Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting secondaries stuck closed?

your cat may be clogged...mine had the same symptoms as you....took forever to accelerate, made lots of noise and no go, no grunt in higher rpms. anyways i got the cat replaced and the WOW, the power was back!

Hey dark:

What is the part number on that white clip? I have the same problem, so i just tied my 2ndaries open.

I had my cat. replaced under recall a year or two ago, I hope it's not clogged again!

You bet it could be clogged again! Had mine replaced under recall in 97 and there wasn't even 20,000 miles on it before it went out(clogged)again. FYI Ford will refuse to replace it again, they'll tell you thy did it once and they won't do it again.

Would a clogged CAT create a CEL?

I got my car back from the dealer and boy did this part make a big difference. I wonder if this part slowly starts to go bad or if it goes out all at once. The car seems to have more pickup at 3500rpms now that I got the part replaced.

I, too, have had secondary problems with my 98 SVT. With mine, they'll refuse to open occasionally and it's clear above 3500-3750 rpm that they're closed. The funny thing with mine is that shutting off the ignition and turning it back on will solve the problem. It doesn't even have to be off for any length of time - I can just pop it in neutral, turn it off and on and it's fine.

I'm going to play with the controls some time, but admittedly haven't done so even though this has happened every now and then for over a year...

Cason
Houston
E0 - KKM, TH fix, black sails, mild nickel tint, stereo stuff, power antenna stuck at half mast for the moment

hmm....I'm thinking mine might be stuck closed as well. At first I thought it was all this humidity around here lately that was making the car drag, but when I drive my car I used to be able to tell distinctively when the secondaries used to open. You couls even tell just by looking at the tach...you get a little kick in the pants. Lately, there's been no kick at 3500. Sometimes it happens softly at like 3800 to 4000 rpm, sometimes not at all. The car doesn't seem noticeably slower, it still pulls hard at higer rpms...I dunno, I'll have to take a look and see if this "rod" is moving or not....

I notice this too. I notice the secondaries when I first drive the car, but after driving for a while my secondary pull doesnt kick in. I dont know if it is because the engine is hot or if there is some problem with the intake.

This sounds to me like the IMRC box (under the plasitc shroud on the front of the engine) is either not working or the linkage (or cable) is broken somehow.

On my car, I had to replace the box. I opened it up, checked for voltage at the motor inside it, found 12 volts, but the motor was dead. The connector was good.

I bought a replacement unit from Ford parts Outlet (link on main CEG site). It cost me about $110 including tax and shipping. Bill Jenkins should be able to sell you one also for about the same price.

It took me about an hour to replace the unit. [Including a long search for one of the clips that attach the throttle cable to the throttle body. ] [I also recommend doing the work while the engine is cold. You will get a lot fewer burns and scrapes. ]

HTH

Mike