Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Duratec secondary intake runner blues

My 96'Mystique 2.5l has alway been a rocket until I took it to the L/M dealer to hunt down a Check engine light. 14 days later, my car came back with a new intake runner control unit and 50 less horse power. The car had lost that sharp throttle response and would hardly rev to 6,000 rpms. I played with it in the driveway and was able to watch the linkage open and close by goosing the throttle under the hood. I also re-programed the computer by disconnecting the battery for an hour and this worked for a while. I also returned to the scene of the crime,( L/M dealer), and they of course could find nothing wrong with the $600.00 repair they performed! I also noticed in my Haynes repair manual that the photos show a european spec engine that uses a vaccume actuator to open and close the high rpm runners instead of the costly computer operated cable actuator. Has anyone had a similar problem and been able to get it fixed? the dealer has walked away from me on this problem.

The old Duratec's used vacuum assist secondaries. You have electrical actuated.

It sounds like the shop didn't fix the controller, or install it properly. You should feel them kick in at 3500-ish RPM's at WOT. If you don't feel that noticable kick, then they probably aren't working.

BTW, you won't be able to get them to open with the car stationary.

Hey Chris, are you sure about not being able to get em open while stationary? I have watched the IMRC in action with the car stationary. I have done it two ways. One, just by goosing the throttle, and watching the rod for the secondaries move back and forth. Two, I have had the cover off the IMRC and done the same thing, and watched the gears turn.

Is this the same thing we are talking about???

An ATX may not rev high enough to trigger them? Doesn't it have a limiter on it to prevent high revs in neutral?

I've seen mine open at a standstill.

IF you flip the throttle wide open, while the engine revs up, when the RPMs reach about 4000, on an ATX Tour, there is a spark knock-off that limits the rpms.
This is so you don't damage the Torque Converter.
When you release the throttle, the IMRC will open the secondaries to allow additional air into the cylinder to increase the rate the rpms drop.
You can also do this with any MTX Tour and see the same action.

Pete...

what the heck would that have to do with the torque converter?