Q&A

DaveJHM----Could you please tell me if the idle speed control sensor on a 04 Escape V6 goes by a different name (is called something else) and where it is located in the engine compartment. I could not find any parts listing for a idle speed control sensor . Thank you very much for your earlier advice. I am sure you can tell that I am not real familar with all the bells and whistles on newer cars, my younger days were spend on Chevys, Mercs, & an old Studebakers.

It is called the Idle Air Control Valve, which is a small cylindrical motor with a wire connector that mounts in the area of the intake manifold. It has a wiring connector that provides power to it.

I can appreciate your point of view with the newer vehicles compared to the older ones. With the newer ones, don't forget, you can easily start throwing money away without a proper diagnosis. It never feels good necessarily to pay for a diagnosis labor fee, but in the end, the expertise and test equipment required for todays specialized systems is almost entirely necessary.

My bigger concern is that your check engine warning light is telling you something is wrong - more or different than the idle air control valve. I would lean towards a vacuum leak causing lean fuel trim codes, perhaps from the intake manifold or somewhere of that nature. This vacuum leak can affect your idle speed too. IAC valves do not typically do not trigger check engine lights when they bind...which is typically the cause of their failure. Continued luck with your repair attempts!