97 high idle

[minnesotatwins]

On my 97 taurus gl with the 12v engine, it idles at about 1200-1250 rpm which seems pretty high to me. any ideas what could cause this or be the fix. Also when I put it into drive and take my foot off the gas it seems to go pretty fast, which I'm guessing is cause by the high idle. Thanks in advance!

[way2old]

Either the idle speed control motor is hung, throttle plate otrgas pedal linkage is binding, or there is something that is holding the gas pedal down a little.

[shorod]

Does it stay idling fast, or will the idle speed drop after it's been driven a few miles?

-Rod

[minnesotatwins]

Originally Posted by shorod

Does it stay idling fast, or will the idle speed drop after it's been driven a few miles?

-Rod

It stays idling fast even after the engine is warmed up and after driving.

[shorod]

Then yep, I'd suggest you start with the items that way2old outlined.

If you said the idle slowed after time/temperature, I would have suggested starting with a bottle of fuel injector cleaner followed by a cleaning of the Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor, and if that still didn't fix it, changing out the coolant temperature sensor.

-Rod