Hi, first post here and I'm hoping this isn't in the wrong place. I had some issues with my IAC valve for the past few years, replacing it every 6 months to a year. I'm on my third one, they've just been whatever brand Autozone had in stock, but I've read here that Standard Motor Products is the brand I should be looking for, so I will try that one next. Anyways, since the last replacement of that (maybe 4 months now) by truck has been running very rich, like it feels and sounds like someone is constantly pushing down the gas. I go look today because it was particularly loud, and there is a lot of wind being generated, mostly from what looks like an exposed tube hole, like a main tube fell off of the engine or something. Can anyone help me identify what, if anything, should be attached to this hole? Bonus, is this a cracked vacuum hose? Could that be causing the issue? Also not sure if it automatically fills in this info from my profile but it's a 2003 Ranger, and I'm fairly certain it has the V6, 3.0 liter, Flex Fuel engine.

 

The opening you first mention is cast into the plenum but is not open. Nothing is supposed to go there, that's just on all 2002-2008 3.0 Rangers with the black upper intake plenum. That's likely where the EGR system would go, if your truck was equipped with it.

The second hose is a vent for crankcase pressure. It won't hurt to fix, but probably isn't causing your issues.

As for the IAC, all aftermarket brands are pretty much junk. The only ones you can trust are Motorcraft, and even then, I'm on my third Motorcraft in thirteen years of ownership. Any time I've run an aftermarket IAC, my truck never felt like it ran right. As for the Standard brand, I have one of their fuel dampeners in my 2002 Ranger, and it's already failed after two years.