Ford Explorer: 97 Explorer Suddenly Won't Idle

I have a 97 explorer SOHC engine, 67K miles. This morning I went to
start it and it will not idle. As long as I keep pressure on the gas
pedal it will start and run but as soon as I remove my foot it dies.

I am not that familiar with this engine yet as I've only owned it a few
months and it's run perfectly the entire time. It sounds like it could
be an idle air control valve problem. Is there anything else more likely
I should look at first?

Thanks

The idle is controlled by an Idle Air Control valve which is located in
the air intake to the engine and is a metal object about 6-8" long, as I
recall, with an electrical plug on the side. Its purpose is to allow
more air to the engine to control the idle speed as directed by the
engine computer. Over time, the valve gets crud built up in it and fails
to smoothly operate, often sticking open or closed. The "official"
repair is to replace it, to the tune of $80 or so for the part, but I
and others have found that it does respond to being cleaned. I used a
spray solvent cleaner (actually an electrical contact cleaner I had at
hand) and others have used carburetor cleaner, particularly along the
shaft of the valve which you can see if you remove it. Mine ('97 4.0
OHV) settled down and has operated normally for months now after being
cleaned.

=Vic=
Bear Gap, PA


R Foos wrote: