Ok ive got a 96' legacy ej22 with a 5 spd....i know ( or at least i think) that the IAC Valve on the 1.8 and the 2.5 engines are part of the throttle body....my question is....are there any differences on the 2.2 liter engines.....ex : could i swap an IAC from any other year 2.2 liter and put it on my 2.2?.....im making a junkyard run tomarrow and just trying to get some advice..... ( dont feel like paying $350 for a new IAC from the dealer......thanks in advance.....

i believe any 2nd Gen 2.2s will fit

Hi, I will do a part # lookup for you (hopefully!). Often the IACV just needs cleaning, i.e. with seafoam. WHat makes you think your IACV is having issues?

Ok let's see....

 

22650AA034 & 22659AA060 VALVE ASSEMBLY AIR CONTROL FOR 1992-1999 LEGACY ALL (EXCEPT 1999 2.2) (has two hoses coming from it and comes with gasket), looking ~$270 for new from dealer.

 

Other soobs sharing same part #:

1995-1999 LEGACY OUTBACK & SUS ALL

1994-1998 IMPREZA 2.2

1998 Forester

1990-1991 LEGACY with AUTO TRANS

thanks porc. its a very complex like low idle intermitent...unexplainable you have to see it kind of deal...i made a post on it a while back but i dont even think i got one reply.......nonetheless......i believe it is sticking open or closed a little bit.........if i do remove the valve to clean it how important is it that i get a new gasket? ( i really dont want to make a trip if i dont have to)....also how exactly do you clean it?.....thanks for the help

I cleaned mine by, at idle, letting it suck in a little seafoam, idling, followed by valvoline throttle body cleaner. You can access the iacv intake on that setup by pullling the hose off the palstic intake tubing. Note it may idle poorly with this hose removed since airflow then bypasses maf.

so just pull the hose off the intake that goes to the IAC, spray some seafoam in there while the car is running, let it idle a few minutes, than spray some throttle body cleaner in there? you mean i dont have to take the whole IAC off?

I haven't. I don't know for sure the benefit of removing the iacv because then it's 'dead'. While instlaled with engine idling, its position will move as it is idling and fighting to keep running as you add those chemicals which will make the engine sputte.r Dont' give it too much at once as engine will stall (Tho you can just restart it).

 

Reason I say seafoam first is it is a great cleaner but it is oily. You don't want oily residue in ther because it can gum it up with dust in the future. throttle cleaner is just xylene or other solvent, so no residue.

thanks a bunch porc....before i go digging around in the junkyard ill try and give her a good cleaning tomarrow...(not trying to spend any more money than i have too)....appreciate the help as always......

No problem. On that set up, injector cleaner in the gas or seafoaming through a vacuum line will _not_ touch the IACV. Soob typically suggests insitu cleaning before replacement.

 

this pic is from a '94 but position on a '96 is similar sans the engine plastic cover

I had an issue where I thought my IAC was dirty. Took her off and cleaned the snot out of it with throttle body cleaner, helped but not enough. Turned out to be a bad MAF, if you have no reaction from the IAC might also give it a look over.

 

Kyle

thanks for the tip....i was told to test the MAF....you run the engine and just tap on the MAF with like a screwdriver and if you car stumbles or stalls than your MAF is bad and if it doesnt do that than the MAF is fine.....

thanks for the tip....i was told to test the MAF....you run the engine and just tap on the MAF with like a screwdriver and if you car stumbles or stalls than your MAF is bad and if it doesnt do that than the MAF is fine.....

 

You got it. Mine would be running fine then when you would tap on it, the car would start sputtering.

ok....so i got some seafoam today along with some TB cleaner....i go under the hood, just undo the air box (didnt remove it) and undid the hose to the IAC....almost immediately the car stalled.....i tried it like 4 or 5 more times again almost immediately stalled.......what is this telling me about my IAC......tomarrow i will get my buddy just to hold some gas on while i spray the cleaners through it.....just wondering if this means anything?.....

Cool test for the MAF, I've never heard of that but will have to try it out!

 

Unhooking the iacv intake hose is making it sputter because then the airflow is bypassing the maf which messes up how much fuel the ECU is injecting. So you might have to unplug the maf while doing this so tht the ecu will not be trying to use the maf input?

ah thanks......ill try it again tomarrow after work.....

The IAC in my 98 GT has a flaw where at slow idle it just dies. I could not get the throttle body off since some screws were striped. I just turned up the idle a bit. The slowest the idle will now go is about 750 RPM but when it wants to go lower it throws a check engine light.

 

In the summer if the air is on the RPM never wants to go that low. Some day I will fix it.

[...]Unhooking the iacv intake hose is making it sputter because then the airflow is bypassing the maf which messes up how much fuel the ECU is injecting. So you might have to unplug the maf while doing this so tht the ecu will not be trying to use the maf input?

Or, you could close off the intake nipple with a piece of tape or other method (just don't use anything that could get sucked in ), and eliminate the "false air" that way. You'd still have to add the cleaner slowly, or modulate the throttle, to prevent stalling.

 

Here's Subaru's approach in an EndWrench write-up:

http://endwrench.com/images/pdfs/ISCSpring04.pdf

Both n/a and turbo are covered in the article.

ok...i just got done giving it a little cleaning......i undid the MAF and moved the air intake (didnt take it off) started up the car and sprayed a little seafoam in there (not much at all) than i sprayed some TB cleaner ( again not to much at all).....the whole time while keeping my finger on the throttle.....it didnt seem to do anything......maybe ill try a little later or tomarrow and have better luck.......

Assuming the IACV/ISV is the problem, it can get fairly "gunked" and the solvent needs to work at it. Don't be too stingy with the cleaners.

 

It's rare that the valve has to be removed in order to clean it sufficiently, as long as you let cleaners work before being sucked into the engine. Did you read the info in the link I provided? The idea is to spray, let it sit a few minutes, then spray again. Use the throttle as necessary to prevent stalling. If it does stall, that's a good time to let the solvent work; it should restart without problem after a short time, and you can then spray again to remove what's been loosened. If the valve is dirty enough, you may have to repeat the procedure.

yeah i read it.....it seems like it is saying spray it directly into the top of the throttle body??? everyone i have talked to said to spray it directly in the intake hose for the IAC.....

ok i just sprayed about half a can of seafoam and half a can of TB cleaner into the intake of the IAC......the car stumbled a little bit...but it didnt seem to fix my idle........any other thoughts......i have a pretty low idle.......All vacuum lines are in good condition and hooked up fully and properly....non EGR car.....

What rpm is your idle at? Maybe it is within spec but just seems low?

 

That endwrench article is good, but that is not the style IACV that evothis has. The article is for later soobs using the MAP speed density setup, where the IACV intake is actually at the top of the throttle body right before the throttle butterfly, which is completely different than the earlier vehicles with the IACV having an intake hose coming of the air intake snorkus.

since there is only 3 little dashes up to 1000rpm mine is just below the second dash im going to say like 550 RPM.....also when i shift my tach doesnt drop like it is supposed to.....ex:PROBLEM: say i shift into 4th gear at 4000RPM...my tach drops down about 700 RPM to 3300RPM NORMAL: say i shift into 4th gear at 4000RPM...my tach drops to about maybe 2200RPM.

 

....and i can tell that the engine is doing what the tach tells it.....becase if it goes back to normal you can feel the RPM difference....

ok...i replaced the IAC today ( didnt use a new gasket) as soon as i started it up the idle went to like 2500 and didnt move also got a CEL code 505.....so obviously the other IAC didnt work.....it seemed pretty gunky in the vacuum lines around the IAC so i cleaned them out and put the old IAC back on.....it seems to idle a little higher.....i have a photo here and was wondering if anyone can tell me exactly what is a normal idle on a 1996 subaru legacy L 2.2....Also i have a digital volt ohm meter with a Tach. function.....does anyone know how to hook that up so i can properly read the engine RPM.....