Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting secondaries stuck closed?

Hey guys,
an odd thing has happened to my car. It seems to have absolutely no acceleration. When going full throttle it gets loud but there is no 'kick'.
I have a feeling that the butterfly valve might be stuck on the slow side ie. not switching to the secondaries. I'm not sure that this is the problem though.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Rob

I just took it for another drive, and found that the mid-low end torque is a bit stronger and the upper power is severely lacking. After 4.5-5k rpm it seems to putter out, ie. it revs really slowly, like your in too low of a gear.
It's not the clutch, I checked that.
Thanks again for any input!

The secondaries open via a cable from the small box in the right front of the front head, it's covered by the plastic panel on the front of the engine. the cable goes in under the throttle body and a gizmo there opens the secondaries. Obviously something has happened to the cable or gizmo. the butterflies themselves are real simple (a pair of long rods with 3 each throttle-like valve) and are not likely to be at fault. I have never taken the gizmo apart, only looked at it 2 years ago. Don't fotget the engine will not rev in neutral over 4,000 rpm if you are playing around with the cable etc.

Thanks Elizabeth, I'll check that out tomorrow, as this is possibly the problem.
I'll keep you updated.
Thanks again!
Rob
P.S. I guess I should have said 'guys and gals' eh?

Is there a Check Engine light? You'd get a code relating to an IMRC malfunction...

I am having the same trouble with mine also.
When I took it to the dealership I told them that the car had no power after 4000 rpms and that I could smell gas when I am running it hard. They came back to say that the INTAKE MANIFOLD THROTTLE CONTROL VAVLE (the secondaries) have gone bad and that it would be about $300.00 I told this to my friend that works there and he said that he will get it done for $150.00 (employee-friend discount)

No check engine light...

This sounds like the same problem that I am having, although I haven't smelt gas yet. However, I'll keep my eyes err nose peeled for it.

i had same prob with mine -98 svt -- and after in dealer and they had for -EVER- well figured out it was (white plastic clip)$3.00
plastic clipthat holds linkage in place (like say on normal doorlock linkage where a rod hooks into a round hole it has a piece holding it in place from falling out of hole)
-----anyway it was under throttle body,close to intake manifold and can be seen from drivers side front of engine- it apairently dry'ed cracked and fell out of place linkege was still inplace but there was enough slop that i could not feel that normal boost of power at aprox 4000 rpm--contact me if questions--sorry hard to explain but hope that it might help- that was the issue in my case.

Have someone start your car and watch the little rod that actuates the secondaries. They stay open when the car is off and close when it turns on. Then have them rev it to about 4K and see if the rod moves at all. PM if you need more info.