Where the heck is the Idle Air Control valve

ronnthompson

New LVC Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Location
Rock Hill
I have a 2003 LS, V6 and for the life of me I can not find the idle air control valve. Everyone says it is on or near the throttle body. HELP!!
 
I have a 2003 LS, V6 and for the life of me I can not find the idle air control valve. Everyone says it is on or near the throttle body. HELP!!

It doesn't have one. Neither the V8 nor the V6 have one for years 2003 to 2006.

Why do you think that you need to find this component that your car doesn't have? What problem are you trying to solve?
 
It has a very rough idle, but runs fine otherwise. It finally threw a code and I had my wife take it to the local parts store to have it read. The parts guy said the code was for the Idle Air Control Valve, and sure enough, if you look up Idle Air Control Valve for 2003 Lincoln LS this is the part that is shown.
 
It has a very rough idle, but runs fine otherwise. It finally threw a code and I had my wife take it to the local parts store to have it read. The parts guy said the code was for the Idle Air Control Valve, and sure enough, if you look up Idle Air Control Valve for 2003 Lincoln LS this is the part that is shown.

It doesn't have one. It has an electronic throttle that controls idle as well as engine power with you step on the gas pedal.

You probably have one or more marginal COPs (famous problem for this car) and they are creating electronic noise which will cause issues with the electronic throttle, as well as misfires (which cause rough idle). The other famous problem for this car for rough idle is that the elbow to the PCV valve splits.

You need to get the exact five character OBDII code and post it here, not what the autoparts store claims it means. They get it wrong a lot. There is no idle air bypass valve on the 2003 car (2002 had one), and so there is no code for that.
 
The codes are P0108, P2104 and P2111. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

P0108 Manifold Absolute Pressure/Barometric Pressure Circuit High

This is either an issue with your MAF sensor (that's where the BAP sensor is too) or you have an air/vacuum leak somewhere between the MAF and the cylinders (PCV elbow?) or a problem with one or both of the MAP sensors in the EGR valve assembly.

P2104 Throttle Actuator Control System - Forced Idle

This code is just a consequence of the P2111 code.

P2111 Throttle Actuator Control System - Stuck Open

This will likely be one of two possibilities:

1. Your throttle body is defective and needs to be replaced. This is rare, but there was a known defect with some of the 2003 throttle bodies.

2. You have one or more marginal COPs (Coil on Plug) that are causing RF noise that is fooling the PCM into thinking there is a problem with the throttle body. Unfortunately, COP failure is not at all rare.


I recommend that you first replace all six of your COPs and all six spark plugs. The odds are really really good that at least one of them is marginal. Dealers can do coil stress testing to see which are bad, but that is just as expensive as replacing all of them anyway.
While you have the top half of the intake manifold off doing this, go ahead and replace the PCV valve and elbow. Also, get some MAF cleaner and clean the MAF.

This should take care of the rough idle and it may be all that you need to do. If after doing all this, you still have throttle body problems, then you may need to replace it.

If you still have the P0108 code after all this, you may need to replace the EGR valve assembly or the MAF sensor. Without a live data scan tool, it's just about impossible to tell which is the problem.
 
Thanks for your input. Just FYI, I replaced the MAF sensor 2 weeks ago. The throttle body looked pretty nasty when I had it off trying to find the idle air control valve that is not there...lol. The cop's and plugs are not that old, but that doesn't always mean anything on this car. Is it possible to clean the EGR assembly?
 
...Is it possible to clean the EGR assembly?

Yes, but it's possible that just cleaning it may not fix it.

...The throttle body looked pretty nasty...

You should try cleaning the throttle body too. Remove it to clean it, and be sure to use throttle-body-safe cleaner. Don't try to move the throttle plate by hand.
 

Members online

No members online now.
Back
Top