear for unnecessary diagnostics, etc? The thought of paying several hundred dollars for a relatively inexpensive part makes me very unhappy.

Suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

 

[jimbo74]

try fuel filter or fuel pressure regulator.... the iac could be it..... do a search for dogfriend, he has a video clip of the noise of his bad iac

 

[Cbegnaud]

I have had the same think on 2 occations with mine , while driving the motor just stops for about 15 seconds then comes back on. I tightened up mt intake hose and have not had the problem since. But i am not sur if that was the problem.

 

[frickea86]

i would highly suggest cleaning your IAC, Idle Air Control Valve, do a search for it and you'll get a crap load of sites on how to clean it. I had the same exact problem in my 97. I went threw 2 O2 Sensors and IAC. Haven't had a problem since....hope you figure it out, good hunting.

 

[TXGirl]

Thanks for the suggestions all! Is cleaning the IAC something that I could handle without unplugging something important and/or blowing myself up?

I appreciate all of the advice

 

[TXGirl]

So the verdict from the Ford dealership is that it was in fact the IAC. They weren't able to get any codes at all and oddly enough called me back to say that they weren't going to charge me for a calibration that they originally expected I'd need. Grand total ended up being $280 which includes a tail light bulb and many test drives to be sure it really is fixed (threatening with bodily harm goes a long way ).

Thanks for all of the help guys!