Toyota Repair: Idle Air Control Valve??

Question
QUESTION: 1998 Toyota camry, 136,000 miles, V6.
The power steering pump was replaced.  Small leak still continued. Recently I was told the hose had a small hole in it.  The leak is very small and I add fluid about every 3 months.

As long as the leak stays small, How concerned should I be about making a 1000 mile drive in hot weather.  Could the engine catch fire?

ANSWER: I would recommend that you keep an eye on it, as you say the leak is very small, small leaks have a habit to get bigger especially if it's the high pressure hose, power steering fluid is mostly petroleum and is not very flammable, it would have to be a massive leak to cause a problem, some smoke maybe from the exhaust but fire is not likely, my advice would be to have the hose replaced, if you go on that trip take a couple of bottles of fluid with you, even if all the fluid should leak out you can still drive the car, it would just be hard to steer.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi,  I have a question regarding the Idle Air Control Valve. At least I think this is what was cleaned.  About 5 years ago I have it cleaned.  This is what the invoice said:

"Flush induction system and add fuel injector clean. Parts were a BG induction kit/intake cleaning kit." Total cost was $144.

I have been having an intermittent problem when starting from cold start.  I have to "gun" the engine until it runs smoothly.  It doesn't do this after driving and then stopping and restarting.  I am assuming it is the above issue again.

My question is:  Will it keep getting worse to the point I cannot start it at all?

Thank you

Answer
hello, doing a fuel injector service and cleaning the idle air control valve usually solves the idle and hard start issues, since it's been five years it is probably going to need it done again, I'm just not sure if the shop that did it last actually removed and cleaned the IAC valve or only did the so called induction service, it seemed to help until now, in any case the reason for the stalling and hard starting is mainly due to the IAC valve sticking, it should be removed along with the throttle body-the valve is attached to it- and then both should be cleaned and the IAC valve checked to make sure it is not binding up after cleaning it. If it does then it should be replaced. A sticking valve can cause hard starting and low idle but should not completely cause the engine to start at all, as it gets worse it will just take longer to start and maintain idle.