Idle Air Control Valve - Ford Forums

04-03-2003, 16:56

Ok, heres the problem.

I drive a '99 Escort

A little while ago, the 'service engine soon' light came on. I took it to a mechanic to run the computer on it. It returned that the idle air control valve was no good anymore. No big deal, right. I ordered a new one. Put it on...and things got worse. WHen the car would idle, it would idle very high and it seemed as if the valve was 'kicking in' at the wrong time. After I would relaese the break, the car would speed up to about 15 Page Ranking 20 mph w/0 me even hitting the gas peddle. So I promptly took the new valve out and replaced it with the old one.

Now here is my wuestion. Did I have to do anything special...such as 're-set' the car cmputer after i insitalled the new part. Im not sure when it comes to computer components in my car. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Dave

KingKurt · 04-04-2003, 02:09

You wouldn't have to reset anything. How did the car run with the bad valve? Does it run the same as it did before, now that you put the old valve back in? It could be possible you put the valve in wrong, that the valve is also bad, or you got the wrong valve. I don't know much about this specific problem or these valves, so this is about as much help as I can offer... answering these questions, though will help me, and anyone of greater knowledge on the newer escorts to help you find a solution.

04-04-2003, 09:47

First off, thank you for your help.

In reply, the old valve does not seem to be bad...I dont notice any difference in teh car....well, maybe just a little higher idle and a tad more vibration. I could haev gottent he wrong one, but they 2 parsts are identical when comparing. The new one makes the problem much worse by making the car idle very high and speed up with out me hitting the gas peddle. As for me putting it in wrong, i highly doubt it being that there are only 2 screws that hold it on and it is basically just a hunk of metal. Nothing that complicated.

In thinking just now....maybe something else has triped off the computer since i got it looked at and might be a good idea for me to bring my car back to the shop.

Thanks for your help

-Dave