Check engine light on and car shakes at times

Asked by GuruHFY15 Aug 07, 2019 at 09:44 AM about the 1998 Ford Ranger XLT Standard Cab Stepside 4WD SB

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

So we took our 1998 Ford Ranger 4.0 4x4 to a Ford dealership for the check engine light and occasional shaking.  They told us it was the throttle body...is this possible? Also when they looked they said that Ford no longer carried this part and I've been looking for a new one with no luck.  Can you give me some suggestions?

2 Answers

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We would need to know the 4 digit code that the dealership got when scanning it. Then we can point you in the right direction. I would clean the throttle body and IAC valve before I would replace any part. Purchase some throttle body cleaner, remove the air hose and squirt in to clean the throttle body blade. Use rags to mop up the excess. You are removing black carbon buildup. Also you want to remove the IAC too and clean that good. Youtube will have some videos on how to accomplish this. I'm sure this is all you need to do.

2 people found this helpful.

The dealership wouldn't give us the code and said that they had already cleaned out the throttle body and that the flap (for lack of the proper wording) was broken so we needed to buy a new throttle body. We have changed the IAC valve twice since they said the first one they put in was defective. We have also changed the spark plugs. The shaking seems to be as if, like in old school carburetors the air/fuel ratio was off. Help,

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