Rough idle and "Check Engine Soon" light - FIXED

[ajskyman]

My leak was in the elbow and it was underneath and could not be easily seen. i would replace that elbow just the same. cheap insurance.

Got a better look at it and it seems fine from all sides. I might just replace it to be safe as they have a quite high fail rate. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[SyberTiger]

Went ahead and took a quick peak, turns out I have some time to work on it today. The hole did have a ring of black grime around it, probably reducing the diameter by 1/4 of what it should be. Sure is hard to get to though...did you take your throttle body off to get to it?

Nope, you do not have to remove the black plate. In fact, I'm not sure if there is anything under the plate. Anyhow, just do the cleaning through the air hose port. Clean as best you can including the butterfly plate. As indicated, use some wood dowels or something to clean out that EGR port hole. Spray down that hole and through that hole with a bunch of TB cleaner.

Poster tmaher suggested you change out that rubber elbow which I also think is a good idea if it has never been changed. Clean out the IAC and consider buying a new Motorcraft one to replace it. See my link to Amazon for a new one.

 

[ajskyman]

Nope, you do not have to remove the black plate. In fact, I'm not sure if there is anything under the plate. Anyhow, just do the cleaning through the air hose port. Clean as best you can including the butterfly plate. As indicated, use some wood dowels or something to clean out that EGR port hole. Spray down that hole and through that hole with a bunch of TB cleaner.

Poster tmaher suggested you change out that rubber elbow which I also think is a good idea if it has never been changed. Clean out the IAC and consider buying a new Motorcraft one to replace it. See my link to Amazon for a new one.

Thank you so much for your help! I will work on the car tonight and get back to you as soon as I have made progress!

 

[ajskyman]

Rough Idle 4.6L V8 SOLVED

Not throwing any codes huh?....I think I know the problem. Read THIS THREAD. You need to clean the throttle body but specifically check the EGR port hole located 9" deep withing the air intake port. When you take a flashlight and look in there let us know if your port hole appears partially clogged. In addition, most likely you need a new IAC. It takes 15 minutes to clean the EGR port hole inside the TB and about 10 minutes to change that IAC out. Check and double check that rubber elbow too!

Just wanted to extend a big thank you to SyberTiger and this forum. The issue has been resolved. The EGR port was quite fowled and I used the recommended vacuum and throttle body cleaner method suggested by SyberTiger. As a helpful hint, a 7/11 Slurpee metal straw is just about the right diameter to seat into the EGR port and vacuum debris out. On top of that, I disconnected, removed, and completely cleaned the IAC valve with throttle-body cleaner and Q-Tips. I even sprayed it directly into the IAC assemboly. To finish it off, I unplugged the battery, waited for a minute and reattached to allow for sensor resets. I hope my experience and SyberTiger's expertise can be of help to someone else with similar issues!

 

[SyberTiger]

Attaboy! Good job.....

 

[ajskyman]

Rough Idle Coming Back

Attaboy! Good job.....

Unfortunately I must report that the problem is returning...
It has run great for a while now and tonight the issue is slowly starting to return. I remember reading somewhere else that someone simply did the battery reset and the issue was fixed for a few days as well. So now I'm stumped. It don't think it could be a vacuum leak because the battery reset wouldn't have overcome that. It doesn't have any problem when the car is cold, only once it comes up to operating temperature, which makes me suspect a dirty/faulty EGR valve. Another thing that I wonder about is perhaps the IAC is bad and my cleaning only temporarily remedied the fix. In the other thread recommended by SyberTiger, there was discussion of RPM at idle and most people are reporting 750. The tachometer is just above the 500 RPM mark once the engine warms up while in drive, which seems rather low. While still cold it is more around the 750-1000 RPM range most other people are talking about. So I feel as if a new IAC may still be necessary. Any additional thoughts?

 

[HiImBrian]

New IAC gets my vote.

 

[ajskyman]

New IAC gets my vote.

Sounds good, I was just trying to hold off the $75 purchase as long as possible.

I'll report back with my findings.

Thanks!

 

[HiImBrian]

Sounds good, I was just trying to hold off the $75 purchase as long as possible.

I'll report back with my findings.

Thanks!

Make sure you spring for the Motorcraft IAC. Everybody has issues with other brands (including me). It's just one of those parts that these Explorers are picky about...

 

[ajskyman]

Make sure you spring for the Motorcraft IAC. Everybody has issues with other brands. It's just one of those parts that these Explorers are picky about...

Yeah, that was the vibe I was getting...
Rather fix it right the first time I buy it!

 

[HiImBrian]

Yeah, that was the vibe I was getting...
Rather fix it right the first time I buy it!

In an ideal world.

 

[HiImBrian]

When I bought mine it came with a cheap little cork gasket… I spent the extra $2 and bought a Fel-Pro gasket to go with it.

 

[Jen71]

Good to hear you got it fixed without costing a fortune. Mine has a V6 motor. Any idea where that hose would be on mine?

 

[swshawaii]

Good to hear you got it fixed without costing a fortune. Mine has a V6 motor. Any idea where that hose would be on mine?

Do you have a check engine light or have it read for trouble codes?

 

[deaconblues]

No such elbow on 02 Mountaineer w/ 4.6l V8?

Thanks for sharing Sybertiger.

I don't seem to have that PCV elbow connection on my Mountaineer. Did the design change in 02 for that motor?

 

[ajskyman]

Fixed Rough Idle

I just wanted to give a quick update for my previous post. I ended up buying and installing the motorcraft IAC for my make and model.

The vehicle now idles like new! The only advice I would give is try cleaning your EGR port as suggest by SyberTiger because the IAC is about $80.00 and it would be a bummer to buy it and not have it fix the issue. Also, you can try cleaning your IAC which may or may not solve the issue. It did not for me, so I had to buy a new one. Hope this information helps everyone!

One last note...the IAC from Amazon.com does not come with a new gasket, or at least mine didn't. The only place I could find one was at Advance Auto Parts and even then it is hard to find. Be sure to tell the people working there that it is listed under carburetor parts...not under IAC. Either that, or buy one at the same time you buy the IAC on amazon.com.

Have a great day everyone!

 

[Eastcoastmod]

Many frustrated hours later....I finally found this post. Although my elbow looked fine, it was a really loose fit. I taped it up and what do you know, no more unexpected stalling when I;m off the throttle.

Time to search for a couple of elbows.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[K.Ahrendt]

Im having the same problems with my 2001 ford explorer sport! Ford even asked me if I was sure I dint have a Sport track! my PCV valve is on the back of the engine between the fire wall and engine and the top hoses come off a T and go to the driver side and passenger side manifold. Ford keeps telling me that isnt it and I know it is so I went to Auto zone and bought 2 emission hoses that fit perfect. It hasnt changed my rough running problem because I didnt change the PCV yet I cant figure out how to get the clamp off to release the PCV and Ford is NO HELP!

 

[fyfeman]

Similar problem

I have a similar problem, but when I stop at a red light, my 2002 ford explorer sport trac will idle from 600RPM down to about 100RPM...sometimes it will go 600RPM and jump down to 0RPM and just die/stall on me, when it stalls the check engine light comes on as well as the battery light. Any help? This is my first car.

 

[rocco123]

First thought is check for vacuum leaks in one of the vac hoses.you may hear the leak. Look at the pics in this thread for a common area of leaks. If nothing big is found i would then suspect the idle air control valve also known as an iac. Good luck and dont be shy about asking questions kn this site. Lots of good people here willing to help