Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting hightower imrc fix- ran into problem

I went to radioshack and got the TIP 120 transistor. So far I have all of the screws removed and have tried to lift up on the black plastic connector. It is stuck in the groove that it sits in and I have tried to use a putty knife to free it up but it won't budge. The material that holds the connector in appears to be a soft rubber and is brittle and the top part is beginning to chip away. I don't want to tear it up so is there anything I can spray on it that won't harm the chip and everything else inside the box? or should I get a knife and just keep working at it slowly? Thanks.

Get a knife or flathead screwdriver and work at it slow. It's a pain in the arse but it will come out eventually. To prevent damage don't pull on the board very hard to get the connector up.

Make sure you seal the IMRC 100% after you are done and close it up. Moisture inside the IMRC will corrode the board.

I've been working at it for about 45mins. I used a putty knife and a pocket knife and scraped away all of the yellowish sealant. The connector still won't budge from that groove. What should I seal it with when or if I can ever replace the transistor? I guess I'll just keep working at it. Would temperature cause the plastic to expand? Mine is sitting in direct sunlight right now and is pretty hot.

Ok, I got everything apart and replaced the transistor with a TIP120 from radioshack and put it all back together. The car fired up fine. Now I have no secondaries at all! Man this sucks! I'm going to go up to Autozone and get a diagnostic check to see if its throwing any codes. Any ideas what else would cause this?


EDIT: There were no codes at all. My next step is to disconnect the battery and then reset the PCM. If all else fails I guess I will call the junkyards tomorrow and replace the entire box.

If you put everything back correctly and it still didn't work, then you may have damaged the board fighting to take it out. I would try it again and mess around with it before I'd buy a new box. You may be paying a pretty penny for the whole IMRC box, and you still have a stock transitor that will fail, or may already be failing.

Just my 2 cents.


-Reebs-