- 2/12/2025
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What is an idle air control valve sensor?
The idle air control valve, abbreviated IAC, is a valve that controls the speed of the engine rotation when the car is idle, and the engine rotation speed is the number of revolutions the engine rotates per minute.
The idle air control valve sensor is actually a valve located inside the intake pipes through which air passes to the engine, usually next to the throttle body at the intake inlet to measure and adjust the amount of air allowed to enter the intake pipe while the car is idle.
This valve is controlled by the engine's electronic control unit known as the car's computer, where the engine control unit sends it commands when to open or close it, resulting in more or less air flow to the engine, thus adjusting the engine's speed while the car is stationary.
Due to the importance of this sensor, it must be intact and trouble-free all the time to maintain engine performance and maintain fuel efficiency as well, and for this, Motorgy has a large, diverse, and inspected collection of used cars for sale in Kuwait at the best price.
These cars are fully inspected, especially the engine and sensors, including the idle sensor of course, so you can know the condition of the car you like in advance and ensure the safety of its engine and all its sensors through the comprehensive inspection report of each car.
Read more: Different types of car sensors
What are the symptoms of bad idle air control valve?
The symptoms of a bad idle air control valve are many, and we will show them to you below:
Check engine light will come on
As we mentioned to you earlier, the idle air control valve sensor plays an important role in regulating the air that will enter your car's engine, but when the car's computer detects that there is a defect in it or in the air inlets, it will send a command to illuminate the check engine light directly in the dashboard to inform you of the issue, and here you must examine the car with a special inspection device to determine the fault code and recognize the issue; because the check engine light includes dozens of issues and the idle sensor is one of them.
Irregular engine revs while parked
When this valve is malfunctioning or damaged, the process of supplying air to the engine when the car is parked will be disrupted, and the engine's RPM will become irregular, and its speed will become abnormal, and this issue usually occurs between 500 and 1000 RPM, and you should know that there are other reasons that lead to fluctuating engine revs other than the idle sensor, such as a malfunction in the ignition system, fuel, dynamo, and others.
Extra pressure on the brake pedal
When the car is stationary, but the engine is running, it will require you to apply light pressure on the brake pedal to keep it parked in place, but when the idle valve is damaged, it may require additional pressure on the pedal to prevent the car from moving due to the acceleration of the engine revs; because it may work more quickly than the normal speed.
Read more: Symptoms of a failing automatic transmission
Poor performance
When the idle air control valve sensor is damaged, the car may suffer from a loss of power or poor engine performance due to the imbalance in the air supply process, and you will notice this weakness when it needs more force on the gas pedal or when climbing hills and steep slopes or when you put a large load in your car.
The engine will start and stop after a while
A damaged idle valve can limit the supply of oxygen to the engine, making combustion difficult or impossible at times. This means that your engine may start on the first try with no issues but may stop working soon after, or you may not be able to start it at all due to a faulty combustion process, and this symptom has several causes related to other vehicle systems.
The engine will stop working
When the valve fails completely, it will lose its ability to allow enough air to bypass the throttle plate, and this will lead to a malfunction in the combustion process and the engine will stop working directly and this can happen suddenly, but in some cases, the engine stops working due to issues with the fuel or ignition system or due to an issue with the cooling system.
Read more: Bad radiator symptoms in a car
Backfire
Backfire occurs when fuel ignites outside the combustion chamber, as a damaged idle sensor can introduce more fuel than the required amount, causing the excess unburned fuel to leak into the exhaust and ignite after the explosion stroke, resulting a fire from the exhaust outlets when the foot is removed from the accelerator pedal to slow the car down.
