Re: Having some troubles with the truck...

From: bfitchett@comcast.net
Date: Mon Jan 29 2007 - 14:59:34 EST


In article <eplj77$n1m$1@bent.twistedbits.net>, jon@dakota-truck.net writes:
>
>
> bfitchett@comcast.net wrote:
>
> : First off its a 1998 CC V6. Here is the problem. Last week on the way
home
> : from work the truck just died (a couple of times at that). It would
restart
> : fine and would be going fine until I let off the gas at which time the RPMs
> : would drop to about 500 and then stumble and die. I got home but had to
keep
> : the RPMs up and couldnt really let off the gas and let it idle. Funny
thing is
> : if I could get stopped and SLOWLY let off the gas, it would drop in RPMs
then
> : come back up and be fine. I got into work the same way this morning. I
know
> : it probably needs some TLC. A transmission service and oil change are on
tap.
> : Plugs, wires, cap and rotor were done about 1 year ago back when I was in
Utah.
> : Truck made it to Chicago just fine and had been going strong since then
> : (July). Maybe the cold temps have something to do with it.
>
>
> This is just a guess, but maybe your IAC (idle air control)
> motor is on the fritz. When you let off on the gas and the
> throttle body butterflies close, maybe the IAC can't open back
> up fast enough to prevent the engine from dying. If the IAC plunger
> is moving really slowly, it might be that easing the RPMs down gives
> it enough time to open back up to a point where the engine can idle.
> Maybe it needs a cleaning or outright replacement.
>
> Something you might be able to try is while the engine is running,
> try to cover the thottle body butterflies and the IAC opening with
> your hand in an attempt to starve the engine of air and cause the
> IAC to open up. Once it has opened up all the way (or a lot),
> unplug the connector from the IAC which will leave it in the open
> position, then you can go for a drive and see if letting off the
> gas will still kill the engine. Another thing you could try just
> on a temporary basis is to remove the IAC from the engine completely
> rather than trying to get it to open as I described above. (Note
> that this will allow unfiltered air into the throttle body.) The
> only thing is that I'm not sure how much air that will allow through
> at idle - the idle may be too high. But if the idle stays somewhat
> reasonable, say 2000rpm or below, that might help to narrow the
> problem down to the IAC.
>
> You could always buy an IAC and see if that fixes the problem
> of course, but I don't like the "throw parts at it" approach
> to auto repair; I'd prefer to figure out what the problem is and
> replace or repair only the parts that actually need it. If you
> can't think of anything else though I suppose you could give that
> a try; especially if you buy it from a store with a good return
> policy so that you can return it if it doesn't turn out to be the
> problem.
>
>
> --
> -Jon-
>
> .- Jon Steiger -- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -.
> | '96 Kolb Firefly, '96 Suzuki Intruder, Miscellaneous Mopars |
> `-------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'

that was fast! Thanks Jon, I will have to give that a try (once I find where
the IAC is located! I do have a copy of the FSM someplace!) I just remembered
something else that may or may not be linked to this problem... The speedo and
tach were much slower to respond than normal this AM. Is that indicative of
some sending unit? TPS? other sensors??

Brian



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Feb 18 2008 - 18:47:21 EST