Fault codes

capricougar

Well-known user
Apr 21, 2009
165
32
co durham
had my 2.5 plugged in and following codes show.....P0340........P0401......P1130.....P1131....WOULD THIS BE RELATED TO A DUFF IMRC???? many thanks.
 
Not directly, no. In order:

P0340 Camshaft Position Sensor circuit (or the sensor itself) fault. Not good.
P0401 EGR valve "insufficient flow" (Your EGR is probably blocked off intentionally. Nothing to worry about).
P1130 Lambda fault.
P1131 Lambda says Bank 1 (the one to the rear of the engine bay) is running lean. Probably related to the P1130 and might be related to the P0340, but not in itself much to worry about other than that bank running a bit hot.

If your IMRC is failing that's a different kettle of fish, but there's dozens of threads here about it so I won't waste everyone's bandwidth by repeating them!

Things to do:

1) Bung your local friendly MOT guy a tenner and get him to test your emissions. This will show up any real Lambda problems. It may also show up a misfire that the CPS fault might be causing. Either way, post the results up here and we can take a look.

2) Replace your CPS itself (15 minute job) clear the code and try again. See if the code reappears. If it does, you probably have an intermittent break in the loom somewhere.

*Edit* Brainfart. Correction above in bold and underlined.
 
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Actually if you don't mind a bit of work that makes you say a lot of bad things, you could swap sensors on the banks and see if the problem swaps banks too. It would be a free test that way.
 
the car runs sweet ,no missing or hesitation no eml lights.but I have noticed the IMRC does no longer operate.it is all connected . so have a replacement one on order.i have just bought the engine obd reader and tried it on car.and it has the codes on it. its like visiting the doctors.......thought there was nothing wrong...
 
I have run with my IMRC disconnected and not seen those codes. There are codes that indicate an IMRC fault, but I think these are only triggered by the IMRC itself. Even then these probably come from the limit switch in the IMRC, that reduces the IMRC's motor current when it reaches its limit, to stop the motor burning out. Otherwise the ECU / PCM is 'blind' to the state of the IMRC. I have seen an error that says 'IMRC Bank 1 Stuck Open', but since there are no separate sensors to tell the status of each bank of secondaries, how could it know ? I suspect this is a legacy thing from a time when such sensors did exist ( on another model before the Cougar we know ). What you see is the result of a Ford cost cutting exercise at some point.

There seems to be three states of DTCs, pending, confirmed and previous ? Under which categories are you seeing these errors ? Some of them persist even after a fault is cleared.

Is it actually possible to see some of those codes ( especially CAMSHAFT ), if they are still 'current', without also seeing an MIL light ? Does your MIL light come on when the ignition is switched on but before starting ? I.e. does the bulb work or has someone removed it ?

I have an Autel AL619 hand held which is convenient, but FORSCan on a laptop with an ELM327 ODB2 to USB gives more info...
 
Will try to erase codes over the next few days and see if they re appear.picked up a replacement IMRC today,if Ijust unplug the imrc what would that cause ? ie loss of power,no difference,or lumpy running.
 
Will try to erase codes over the next few days and see if they re appear.picked up a replacement IMRC today,if Ijust unplug the imrc what would that cause ? ie loss of power,no difference,or lumpy running.

The IMRC is supposed to be there to improve low rpm torque and fuel consumption and to increase higher rpm power. It is supposed to open up the secondary runners, the short manifold pipes, above 3,700 rpm so the engine can 'breathe' better. If you just unplug it, these will stay closed which should just manifest itself as poor performance and being harder / slower to get higher revs. I've heard variously that forcing the secondaries open, which you can do with a piece of wire, causes a corresponding loss of low end torque, lumpy idle and increased fuel consumption. Lumpy running I have experienced myself, but maybe I should reset my ECU so that it can relearn how to deal with this. You can of course expect appropriate DTCs if you disconnect the IMRC, but these are only to be expected. I hope this helps...
 
I've heard variously that forcing the secondaries open, which you can do with a piece of wire, causes a corresponding loss of low end torque, lumpy idle and increased fuel consumption.

Honestly, you won't have heard that here because it's 2/3rds wrong. Okay, you will lose (very) low-end torque - that's a given. But:

1) The idle is completely unaffected. Secondaries open or not, the only air the engine is getting is through the IACV. If the ECU doesn't like what the engine is doing, it'll adjust that valve to suit since the throttle butterfly is closed. Mine happily sits at around 940 or so and is as smooth as a buttered otter. Paul's is the same.

2) No, decreased fuel consumption in driving regimes that would normally involve the IMRC being closed. She's inhaling more air than the engine is demanding, but the ECU doesn't seem to increase the fuelling to compensate, (we'd need to know the ECU's programming to understand why, and that's never gonna happen). She will run lean and slightly hotter, which is - to a point - good for efficiency. We have data that proves this but you'd better make sure your cooling system is up to scratch.

Lumpy running I have experienced myself, but maybe I should reset my ECU so that it can relearn how to deal with this. You can of course expect appropriate DTCs if you disconnect the IMRC...

Yes and yes, mate. Battery off, ECU adaptation reset, then reconnect and do the standard "learning" drive.
 
Theres at least 4 of us I know of who have the IMRC always open

I would never go back to having it working as it 'should'

The low down loss ( which is very minimal) is way worth the top end payoff

No increased MPG or lumpy idle..the engine is always getting more air which can only be a good thing (y)
 
Honestly, you won't have heard that here because it's 2/3rds wrong. Okay, you will lose (very) low-end torque - that's a given. But:

1) The idle is completely unaffected. Secondaries open or not, the only air the engine is getting is through the IACV. If the ECU doesn't like what the engine is doing, it'll adjust that valve to suit since the throttle butterfly is closed. Mine happily sits at around 940 or so and is as smooth as a buttered otter. Paul's is the same.

2) No, decreased fuel consumption in driving regimes that would normally involve the IMRC being closed. She's inhaling more air than the engine is demanding, but the ECU doesn't seem to increase the fuelling to compensate, (we'd need to know the ECU's programming to understand why, and that's never gonna happen). She will run lean and slightly hotter, which is - to a point - good for efficiency. We have data that proves this but you'd better make sure your cooling system is up to scratch.



Yes and yes, mate. Battery off, ECU adaptation reset, then reconnect and do the standard "learning" drive.

Very interesting. I always value someone's personal experience over the theory. I once declined a job as a technical author because I thought they were turning out horse $h1t and to do the job properly would take too long. I think the simple form of that involves a pinch of salt. I'm much happier to hear what you guys have actually found out by experimenting. As luck would have it I can't find the original articles or I would post them. But I did just find something that mentioned the IMRC on autos opening at much higher revs. My issue is that the IMRC works, just at the wrong revs, i.e 6,000rpm and not 3,700rpm. I feel sure there is a fundamental issue somewhere I just don't know how to find it. I'm wondering if I have the wrong ECU or something weird.

What I had read elsewhere said that the long runners 'resonated' at low rpm and allowed a shift in timing which all aided economy. Just reporting what it said, so I inferred the reverse was true causing poorer economy with secondaries wired open.

Yes, I will try resetting the ECU, but there is also an option to do that in FORSCan which is much quicker. It was most definately lumpy last night and the colder weather might be a factor. The last time I drove anything that bad was a capri where the planet gears in the diff were getting caught in the crown wheel. I took the wire off my IMRC to run the Missus to the garage earlier and it was back to ( its ) normal, i.e. at least no longer lumpy.

I'll try it again at the weekend...