IMRC disconnect

[rickshaw]

My SES light came on 3K miles ago and was diagnosed as a bad IMRC. The cable is fine and the car runs good.

I've read posts from last year that you can disconnect the IMRC. Doe this keep the secondaries open all the time?

And since I'm the last guy in the world to weld a GenIII, should I do anything with the intakes? I read a post by SHOZ123 on his project. Can you please reply?

thanks to all,
rickshaw

 

[SHOZ123]

If the secondaries are stuck closed then the car will only get half the air it was designed for at the higher rpms. Disconnecting the motor electrical connector or the cable from the secondary linkage will not help any.

If you want to tie the secondaries open or remove them completely it is not hard to do. You really will need some tuning to make the best of that though.

But the V8 needs some tuning anyway in stock form.

It comes down to fix it or disable the secondary plates being closed.

 

[rickshaw]

Paul, thanks for the response. Now I'm puzzled with the error code that at the time pointed to the IMRC, an how the runs.

It digs to 80 that same way as before with no loss of power. The car is in MI and I'm in FL, so I can't do much now.

So if I wire the secondaries open, what tuning is required if any and how will in impact performance and mileage?

I appreciate your help!

rickshaw
98' Silver Frost
145K one owner miles!

 

[SHOZ123]

I bet the code you have is the IRM is not fully closing. This is caused by a frayed cable just inside the control box or a carbon build up on the secondary plate. And for the time being the IRMC is working like normal. But the cable will break sooner or later.

You will be hard pressed to get any tuning to eliminate the secondaries. I had to do it myself and it took some time. A remote tuner who does not have the secondary plates removed will just be guessing at what needs to be done.

But you will have little performance change if they are wired open. Just the potential gains will not be there.

 

[rickshaw]

Good feedback. The cable looked OK when I inspected the IMR. I'll ping you when I get the car back down here in a few weeks.

thanks,
rickshaw

 

[bigred56k]

When my IMRC cable broke i took the bok apart and pulled the old wire out and went to a local bike shop looking for a cable that was the similar size. I didn't end up finding one, so what i did was bought a standard bick brake cable and ground down the one end to make if fit into the plastic wheel in the box. Then i fead the rest of the cabe though the sleave and used a crimp to end of he cable at the butterflies. worked great and was cheaper then going out to the dealer to purchase a new IMRC assembly.


Tony

 

[JoeBoo]

Yeh, I actually just got my car fixed from an issue similar to that. The actuator motor I was told was bad and kept the IMRC open. So I got it replaced for 500 with the diagonose. The service engine light came on and everything.

 

[bigred56k]

Yeh, I actually just got my car fixed from an issue similar to that. The actuator motor I was told was bad and kept the IMRC open. So I got it replaced for 500 with the diagonose. The service engine light came on and everything.

Thats kinda of a ripp off. YOu could have took you car to Auto Zone and they well pull the codes for free. Then went to a local for dealer and bought a whole new IMRC assembly for 220 dollars. Takes 15 mins to put in yourself.

Tony

 

[rickshaw]

IMRC - Chapter 2.

I was back in Michigan over the weekend and drove the SHO. It runs fine from a dig to 90. I think the IMRC is stuck open.

When the SES light came on, I took it to the dealer and got a quote for an outrageous amount of money. They cleaned the butterflies and de-carboned the intake. I checked the cable and it was fine, no fraying anywhere.

So my question is should I do anything?

thanks to all for your responses!

rickshaw

 

[BodylessSHO]

Just get a new IMRC (200 from Ford), and change it. You can clean the butterflies later. My IMRC has been going for 20,000 miles since my last one broke, and I haven't cleaned the butterflies.

 

[bigred56k]

I did pretty much the same thing! Just bought a new one and havent gotten around to cleaning the butterflies yet.

Tony

Just get a new IMRC (200 from Ford), and change it. You can clean the butterflies later. My IMRC has been going for 20,000 miles since my last one broke, and I haven't cleaned the butterflies.

 

[rickshaw]

Good feedback! I've already had everything cleaned and my goal is to drive the car another 50K miles..then let somebody else have fun with my 200K one owner SHO!

rickshaw

 

[rickshaw]

Man is my car a mess! Too many miles with too little attention!

I pulled the IMRC cover off and the cable is frayed on the inside, just like SHO123 said!

Can you buy the oem cable by itself?

Thanks,
rickshaw

 

[BodylessSHO]

No you can't. You might be able to get someone to make one for you, like a motorcycle shop or something, but that might be more expensive than it's worth. Best bet is to just buy a whole new one, if you're looking to replace it.

 

[stephen newberg]

Or just wire the butterflies open and disconnect and discard the IMRC completely. I think the evidence of the last couple of years of people doing this is there is not negative effect except for slightly harder starting in very cold weather.

pax, smn

 

[Mr. SHO]

Or just wire the butterflies open and disconnect and discard the IMRC completely. I think the evidence of the last couple of years of people doing this is there is not negative effect except for slightly harder starting in very cold weather.

pax, smn

It doesn't start any harder, it just tends to have a rough idle for the first 30 seconds or so. Not really a big deal IMO, because on a cold morning, the idle won't drop down that quickly anyway, so you really you shouldn't even be driving it yet.

I have noticed that the cold morning rough idle went away completely after a couple weeks. I've been through two cold winters since tossing the IMRC and this past winter, the car didn't stumble at all on startup. The only times I got that problem were right after resetting the PCM. I think the PCM learned what to do after several cold morning starts.

 

[stephen newberg]

That is interesting. I have not noticed anything at all, but our winters here on Vancouver Island tend to be fairly mild. I certainly think discarding it is the way to go, and one day I plan to do the full thing and remove the butterflies also.

pax, smn

 

[Mr. SHO]

My butterflies will be tossed in the parts pile the day I install the phenolic spacers.

 

[SHOZ123]

Might as well take out the shafts too. It's easy to plug the holes with red high temp silicone.

Taking out the two shafts removes ~3 sq" of obstruction out of the air path.

 

[rickshaw]

This has been excellent feedback! I'll be removing the IRMC this weekend and zip tieing the butterflies open for now.

I'll consider removing them completely when I get my weld job done in a few weeks.

No worries about cold weather starting down here in Jax!

rickshaw