Throttle Body For 91 Wagon -- 3.0 Engine

My throttle body is shot and I can't find a new one. Ford discontinued this part and I've searched the web. Do you have any ideas for me? I hesatate to buy one from a dismanteler because it may be as bad as mine. Is there a rebuild kit or something? Or can I buy a used one and pull small parts from it to rebuild mine? It must be a durable part because aftermarket throttle bodies don't seem to be available either. You wouldn't think a 91 Ford would be that difficult to restore but I guess Ford want's to crush um instead of restoring um. Thanks in advance for any help on this item.

Did you try the junk yards? In the mean time I'll see if I can find any on the net :wink:

Is it a vulcan or duratech engine?

Can you describe what failed on the throttle body? There is very little that can go wrong with the throttle body, and there are A LOT of Taurii out there, many of which can probably be located at your local salvage yard. I realize you are not thrilled about picking up a used one, but since it is rare for a throttle body to fail, and because there should be many for you to select from, that seems like a logical choice.

-Rod

Rod,

Thank you for the good counsel. I took it to a Ford Dealer because the idle was all over the place and I ws experiencing surging especially on cold mornings or whenever the coolent temperature is low (cold evenings), like after a movie in the evening. After the water or engine heats up the idle is pretty smooth. The service technician called me and said the mechanic says your throttle body is shot, you need a new one, and Ford discontinued this part and we can't get a new one except back east there is one for $750 and we can install it for you for a total of $1,100 including the cost of the part. I asked the service guy to ask the mechanic if simply giving it a good cleaning would help. They called back and he said the mechanic said it's shot. So I said $1,100 is more than the car is worth. Although I don't know specifically what the problem is I think it has something with the cold idle mechanism.

What is a cold idle mechanism?? Your cold idle is controlled by various sensors and the factory program within your pcm.. as shorod said, not a whole lot there that could fail,, what are they telling you exactly failed???? The throttle body is the whole upper piece, you can have it off in probably 15 minutes if your're handy, I've cleaned mine, no problems.... maybe your issue is something else, any codes???? If it idles pretty good when warm, something may be out of range when cold or going that way, giving a bad read.. don't spend that 1100 bucks.......

I'd suggest taking a look inside the throttle body and on the back side of the throttle plate. If there is a lot of carbon build up, purchase 3 cans of STP throttle body cleaner (this stuff seems to work best out of the brands I have tried) and get the throttle body and throttle plate clean.

While you're at it, remove and clean the Idle Air Control (IAC) servo. The IAC is attached to the throttle body, but is easily removeable, can be purchase separately, and can cause the symptoms you describe. Before you replace the IAC though, remove and make sure the valve portion is clean and that the passages in the throttle body are clean. The STP cleaner will work for this as well.

Another component I'd suspect before condemning the throttle body would be the coolant temperature sensor (not sender). This is what tells the PCM how cold the engine is and the PCM uses this input (along with others) to determine the correct air fuel ratio for the system. If the coolant temp sensor is out of calibration, it may not set a check engine light, but could certainly effect cold start and cold running. Have you noticed a drop in fuel economy lately?

-Rod

Rod and TaurusKing,

I am handy and I'm going to take the throttle body off like you said and clean it carefully with the STP throttle cleaner. I'll carefully clean the IAC servo. I'll also replace the coolent temperature sensor. Is this the sensor that is located close to the thermostat housing? If not, I have a Chiltons manual and if you tell me where it's located I can replace it. These fixes you both have suggested are cost effective and easy for a home mechanic to do. I'll do this stuff on Monday or Tuesday and I'll give you guys an update on how I and and car did. My wife really loves this Taurus and I want her to keep it. It really runs great and it has 200,000 + miles -- we put in a new engine and transmission about 6 months ago. Take care.

There are probably 2 coolant temperature devices located near the thermostat. One is the coolant temperature sensor and tells the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) what the coolant temperature is. The other is the coolant temperature sender and is only used for the temp gauge in the instrument cluster.

You Chilton manual should help you determine which is which. If it's unclear from the replacement steps, check the wiring diagrams and go off of the wire colors to determine which is the sensor.

-Rod

I'd probably pick up a new manifold gasket set for the h of it, you probably won't need the gasket since your engine is only 6 months old.. mine was 12 yrs old, original was re-used, I returned the new pieces for money back....

Rod and TaurusKing,

I am handy and I'm going to take the throttle body off like you said and clean it carefully with the STP throttle cleaner. I'll carefully clean the IAC servo. I'll also replace the coolent temperature sensor. Is this the sensor that is located close to the thermostat housing? If not, I have a Chiltons manual and if you tell me where it's located I can replace it. These fixes you both have suggested are cost effective and easy for a home mechanic to do. I'll do this stuff on Monday or Tuesday and I'll give you guys an update on how I and and car did. My wife really loves this Taurus and I want her to keep it. It really runs great and it has 200,000 + miles -- we put in a new engine and transmission about 6 months ago. Take care.
Rod and TaurusKing,

I did what you suggested and it worked. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. It idles smooth now. Take care.

Great, and thank you for the follow-up. Happy motoring!

-Rod