IMRC module analysis and repair (Ford Focus ST170)

Fixing an IMRC (Intake Manifold Runner Control valve) module from Ford Focus ST170. Exploring what's inside. Testing all the electronic components in it (the TO220 power Darlington NPN transistor, small PNP SMD transistor, diodes, resistors, capacitors, motor and contacts). Finding the faulty component and replacing it.
UPDATE: It's back in the car, it seems to work, no errors, passed the emissions test.
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[@Its-07]

Your method of teaching is awesome ❤

[@airmann90]

Amazing how much the control electronics have changed in recent years ( miniaturization and more microcontrollers) . Although I actually figured this was more mid to late 90s era. Newer than I expected

[@RK-kn1ud]

It was probably built for a car in the '90s and reused later on. I suspect that because for the reasons you say, but also because the gears are metal! It if was newer, the gears would be broken plastic and we'd be throwing it away!

[@westelaudio943]

​@@RK-kn1ud Yes it looks like bulletproof 80s/90s tech.

[@richardjones38]

@@westelaudio943 My 1st thought was 'this looks like 80's technology

[@LawpickingLocksmith]

There are so many ways to skin a cat but congrats to this one! Out of ALL them technical electronics channels your cat is by far the prettiest!

[@rkan2]

Yes! Car repair content! I was already a fan of the Czech 2nd channel videos ;) I watch a lot of car repair in general and was always hoping you could do more. There is so much stuff to repair where there is some really simple faults with these 80s-2010s car modules. After that everything is potted to the max or fails otherwise where you cannot fix it so often anymore.

[@MadFordEngineering]

I had a fault on my ST170 , the contacts where corroded, cleaned them up, and boom works perfect, no engine light. awesome video , ive subbed

[@EJEuth]

An important lubrication was missing - one that promotes a lot of friction reduction - is lubricating the cable inside its sleeve. You would notice the cable then would respond much better, where the same spring would be enough. The spring seems to be enough to maintain the cable in tension mode and avoid ‘compressing’ and buckling it inside its coiled sleeve. It will also reduce the tendency for corrosion, which would ultimately break the cable, but before that, the cable friction would increase so much that the device becomes stuck and defective. The “friction” of the motor seems to be the holding torque of the permanent magnets. Motor’s bearing friction is reduced by lubrication as you done. Motor’s holding torque and friction values are also MULTIPLIED by N:1 by the gear train, as seen from the cable side - so lubrication helps even more, but just for the ‘friction’ parcel, not the magnetic, obviously.

[@aaronbrandenburg2441]

Regarding the motor in this device that brand of motor is pretty high quality stuff generally I've not seen a case where something I was working on was due to the Johnson motor itself usually being the problem some other part as far as I have seen well there was something that was just corroded to heck but that was not exactly the fault of the device other than improper install there was can't remember what it was but something was installed improperly and world of being drowned AKA full water and corrosion set in. If it had been turned 90° that would not have been as big of a possibility! There are some really decent Motors out there and occasionally have extraction of motor or something that was no longer viable and still to this day the motor works! For example I got a used several times over Montgomery Ward dryer blower assembly that one up being used for ventilation ducts extraction more than in one place sold that to someone else later when no longer needed even what up sometimes using the existing pulley for power takeoff for other reasons even sometimes while doing double duty for a dust extraction. Believe it or not even if someone I know had an old Kirby and they were asking if there was some way that could do a tool based on that it was no longer suitable for is a vacuum due to messed up wheelbase portion. That was beyond repair but it still lived on. Shop Duty and also running other tools. One of which was so it's kind of best sword of like a belt sander except for a specific purpose for can't remember what for.

[@kapioskapiopoylos7338]

i typicaly won't comment on how bad other peoples' soldering is, but man what the actual flux are these joints on the connector? 15:45

[@EJEuth]

A satisfying experience to watch this troubleshooting - and the Darlington & diode tests too.

[@German_byte]

Nice to see devices from previous videos being used to test this one

[@ZaneDaMagicPufferDragon]

Nice work finding the faulty components and replacing them with better ones!!!!

[@daikiryoku]

The intake flap has a strong spring that returns the flap as well as the cable. The spring in the module is just to take up the slack.

[@aaronnorman9755]

The diode’s voltage drop went wild

[@kolinevans9127]

The gain is over 9000.

[@kennethfrazee2540]

This is cool!! My svt/st170 started having this apparently common malfunction

[@MrTurboturbine]

The spring on the throttle body is resresponsible for returning the whole mechanism, the smaller spring in the box also helps with back lash.

[@Discretesignals]

It doesn't connect to the throttle. It's used to control the intake manifold runner flaps.

[@amoiwikoytroiscentrente3678]

remember to lubricate the inside of the cable sheath

[@DiodeGoneWild]

I did this off camera, I forgot to mention it.

[@iamdarkyoshi]

Friend and I recently got a cheap ford explorer, the 4x4 control module and radio had a blown fuse. We're thinking the previous owner tried to jumpstart it with the leads reversed. The radio survived with a new fuse but the 4x4 module needed to be replaced. The caps in it were leaking but repairing them didn't fix it, so we're thinking the reverse polarity killed it.

[@Discretesignals]

That's what the diodes are for in that unit. For reverse polarity and over voltage protection.

[@KeritechElectronics]

"IMRC, not IMSAI" Nice piece of mechatronics, it may not be as mind-blowing as these avionic computers CuriousMarc showed, but still a lot oof fun to watch. That big Allen Bradley style resistor is certainly nice. Having a Bowden cable, the device could be circuit-bent to make an electronically controlled bike gear hub (like SRAM Spectro S7 etc.), it's only a matter of matching the cable pull and indexing.

[@DrHouse-zs9eb]

Very nice content! I really like all your automotive videos! 😊

[@amkp40technology]

Thank you for your valuable videos ❤️❤️❤️🙏🏻

[@ats89117]

This is more like DiodeGoneOpenCircuit...

[@AliAkbarEE]

You are so sweet and soft spoken

[@ashwinkumar7052]

I like the way of you'r talking 😊

[@Killerspieler0815]

nice! Especially into day´s more and more scarcity world it´s good to get stuff cheap repaired with standard components

[@electrickal1]

I repaired one of those on my sisters ST170 about 10 years ago when it stopped and set a fault code for the inlet runner control. Can't remember exactly what was wrong with it, but I do remember buying a damaged one off eBay and repairing hers with the good parts from the eBay one.

[@hullinstruments]

if I can find a cheap way to ship them... I can send you more ecm and car electronic modules than you would ever want. Damn I could probably fill up a huge box every few weeks A buddy of mine runs an industrial scrap yard and they get a few dozen automobiles per month. Sometimes they drive the damn things in there in good condition. His 2014 Jeep Liberty has been running for three years and somebody drove it in there after a family member passed away. He paid 500 bucks for that thing. They do mostly industrial salvage and only get a few cars here and there. They don't really like to take them. There was a 5 series BMW, range Rover, all kinds of crazy things over the last year or two. And he just crushes them the minute they come in. They're not interested in dealing with that stuff. And the whole place is just a tax shelter anyway to be honest. He lets me come in there whenever I want I used to spend several hours a day several days per week just hanging out around there to see what these industrial manufacturers and government entities bring in. But it's a full-time job just keeping up with and organizing that stuff. So I quit. Saw a government hydroelectric dam contractor bring a literal truckload of Lincoln TIG welders. Half of them still wrapped in Saran wrap brand new. It's just cheaper for them to scrap stuff and write it off on taxes sometimes. I get to buy things for 4 pennies per pound Amazon is the worst. We have a local Amazon warehouse and they scrap like a dozen forklifts and tuggers every year. Brand-new high-dollar battery powered ones full of electronics. The heatsink on those damn forklifts weighs 150 lb and it's one huge beautiful piece of milled billet aluminum. So you can imagine the power electronics on a lift like that if it has a heatsink that big. For some reason they scrap them after one year and buy new ones even though they are still damn like knew when they do it. It's sickening honestly

[@zx8401ztv]

Worth while trying a new diode :-D Your cat is very sarcastic... i like your cat lol. I often test power diodes with 1-3 amps passing through it, silicon can fail in an odd way. Get it hot to see if it breaks down.

[@Boromoro]

I was wondering what that was in my grandparents garage!

[@ElectronicInspiration]

Ive got a crazy idea. How about a cable that goes from the accelerator pedal to the intake manifold!!

[@superdau]

When you pulled out the heat sink compound I expected you to fill the whole thing up like it was grease 😉. I was quite surprised when you put just a little dab on the heat sink/transistor. Also your cat agrees with me! 😅

[@solidsnake123100]

You should apply the silicone around to cover to prevent moisture to get into the imrc. Also this box is located above the catalyst convertor so high temps are there, not good for electronics inside.

[@joblessalex]

This man talks in like three different keys all at once.

[@SilvaD702]

That module looks identical to the one in my friends 99 Ford Taurus

[@ruben_balea]

For safety I would check the alternator voltage regulator and alternator output voltage, for loose battery terminals and so on, I suspect the voltage went too high and the zener clamped the output of the 1N5404 to ground frying it. If something is still wrong the next victim can be the ECM/ECU, ABS, SRS Airbag... Or at least see if it has any fault code stored related to the battey voltage. If the car had a dead battery (or no battery) and was jump started that could have caused a big voltage spike when the auxiliary battery was disconnected and classic "transformer and diode" dumb battery chargers are also prone to killing electronic modules.

[@gordonwelcher9598]

My 2001 Mercury Cougar that had one of these modules had a bad alternator that was charging at 15 volts and the battery was dry. It was too hard to change so I just changed the battery. This was cheaper. Everything worked great for 2 years until I had to scrap it because the frame was too rusty. I was very happy with my repair, the radio played really loud and the lights were nice and bright.

[@ruben_balea]

@@gordonwelcher9598 😂

[@DiodeGoneWild]

I only had this module in my hands, not the car ... Otherwise I'd probably check the voltage. I've already seen over 18V coming from an alternator at idle RPM.

[@ruben_balea]

@@DiodeGoneWild I know, it was a recommendation to the car owner.

[@German_byte]

Thanks

[@rkan2]

15:20 - could the transistor without glue now vibrate in the car and destroy the tracks on the board?

[@DiodeGoneWild]

I hope it won't. Both the transistor and the board are tightened to the housing. The board is small, not much space for flexing vibration.

[@ernstoud]

Remember that a screw is holding it tight.

[@rkan2]

​@@ernstoudYeah, the board has 5 screws so maybe it will be ok...

[@snakezdewiggle6084]

Lubrication, Graphite Dry Lub in the Cable Sleeve and drum. ;)

[@danielohana9008]

amazing well done

[@andymouse]

I take it that it worked !....cheers.

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Yes, it works ;)

[@papanyanz]

Hmm, strange that you didn't reveal what the function of that diode was for, that's the most interesting part.

[@christianrazvan]

More of this! 👍

[@JackosJingles]

It's a pain. My car has been through more than one. Getting the cable back on is a pain as well

[@d.k.9406]

Danke! Thanks!

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Thank you ;)

[@AKG58Z]

You should make a new video about transistors like you were telling how to check if its good or doggy.

[@andymouse]

Check back I'm sure there's a couple of videos on the subject.

[@jp040759]

Loved the testing of the darlington tranny. Great detailed description of test.

[@douro20]

Voltcraft has gone high-end on the meter side... On Mazda engines the runner length control is actuated by a servo right on the intake manifold. This solution seems a bit outdated...

[@masterboro1987]

Hello from Ukraine 🤘

[@zenelectronicsMD]

very well explained...

[@bentboybbz]

I think these are intake manifold runner control? Thanks For The Video!

[@mohamedantri9433]

Good teaching think you si....can you explain an treadmill pawer supply? ❤❤❤❤❤

[@MrBuck295]

Was it put back on the car ? did it work ?

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Now it's back in the car and it seems to work ;). No errors and the car passed the emission test.

[@Edmorbus]

Nice work

[@SimonBauer7]

really weird that the cable connecting this is so long. really makes you wonder why they didnt just use an old school throttle cable.

[@JackassChaba]

Zdravim Danyku :) psal sem vam mail ohledne opravy modulu 👍 dobra prace

[@michaelfisher9671]

The description doesn’t say how it turned out! And if still like to know if your work on your sister’s EGR worked

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Well, this IMRC is still waiting to be put back into the Ford. But it will hopefully be done before the video goes public. The EGR in my sister's car fixed over 2 years ago still works ;).

[@robertatpierpontbeach]

Please tell your cat that the formula is buckets of solder paste, not buckets of heatsink paste😊

[@michaelfisher9671]

@@DiodeGoneWild excellent. I can finally relax. I’ve been worrying about the EGR for two years! OK not really.

[@aaronbrandenburg2441]

With that sond contact posiin that is not present. This might be uesd in a similor aplacation that may have 2 or mor posoons or limet stops. Not likley mor tjan 2 hoever In abiton to having sene soumting along contacks like that as limmit switches. Somtimes was a rather intresting set up. As sort of a reud mentrey incoder with a cam for 4 destint posions! Essentially two bit binary! Another time pretty much similar contacts. But a different type of arrangement of the cam! A home position and just counting pulses the other contact again very similar switch contacts I don't think this was Automotive right I don't remember where I was saying this but it was very clever and very similar. Definitely those contacts were designed for more than one application possibly other actuators would use the second one as I said it would be driven both ways both serving is limit switches more than likely would probably be the reason for the design of having the potentially second contact in some application

[@ShakeelAhmed-ft2mx]

Bro how convert adopter in to charger

[@RooMan93]

"STURDY CORPORATION" XD

[@celsoneves2368]

Cool jewel

[@filips7158]

The only isue is that automotive parts are IP67, but once you open them they are IP trash.

[@gordonwelcher9598]

I had a module similar to this in a 2001 Mercury Cougar 2.5L 24 valve. I could not find anthing wrong with it. Then I discovered that the ground was open. Repaired the ground but it still did not work. Reset the fault with OBD2 reader still not working. It was not getting the signal from the ECM to actuate. It was too expensive to change the ECM so I lived with it. I was very sad, the top speed was only about 150 kmph. Later on the battery was disconnected for some reason and everything started to work. The top speed returned to 200 and now I was able to get to work on time.

[@mihaescuemil463]

15:25👍

[@elanunaki4686]

turn on the subtitles please

[@andyfraser5876]

Did you pre-tension the return spring?

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Pre-tensioning it one extra turn would be way too much, it would completely tighten around the shaft before even reaching the end of the travel.

[@martinleska4292]

Sprig in module only prevents some backlash o pretension to cable when it s not connected. I think there is another main harder spring directly on throttle flap which returns flap closed after deenergizing motor and keeps flap closed and prevent motor runaway if cable snaps.

[@markrainford1219]

That's a very melodic accent.

[@biasteknik]

Nice ..

[@fouzaialaa7962]

did it work ?

[@DiodeGoneWild]

It still wait for the owner to reinstall it and tell me how it went...

[@ogrelg4131]

без обратной инженерии это видео потеряло большую честь своей ценности. Электрическая схема где? Это же очень интересно, что там делает микросхема управления соленоидом?

[@Dont_Gnaw_on_the_Kitty_1]

What the heck is IMRC?

[@llanogrande5890]

hello friend I really liked your video where are you greetings

[@gelo1238]

Didnt he unwind the spring?

[@DiodeGoneWild]

I've put it back the way it was. It couldn't have been 1 turn tighter, because it would tighten itself around the shaft before reaching the end of the travel. I tried.

[@gelo1238]

​@@DiodeGoneWild I dont really remember why i though about it. I was probably tired but whatever. I have no idea what is purpose of this spring, bowden cables usually works under tension and this spring push it instead, but it also depends on type of the cable. There is probably another spring on the other end. Anyway thanks for replying to my stupid comment hah. I really love your context, you're doing amazing work!

[@orangmakan]

man, clean up your soldering work before closing the case!

[@carlosaugustorj]

😎😎👍👍👍

[@anonymoususer6448]

It was a Diode Gone Wild: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3ump6yFpJZ2o7s 😲

[@mothanagharbe513]

99٪ of cars modules are like that

[@erikziak1249]

My Škoda 130L works fine without any of this. Another "kurvítko" found in modern cars.

[@LMB222]

This looks like a student project… I'm not buying a Ford.

[@mothanagharbe513]

Bro, maybe it's an old model Because Ford cars have a good electronics installed

[@KACPER050599]

well, at least this is repairable and not potted in epoxy or something

[@s8wc3]

I don't see the problem. Did you want more SMDs with that? User-repair protection schemes? The gears are even some form of metal, I was surprised.

[@MrGuano11]

​@@mothanagharbe513it's from 2008 atleast It's a really cheap looking assembly. It's hard to believe OEMs charge a fortune for these parts

[@user-kr8tp3ko8z]

@@MrGuano11 still using metal gears and heatsink for the transistor is good.... some manufacturers make it look fancy and modern but everything inside is plastic and electronics are intentionally ran at higher temperatures so they will prematurely wear. Sometimes simple things work better

[@brentonk461ismylostaccount]

Same quality as a cheap kid's Toy

[@SilentServiceCode]

What?

[@electroumit]

Nice work, but you have to stop stretching the last syllable of the words. It's really disgusting that you do this.

[@andrewprettyquick2070]

I knew it didn't have a chance when the power supply came out.