Ford Repair: 95 ford contour manual 5 speed v6, upper intake manifold, air control valve

Question
My car starts fine but after it warms up and I take it out of gear and let it idle it dies. The electical is still on(dash lights, radio,etc). If I am still rolling I can pop the clutch and it starts but if I try to use the starter it acts like its getting no fuel. I used starter fluid once and it fired 2or3 times but never started. If I let it cool down it will easily start backup with no hesitation. Also the problem seems to get worse the longer I keep it running. I had to bring it home from work(about 20mins@55mph). It started stalling out just before I left town and then there were no problems at higher speeds. But when I got back into town and I downshifted and it stalled as soon as the Tach dropped to around 1000/1500rpms. It still started when I poped the clutch though. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

Answer
When the engine and at idle, the throttle plate is closed and the only air entering the engine is through the Idle Air Control Valve (IAC). This is all controlled by the Powertrain Contol Module. It uses the IAC to allow a small amount of air to enter the engine for starting and to adjust idle speed. The IAC is mounted to the upper intake manifold with two small bolts, and has a small electrical connector on it. It is about two by four inches. It may be sticking closed, you can remove it (be careful, it may have a paper gasket) and clean it out with an Air Intake Cleaner. If this doesn't help, it may have failed and need replacing.

I hope this helps,
Dave