IAC valve - possible to remove and clean?

[Markus]

Good day gents -

I've had some random P0519 CEL's recently and the car has idled roughly a handful of times. Usually lasts a day then goes away. Have previously done spark plugs, fuel filter, other routine maintenance. I also just dumped a bottle of Techtron into the gas tank, will see how that goes. Car is an '03 GT sedan 5spd w/63k miles.

I thought about replacing the IACV since I plan on keeping the car for awhile...until I saw the $200+ price tag.

Just to be proactive here - can I pull the IACV out, hand clean it somehow, and reinstall? Or should I just Seafoam the whole top end?

Thanks in advance,

- Mark

[Huffer]

Brake cleaner works well.

[birukun]

It is a good idea to remove and clean but......

make sure you buy the gasket first! The old one will probably not go back on or tear when you take it off.

Another problem is that the screws are susceptible to stripping so you may want to check out NASIOC for the IACV thread. Someone has info on replacement screws from Home Depot.

[Markus]

Any tricks - just pop off the IACV, spray with brake cleaner, let dry, reinstall?

I don't want to gum it up and make it worse...especially considering the Miata is also immobile right now (sheared off main crank pulley last time at MidOhio).

- Mark

[Huffer]

This should help:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=14089&p=161110&hilit=IACV#p161110 (https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=14089&p=161110&hilit=IACV#p161110)

DOHC engine, but might be similar
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=12455&hilit=iacv (https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=12455&hilit=iacv)

This has some stuff on cleaning it:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6608&hilit=iacv (https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6608&hilit=iacv)

[Markus]

So - popped off the IACV this am, cleaned, reinstalled - and car runs much better. This works for now, but the amount of gunk in the IACV does make me wonder about the rest of my intake tract and if I should do a Seafoam before next oil change...

Anyway - before and after pix below. I didn't scrub, the difference is just from spraying. I found a bottle of CRC MAF Cleaner in my garage before I found brake cleaner so I used that instead.

As always thanks to everyone on here for the tips and suggestions.

http://markus.smugmug.com/photos/601465420_a8qGw-M.jpg

http://markus.smugmug.com/photos/601465586_MxnTK-M.jpg