I read that some Rangers have a silicone coating on the throttle plate and should only use soap & water to clean it. Not sure if yours or mine (‘96) has that. I cleaned mine without removing it but the sticking came back! Now have to do what you did.
Me too, it even has a sticker saying “don’t clean” because of the coating but ya know after 20+ years idek if the coating is still on 😂 I said the heck with it , it’s very easy to remove and put back