Throttle Kicker (Idle Air Control or IAC) rebuild 1988 Dodge Dakota

Is your idle getting stuck really high or otherwise not behaving on your old Dodge Dakota? Your throttle kicker (IAC) may be to blame. The gears inside get stuck by old dried up grease and the electrical connections get carboned up.
Model years 1987-1990 with a throttle body and 239 (3.9L) V6 should have a throttle kicker. The 1987 model year came stock with a carburetor and had an optional TBI upgrade, so the carb version may not have a throttle kicker.
Towards the end of the video, I look for the actuator shaft to move in and out. I didn't notice until editing the video, but it does slowly sink back inside the throttle kicker over the course of a minute or two.
Apologies for the shaky cam and bad audio, my good camera has a dead unobtanium battery.

[@staric4863]

Thanks a lot. It helps me fixing this part.

[@GGigabiteM]

Good that someone got some use out of it.

[@k.compton8995]

KZbin for the win again. Thanks man

[@danfarrell8958]

Thanks for the video, exactly the problem my sons truck is having. If you're going to make more buy a tripod for your camera.

[@GGigabiteM]

Lol, I make these videos with my phone, the only tripod that I could get to work is if I taped it on. Something I didn't mention in the video is that the motor itself can wear out. About a month after I repaired this throttle kicker, it started acting up again, which turned out to be the bearings in the motor failing and causing it not to be able to spin properly. I gave up on it and bought a new one, but the old one could probably be fixed still if the motor was repaired.

[@thetuckgod9790]

Should the throttle have a little more slack or should it be pushed up that much normally, my screw on my was a little feeling in I had to screw it out but now I feel like it idles too high

[@pltmann]

Did you clean out the old grease and put in new grease ? Looks like you put it back together dry of grease . I would thinka light coat of white lithium grease would help it work better ?

[@GGigabiteM]

The grease was replaced with new grease. The new grease is green so it may not appear to be new. The problem ended up being a worn out motor. The rebuilt unit worked for awhile, but it started exhibiting the same problems again and on further examination, the bearings on the motor were badly worn and not allowing it to spin properly. The shaft would move and cause the gears to bind up and get stuck. The motor is probably replaceable, but I was tired of messing with it and just bought a new IAC.

[@pltmann]

Thanks , I will take it apart and look it over .

[@liamatkins421]

Hey man i have a 1992 dakota with the 3.9. I just got my headgasket replaced and for a couple months before it made this rattling sound almost sounded like a rain stick. It would sputter and die at stop signs and lights and start right bsck up. Sometimes when driving it would work out of its kink then come.back every now and then. I just got the truck back yesterday and its still doing it. Could it be my IAC? I had it replaced 2 years ago on the truck

[@GGigabiteM]

The IAC wouldn't cause the truck to sputter and die at stop signs, unless it wasn't adjusted properly. You'd immediately know if the IAC isn't adjusted properly because the truck wouldn't idle properly at all, the idle would either be too high or too low and stay there until properly adjusted. A couple of things I could think that would cause it are a bad vacuum leak, bad oxygen sensor(s) or a bad battery. My truck once exhibited the same behavior you are describing where it idled fine and was fine at speed, but when slowing down or starting from a stop, the engine would stall or die. After a bunch of diagnostics ruling everything else out, I pulled the oxygen sensor (my truck only has one, but different models may have up to 4) and it was in pretty rough condition. I replaced it with a new one and the problem went away. Vacuum leaks can also cause havoc, the 3.9 V6 in particular is very sensitive to vacuum leaks and will run badly with even a small pin prick of a vacuum leak. Chrysler eliminated a lot of vacuum lines on later Dakotas, so you don't have the nightmare I do with vacuum lines, but there are still quite a few. Check all of the lines and the connections between lines, rotate the line around the connection to see if it is loose. If it is loose, then replace the line or use a hose clamp to make a good connection, likewise with cracked or broken vacuum lines. Also something very important I figured out the hard way, DO NOT use generic PCV valves that AutoZone, O'Reillys, etc. sell with just the metal weight in the plastic valve, they do not work. I was chasing a phantom vacuum leak and high oil consumption issues for over a year, and finally figured out it was these crappy PCV valves. They let too much vacuum by and make the engine act like it has a vacuum leak while also sucking oil out of the engine into the throttle body to be burned. Get a genuine Mopar PCV valve, they're available on Ebay for around $12. The last thing it could be is a bad battery. The PCM stores calibration information on the fuel/air mixture it gets from the TPS, MAP and oxygen sensors. It takes awhile for the PCM to get the ratio adjusted properly, so if you lose battery voltage or the voltage is too low, the PCM data will reset and it'll take a few days of driving for it to calibrate itself again. In the mean time, the engine will run rough, stall and die until it gets back the calibration. One more thing I like to remind everyone with vehicles, make sure you service your transmission regularly because most people don't. The transmission should have the fluid and filter changed every 30,000 miles. The transmission dipstick on the Dakota is on the passenger side behind the valve cover. If the fluid is not red, then it needs to be serviced. If it's black, you're looking at a transmission rebuild.

[@liamatkins421]

Thanks man. My buddy whos a mechanic who changed my heas gasket said he thinks its my sparkplugs. the wires are rusted out on the inside. If this isnt it thats the next thing im gonna look at

[@GGigabiteM]

@@liamatkins421 If the spark plugs were that bad, why didn't your mechanic change them out when he had the heads off? I hope the plugs don't snap off when you try and remove them. Use plenty of penetrating oil beforehand and let them soak for an hour or two before you try and remove them. You may as well change the wires and distributor cap and rotor too. You can go further and change the coil and radio capacitor as well if you want to do the entire ignition system.

[@liamatkins421]

@@GGigabiteM not sure but he did change the plugs but not the wires. So i just had him finish it out. Hopefully she'll be good today

[@liamatkins421]

I did also have em do the distributor cap and rotor . He said theres no issues now so we will see

[@cameronwells5648]

I have a 1987 dakota and my throttle kicker looks nothing like this. Mines a bit more basic/classic The plug going to your part is non existant. My kicker has only 3 wires going to it.

[@zachwebb6879]

Got an 89 ramcharger 5.9 tbi runs good in park or neutral put it in gear can give it more than 1/4 throttle and won't go faster than 25 30

[@GGigabiteM]

If the transmission has the proper fluid level in it, which you can check with the engine running and the transmission in neutral, you have a junk transmission. If the transmission fluid is brown or black, you definitely have a trashed transmission. Time to start looking for a junkyard transmission, get yours rebuilt, or find a remanufactured unit. Or if you want to throw good money after bad, flush every ounce of transmission fluid out, replace the transmission filter and then dump in a bottle of "poor man's rebuild" or otherwise known as stop slip and prey it does something.

[@zachwebb6879]

@@GGigabiteM I should have been more specific the trans is good no slipping fluid is brand new same withe the filter When in gear if you try to accelerate fast or more than 1/4 throttle the engine starts spitting and and back fires threw the intake it gets plenty of fuel injectors pulse fine and spray well dis cap and rotor are new wires all ohmed out fine only other thing I could think of is a vac leak and I checked withe the old carb cleaner trick and I have found nothing and I've kinda tried throwing money and parts at it and now I am going to make it work with the tbi or if I decide to throw more at it just carb swap it if I can't figure it out am going to sell it who can use the money with gas prices and that's a thirsty 360 they way she is and won't do the speed limit

[@GGigabiteM]

@@zachwebb6879 if its backfiring out of the throttle body when you accelerate, you have a timing issue. Either the rotor is way off, or there's something wrong with the timing chain. It could be worn and stretched so much that it's not holding time. It could also be off a tooth from jumping the gears. You need to get a timing light and check the timing on the harmonic balancer to the timing cover case. If the timing jumps all over the place when you accelerate, I'd suspect a stretched chain. If the timing is steady, but not firing at the right time, you need to adjust the distributor. I dont know what degree range the factory setting is because I don't have a 360.

[@zachwebb6879]

@@GGigabiteM thank you I'll check it out I've researched a lot and that is one of my suspension other than some faluty sensor I haven't checked the fuel pressure either but it seems to get fuel alright I know I only drove 12 miles to work and back a day and had to put forty in it a week I understand the pressure drop and volume drop could effect it to any thing other than timing you would check oh and I know code 37 is a b but I have an auto with overdrive could the tourque converter or part throttle relay have anything to do with it I just want to know I am going in the right direction ya know

[@zachwebb6879]

@@GGigabiteM it also don't go wide open only time it did it got stuck wide open and had to shut her off because it was over powering the brakes