I'm working on my son's 2004 F150 5.4L 3V. The engine is a 3-yr-old crate engine replace by a shop for the previous owner. It has no top-end power and keeps throwing the P2006 code indicating the IMRC is stuck closed.

I took the manifold completely off and realized that the IMRC was completely unplugged from the electrical wiring harness. I plugged the connector back in, reassembled everything, and it ran great... for a few days.

Using my endoscope, I found that the connector for the IMRC is VERY loose and keeps falling off. I've inspected both plugs with the scope, and I don't see any form of safety clip that would secure the plug once it's connected. Am I missing something (literally: like a retainer clip)? What is supposed to keep this hard-to-reach plug in place? Does anybody have a good photo of a fully function plug that shows how it's supposed to be secured?

What would happen if I just forced the IMRC into the open position and then left it there? Would the truck run all right at low load?

 

i can’t help with pic, but can you post a pic of yours?

 

it will run like puke at low rpm if you block the IMRC open
Just use some cleare silicone to act as glue for the connector
They did have a cheest internal clip in the actuator and a small tab on the connector
Yours is mnost likely broken
Clear silicone gasket stuff is your friend
That stuff is better than emblem glue for emblems and such
Connect the connector and put a slight film of it around the outside of the connector is what I'd do

 

Isn't it the throttle body's job to meter the air intake? What purpose does this IMRC really serve, anyway?

That's what I was afraid of. Was it one of those colored pieces that slides in & out, or was it a squeeze tab like coil plugs have? Was that clip on the wiring harness end of the electrical plug? So a new IMRC won't help me in that regard?

The problem is getting silicone down there. Those wires are so short that you have to have the intake almost completely installed before you plug in the IMRC. Would two more inches of wire really have killed them? By removing the TB and fuel rail, I was able to reach down behind the intake & touch the IMRC. I put some duct tape on the connector last night, but it apparently didn't help. Probably too dusty to stick, and I could only just barely get my fingertips down there.

I'll have to remove the entire intake again in order to get silicone down there with any degree of accuracy. If I'm going to that trouble anyway, maybe it'd be worth my time to splice a 6" extension into the wiring harness so that I can connect that electric plug when the intake is a little farther removed from the engine.

 

Right, I had an identical 04 truck
You can barely touch the sucka
Take off the upper plenum and it's slightly easier to touch and connect the wiring to the actuator
I had the trouble where the linkage keeps popping off, had to replace the cheesy little clips twice

 

Hey, look what I found! I can get a replacement wiring connector on eBay for under $50:

Engine Intake Manifold Valve Actuator Connector SMP For 04, 06, 09-10 Ford F-150
https://ebay.us/m/aIm6QN

And yep, there's pictures of the retainer clip on both the harness & IMRC. I'll stick my endoscope down there one more time, but I'm pretty sure I don't have that clip on my plug.

 

Nice!
Fix it right the first time, on time, was the Ford 'motto for a while
Followed by Quality is job one or job none we called it

 

Well, I got the new cable pigtail installed. While I had the intake out, I tested the IMRC (more accurately, the CMCV) & verified that it was indeed working properly, as described in this post:
https://www.f150forum.com/f4/f150tor...4/#post6160747
Pay special attention to the second animated GIF in that post, because it shows how to activate the arm.

It turns out that the retainer clip was just fine on the old plug. The connector has a rubber weather seal between the red inner housing and the black outer housing. On the old connector, that O-ring had become dislodged and mangled, which prevented the old connector from being pushed completely onto the CMCV's plug. The new connector was a little snug the first couple times I attached it to the CMCV (on my bench), but it got smoother with practice. A dab of silicone grease between the black & red housings might have helped, but I didn't do that.

The new connector was easy to install. I just peeled back the tape wrap, snipped the old connector about 1" from the plug, and used the included heat-shrink butt connectors. There are 2 black wires on the original plug, so I only snipped & re-connected one wire at a time, just to make sure I didn't mix them up. I also wrapped the new wire in split-loom. I didn't measure the new cable length, but I bet the new one is about 8" longer, which was a godsend when it came time to reconnect the plug to the half-installed upper intake manifold. (I also swapped in a longer length of 3/8" vacuum hose for that stupid elbow on the lower back corner.)

We've put about 80 miles in 4 trips on the new setup, and so far, the plug is holding tight with no codes thrown.


New IMRC connector from eBay gained 8" of length.