Acura 3.0CL IAC system malfunction

[rationull]

I've got a friend with a 1997 Acura CL with the J30 V6 that's throwing code P0505, IAC System Malfunction. The car's in good shape, not low mileage but not too high (I don't recall the exact number). It's serviced regularly but not obsessively, so I think it's probably a fair assumption that the IAC valve probably just needs cleaning, and at worse needs to be replaced.

I haven't seen the car yet but I've sort of offered to help him clean it out or replace it. I assume this isn't a big job, but I haven't seen the engine yet so I don't know for sure. Does anyone have any input on this?

 

[blackcherry06]

I've replaced one on a Civic and one on an Explorer and neither were prohibitively expensive. Those were pretty easy to change out, but I can't testify as to the difficulty of Acura's design. I'm guessing you'll need to remove some sort of engine cover, as Lord knows they don't want you to actually be able to see and / or work on anything involving the throttle. It should be right there on top by the throttle body.

 

[rationull]

Engine covers aren't a big deal, my main concern was whether the TB would be visible/accessible or whether it'd be covered by some sort of upper intake manifold setup (at which point I probably would just advise my friend to take it somewhere to save time).

I should've thought of doing a google image search before I posted, but I did not. Just did that search now and found a picture of the engine bay of a TL Type S w/ the J series V6 and the TB looks easily accessible. So it's probably no sweat on the CL either.