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Few Questions, IMRC trouble shooting.

Hmmmmmmm...

Hmmmmmmm...

TourEnvy said:
Well, I ended up getting another used box from a great CEGer, thanks mike. I Installed it today with no hitch and cleared the PCM. Started it up, runs great, working the throttle alls good the secondaries are opening THEN i let it idle for 3 secs and the RPM drops and the Linkage moves forward and the they are stuck open AGAIN and dont come back. Check engine light comes on after next start up. Come on I have had Three IMRC boxes in this thing and all are having the same symptoms. I really dont think it worth me getting a brand new one , is it? Should I start exploring other options? Please Help.
Click to expand...

I'm not an expert, I'm just trying use deductive reasoning...

I just finished up with a problem with my imrc. I had replaced my transistor once and everything was working fine. Yesterday I had lost my upper end power. The difference was that the car did not suck as badly as it did the first time I lost the IMRC. I replaced the transistor again, but... after I reinstalled the PCB into the IMRC housing, I noticed the rod style linkage was not attached to the slave end of the LIM (front of the car). You said in my quoted post that you saw movement in the linkage while you manually opened the TB, then after a few seconds of idle, they moved to open position and stayed open. If this is true than your IMRC (I think your transitor) is not functioning correctly.

I think this is a switching transistor, meaning is has 3 leads, Base, emiter and collector.

The collector is connected to +12v source
the emitter is connected to ground
The base is the controlling lead, it needs to receive a signal (<12v) to allow the current to flow from the +12v source through the collector, through the emitter and to a ground (I'm sure their is more components in line, but that should be the electron flow)

if your transistor or IMRC is grounding it will allow the +12v to travel through the motor in the IMRC and pull the secondaries open.

SO, If you can find the wire going to the base of the transistor and test if it has a signal all the time, your PCM is sending the wrong signal,

Otherwise (I'd check for this first) you are grounding out.
 
Northern Mystique, Thanks for your help, and Im still battling this. As I do think you have played this out well, I do have some more info. I dont know if you read all my post, but Im on my Third IMRC, all used, but still have The exact same effects. That why Im thinking its not a transistor. So, I took the car to Ford to get a Pin point test last week, we did work together to find some things out even though it isnt fixed yet. They said I had a P0420 that i need to take care of first before they went deeper. He ran the IMRC controls off the Computer, He open the output and closed the out put and everything worked fine. They also didnt open themselves when running off the Computer. He said Ideally having a new box in there would totally rule out the fact that the IMRC is acting up, but he does realize the basis has been 95% covered. Right now im exploring my options. I have been back and forth with Warmonger to setup a Custome tune to remove the secondaries, and remove and add other goodies. :cool:

Im pretty sure I checked and rechecked the the trigger wire signal, but something wasnt adding up. I dont recall, Ill have to do it again.

Thanks for Help.
 
Swap Cars not IMRC

Swap Cars not IMRC

To change 95% to 100% How about putting your IMRC in another CEGrs car?

You could at least eliminate 1 variable.

Then I might try splicing into the harness lines from the PCM (close to it) to test continuity at both ends of the wire, You could determine if it is grounding out.

Good luck bro, sorry to see you've got the forum stumped.
 
Last edited:
Hi,

Don't know if this problem was ever resolved but it sounds like the reason that this happened is because there was too much slack on the control cable.

When this happens, there is not enough tension to turn the cam in the control box which breaks the connection made by the sprung piece of copper switch. The switch stays closed which tells the PCM/IMRC electrics to supply voltage to the motor to hold the secondaries open, throwing the stuck open code.

The way to resolve it is to adjust the cable at the LIM end to the correct tension, IIRC there is a small adjustment clip.
 
Is the adjustment located on the secondary rod? There have been several other people that have the same issues you can read in this post. I have not been able to resolve this problem.

If you are certain, maybe this is something I can try. What is reasoning for the PCM to have this "fail safe". Also is this recognized by the PCM. IIRC my PCM is not reading that the IMRC is opening at the wrong conditions.
 
It's funny this thread was brought back up.

I attempted to fix my P1518 again last night after ignoring it for a few years. This time I did the Hightower "fix" but the end result was exactly the same. It worked perfectly for a few mins while the engine was cold. I took it for a drive and felt a few kicks when the secondaries opened. They eventually opened and stay opened. The P1518 code came right back.

I'm now at the point where I can no longer drive my car. It failed emissions due to the CEL. My registration has expired and I can't renew until emissions are complete. :mad: I was able to get by for years due to a screw up with DMV and they ignored the emissions not being done. Can't do that anymore.
 
thegfb said:
Hi,

Don't know if this problem was ever resolved but it sounds like the reason that this happened is because there was too much slack on the control cable.

When this happens, there is not enough tension to turn the cam in the control box which breaks the connection made by the sprung piece of copper switch. The switch stays closed which tells the PCM/IMRC electrics to supply voltage to the motor to hold the secondaries open, throwing the stuck open code.

The way to resolve it is to adjust the cable at the LIM end to the correct tension, IIRC there is a small adjustment clip.
Click to expand...

thegfb said:
Ok I may be wrong here, I actually struggled to get the issues as I read this thread but it may be worth a read.

To cut a long story short, it happened to me a while back and I chanced upon this thread where someone had the same symptoms:

http://www.stdrivers.co.uk/forum/showtopic.php?fid/24/tid/6810/
Click to expand...

i just wanted to bring this to the top and let everyone know that i had very similar problems, including p1518. approx 5 seconds after starting the imrc would pull the secondaries right open, bogging idle to 250 under normal. after ruling out bad motor/gears(they were still opening/closing) i realized there was 1/4in of slack in the cable(no thanks to this thread:laugh:), causing the cam to not strike the sensor inside the imrc. pulled the slack, clamped with a small barrel clamp, reset the computer and its been good to go, no more cel or secondaries stuck open. thanks thegfb and i hope this might help someone in the future
 
Yes, please explain more or post pictures if possible. I've had it apart so many time but I don't understand where you could possibly adjust the cable slack. I doubt it will work for me since I've had 4 different IMRC's and they all do the same thing but it's worth a shot.

With this many people having issues, you would think there would some sort of documented solutions from Ford to resolve it. It doesn't say much other than to replace if damaged.
 
I also have had a couple in, but willing to give it a try. Im trying to figure out how the slack can be present when different controllers have been used. Being that the effect is not changed by the controller in numerous cases.
Doesnt the wire sit inside piece of tube. the end of the tube is mounted in the bracket and you have to pull the wire out to hook to the cam on the rod. If the distance between the bracket and the cam is out of funk, then that would cause slack no matter what controller was used (being the cable length is constant.

Cable could have stretched a little?
 
i pulled the slack(holding gears in imrc w/cam hitting the sensor) from the bracket on the rear secondary runner closest to firewall. i too didnt understand how there could be any slack, but it was there so i pulled it. started it this morning and mr. cel is back, this time imrc stuck closed. turns out the cable completely frayed and snapped. i managed to pull it out from the bracket on the runner. its my belief that the cable may have worn over time/use causing slack(113k mi). tightening it up gave me a solid 3 days of regular use.. good thing i bought a used imrc from the junkyard. time to change out the wire and hopfully rid myself of imrc troubles!
 
Why is the IMRC Bracket labeled with "SVT", is there a difference between other V6 contours? Could be part of the issue.


I went ahead and gave this a try on Saturday. Instead of using a cable stop. I had a sneaking suspicion that if I bent the bracket that hold the end of the cable shroud, the slack would decrease( the length between the bracket and the rod.

I removed the IMRC and looked under the circuit board to position the cam up against it by turning the gears. Once that was done I pulled the cable on the rod end. There was 1/4" slack like mentioned previously.

The bracket that holds the cable (where the bare cable becomes exposed) did almost look like it wasnt really sitting at a position that looked right. I started to bend the bracket and the ear slightly until the wire was taunt. You dont want too much to cause the runner to open and strain the IMRC as well. You want it so there is slight deflection when press on it before the runner starts to open. Then double check the cam at the IMRC.

Re assemble your intake component consisting of Throttle body and bracket. Open the throttle and watch the cam on the firewall side to be sure that there is not interference with the IMRC cable bracket. If this is good then proceed.

I am now on my third day with secondaries ever. Its a little different then when I had them tuned out, but I hope i enjoy the new gas milage. Much more responsive at low end and smoother operating in general.

I am too concerned with Redfire's breakage issue, but we see where this pans out. I saw no concerns when I had everything open, and made sure there wasnt too much pressure on the cable when closed. we will see.

I didnt get to celebrate too long, when I got home from the test run, my driver side window regulator gave out. hopefully getting one today at TF.

Thanks for the help gentlemen!
 
sorry to hear about the regulator, but im glad you got the imrc working again. i changed out the box and wire on mine with a clean junkyard one and everything is in working order again so im happy as well. hopfully this might help some other people in the future too. btw the yard around here has 7 working imrc's if anything goes wrong, let me know.:cool:
 
no, the new to me box and wire came from a tour/mystique so i just dropped it in. still working great.
 
I haven't attempted the above fix yet, but couldn't the same thing be accomplished by somehow adjusting the spring for the secondaries? Since I've used 3-4 different IMRC's (including 1 new one) and they all do the same thing, couldn't it just be the spring on my LIM not creating enough tension?
 
CSVT1214 said:
I haven't attempted the above fix yet, but couldn't the same thing be accomplished by somehow adjusting the spring for the secondaries? Since I've used 3-4 different IMRC's (including 1 new one) and they all do the same thing, couldn't it just be the spring on my LIM not creating enough tension?
Click to expand...

that spring also keeps the secondaries closed, doesnt it? unless theyre gunked up and not fully closing i would think its probably returning to the correct position. def worth breaking down the intake/throttle cable bracket and taking a look. my case may be different from yours though, it only took 1 new(to me) imrc box and cable to fix the problem. try opening the imrc and looking at the cam where the cable enters the box, make sure its breaking the connection with the copper strike when the secondaries are closed/engine is off.
 
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