P0133 Code

[Rick]

1998 Contour SVT, well cared for.

The CEL has been on and off for about a month. Today I tackled the task of replacing the upstream O2 Sensor against the firewall (Bank 1). Got it done but wish my hands were smaller. The wiring harness really made it difficult. Other codes were evident when I pulled them a few couple of weeks ago. P1518,P1131, & P0171 (Bank 1). I disconnected the battery for over an hour and thus the CEL reset. I had read (here) that one of the codes indicated a clip may have broken causing the (I may not be saying this right) the secondary throttle blades (all 8) in the manifold not to open. This seems to be the case, as the engine does not have the overall power it had previously, sort of runs out of breath at about 5000 RPM. Where can I view the action of the throttle valves (or can I ?) It runs and accelerates smoothly but runs out of breath and noses over. What am I overlooking?

 

[captastic]

On you lower intake manifold (LIM) there is a linking arm that actuates both sets of butterflies in the LIM. Follow the cable from your IMRC and you'll see where it goes to. The little pastic grommet that the linking arm inserts into often gets brittle and breaks. I'm not sure if its still available at the dealer, but they are on ebay. I think you need to pull the upper intake manifold (UIM) to access and repair it. Might be a good time to clean all the carbon from the TB, UIM and LIM at the same time. Make sure you use new gaskets on everything.

 

[BrApple]

Ok, lets see what the codes are for ....

P0133 02 Sensor Circuit Slow Response (Bank 1 Sensor 1)
P0171 System too Lean (Bank 1)
P1130 Lack of Upstream Heated Oxygen Sensor Switch -Adaptive Fuel Limit - Bank No. 1
P1518 Intake Manifold Runner Control fault - Stuck Open

For the P0133, P0171 and P1130 a new upstream O2 sensor for bank 1 should take care of that issue.

As for the P1518, sounds like it more then just the clips missing. May have a bad IMRC unit.

 

[Rick]

Replaced the clip and reconnected the linkage. Disconnected battery for about 10 minutes. Started up and CEL piped on in couple of minutes. No difference in performance. Acknowledging the IMRC box may have died BUT if I go have the codes cleared, is it possible the IMRC will come back online?? Any further way to check it? When I jazz the throttle in the driveway while watching the linkage it does not attempt to move to actuate the secondary throttle valves.

No trouble like this with my 289 Cobra. Set the Webers and hold on.


Found what I think is the problem. Inner cable that attaches to linkage is frayed ad broken right at the entrance to the IMCR under the plastic DURATEC cover on #2 bank. Now if I can repair instead of replace??? Are these unique to SVT or same as other V6 Contours or 3.0 L 4 Cam Taurus??