Codes P1537 & P0172

[jparis]

Good Afternoon,
My check engine light came on once again and revealed the trouble codes P1537 IMRC stuck open bank 1 & P0172 mixture too rich bank 1.

I cannot find a vacuum leak anywhere.

I assume that the first code caused the second, so my question is can the IMRC actuator be "rebuilt" or does it have to be replaced? It's not cheap! $297 quoted at the local Ford dealership.

Thanks in advance for any help!

I failed to mention this is a 98 3.8L with 83K miles.

[Johnny Mullet]

The actual runners under the intake manifold may be plugged with carbon/dirt.

To test the IMRC, pull the throttle wide open and watch for the IMRC to work. If it opens up on throttle, then the IMRC is fine.

[jparis]

Thanks for the reply, it didn't work when I did the test so I did the human vacuum check with a piece of hose. It worked.

That kind of told me I didn't look hard enough for the vacuum leak. I took the cowling off so I could really get to the vacuum hoses and found one that looked fine but when I took it off literally disentigrated in my hand.

Replaced it, erased the codes (with the code reader), been through several drive cycles and so far so good. No more rough idle either.

Thanks! Reading through this forum has been extremely educational / helpful!

[way2old]

Thanks for the fix post. We appreciate the kind words. To help others is why we are here. Come on back and be a regular. If you read something that you have experienced, post your outcome so someone else reading through may find a fix for their problem. Good luck on the van.

[Beefstar]

I am goin through the same thing, however, I was quoted $200 for each actuator, $200 to "diagnose" (like this means to do something more than all the TSB's tell the mechanics), and 6 hrs labor totaling more than $1,000....these guys are nuts. I am buying the manual and doing the entireplenum overhaul myself......In my case BOTH actuators are not working, so I know that the problem is that the intake is sucking air somewhere else and losing the vacuum....there is no way both of these go bad in perfect synchronicity! Gonna do some research and do the work myself....good luck. If you find out anything, let me know!

[Beefstar]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet

The actual runners under the intake manifold may be plugged with carbon/dirt.

To test the IMRC, pull the throttle wide open and watch for the IMRC to work. If it opens up on throttle, then the IMRC is fine.

Johnny, would you happen to have a list of the parts that I would need to do the overhaul to fix the P537/1538 code issue...In my case, the controls are not stuck, the plastic inserts are fine....I just lost vacuum....I would still replace the actuators since I have 89K miles and that job seems to be inevitable, anyway.....what else do I need? I am told O rings as well etc...???

[wiswind]

On my '96 3.8L, BOTH actuators are fed from 1 vaccum line from the IMRC vaccum solonoid. What this means is that 1 solonoid can develop a leak, causing BOTH actuators to not work.
You can test each actuator by starting the engine, and then removing 1 actuator's vaccum line at a time......and placing a finger over the vaccum line end. The one that you remove the line from, and place your finger over the line.....and the other actuator pulls in.....is the defective one.

About the best price you will find for a new actuator will be at http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...?siteid=214072