What would cause a AIC valve to go bad so often?
11-20-2016, 10:04 PM
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Model: Cherokee
What would cause a AIC valve to go bad so often?
So about a 2 years ago my girlfriends XJ started having problems idling, sometimes it would idle too low, sometimes i'd have keep pressure on the brake to keep it under 20mph. Got some info online, said it was probably the AIC valve, so I replaced it *BAM* working fine. fast forward three months, same problem. Took it to a mechanic, mechanic said "Faulty AIC" replaced the AIC, and it worked fine. Fast forward six months, similar problem with bad idle. Took the AIC out, cleaned it out real good, stuck it back in and it was good to go. Six months later same thing happened. I started wondering if something was going on that would make this valve stop working so frequently. So fast forward another six months, girlfriends car will start, but immediately dies even if I jam on the throttle. Cleaned out the AIC, it worked fine for a day then started to have idling problems again. a week later it again would immediately after starting, so I replaced the AIC again wondering if i'd messed up the old one by cleaning it out so often. Started right up and worked great... for two days. Now it's doing the exact same thing it started with, will catch after a couple cranks but immediately dies (like the engine starts for about 1 1/2 seconds then immediately dies.) I've also tried unplugging the battery for a while to see if I could reset the computer but no luck starting.
The only thing I could think is maybe the throttle body itself is gunked up and is fouling the AIC valve with gunk, so i'm going to try to clean out the throttle body tomorrow in a last ditch effort to not have to take it to a mechanic, but if anyone has any other ideas i'd really like to hear em.
Thanks!
The only thing I could think is maybe the throttle body itself is gunked up and is fouling the AIC valve with gunk, so i'm going to try to clean out the throttle body tomorrow in a last ditch effort to not have to take it to a mechanic, but if anyone has any other ideas i'd really like to hear em.
Thanks!
Last edited by slanter; 11-20-2016 at 10:08 PM.
11-21-2016, 05:36 AM
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Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
The only thing I could think is maybe the throttle body itself is gunked up and is fouling the AIC valve with gunk, so i'm going to try to clean out the throttle body tomorrow in a last ditch effort to not have to take it to a mechanic, but if anyone has any other ideas i'd really like to hear em.
Thanks!
That will do it.
11-21-2016, 11:13 AM
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Year: 1997
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L
They can get pretty dirty. I emptied almost a full can of throttle body cleaner on my 97. An old toothbrush or a pipe cleaner will do. Pulling the IAC, TPS and MAP sensor after pulling the throttle body will make life a little easier. My only snag was needing to Dremel both screws for the TPS anyways as i twisted a torx bit on them. Blasted thread locker.
