Performance issues (update).

[MickS]

I posted a little while back with performance issues. Problem is when accelerating, car was intermittently holding back. (2.5 24v). Sometimes it works fine.

Swapped the plugs but still have the same issues.

Just took the car down a local garage who say that he's 99% sure the catalytic converter is gone/on its way out. They said that the Cougar has three and you have to replace all three.

Quote : £815.00.

Any thoughts on this??

Thx.

[Cougarbloke]

First of all Mick I would put a post in the Problems section in the forum so our friends across the pond in the US can advise you, they might well have experience of this problem.


You're correct in saying the V6 Cougar has 3 cats as it has 2 pre-cats and 1 main cat. If 1 of the pre-cats has gone I suppose you will have to replace the other as not to cause an imbalance but I don't see why you should have to replace the main one. If the main one needs replacing just replace that and leave the 2 pre-cats alone.

TOP GEAR (http://www.topgear.co.uk) sell replacement cats and their prices are very good, a Mondeo V6 for example is only, £123.57......might be worth giving them a ring.

Another thought....If the main cat does need replacing just replace it with a straight though pipe, you'll also get slightly better performance. If you warm the car up thoroughly before the mot it should pass with no problem at all.

[Blackadder]

Mick, this could be totally wrong but I seem to remember reading that when a catalytic converter is on the way out you get a "bad egg" smell (sulphur) :puke:
Just a thought :shrug: :)

[Jason J]

ron dont say that i get that smell when i thrash the tits off of my car!!!
on a side note are you at interford as photographer??

[Blackadder]

Originally posted by: madmale007
ron dont say that i get that smell when i thrash the tits off of my car!!!
on a side note are you at interford as photographer??
Maybe that smell is coming from your passengers :cover: :biggrin:
Can't make Interford this year unfortunately due to hols but have a blast y'all :wave:
....and someone remember to take pics....I wanna see 'em!

[Jason J]

ron its definatly not the passengers(thats a completly different smell;)) oh well ill just have them removed if mine go!!

[cougarfella]

mick i was having problems with my cat last year, not accelerating properly through the range, i took it the local ford dealer who said it was the throttle motor i think. total cost including labour was about £280

hope this helps

MATT

[eurocrisp]

The throttle motor mentioned the IMRC. It stands for Intake Manifold Runner Control. It manages when your secondary intake butterflies open in the LIM. Without them, the car is obsurdly weak.

The secondaries are governed by a big spring to resist opening by vacuum, and the IMRC motor has to fight that spring. The IMRC is located under the plastic shield on top of the motor. If you take the cover off the IMRC, you can get to the motor. Supposedly if you take it out and spin it a few times in each direction, it cleans off the brushes and 8 out of 10 times is good for another 30,000 miles.

That £815 quote sounds like someone who wants to rip you off. If ALL of your catalytic converters really ARE bad, for £200 you can gut the pre-cats (free makeshift headers)and buy a high-flow main cat and have a shop install it.

Edit: and ALL cats make that sulfur smell when you push hard. The cat's job is to trap elemental sulfur from the exhaust gasses. If your car smells like rotten eggs under normal driving conditions, THEN its going bad.

[Jason J]

Originally posted by: Neil


Edit: and ALL cats make that sulfur smell when you push hard. The cat's job is to trap elemental sulfur from the exhaust gasses. If your car smells like rotten eggs under normal driving conditions, THEN its going bad.

thats good then mine only smells when i hammer it!!
;)

[AndyT]

I too believe that it could be the IMRC. I found a couple of weeks ago that my car wasn't pulling through the range and checked the box. Tried the moving of the cogs but didn't help. Bought a new box from Ford for around £100 and fitted it myself. Not too hard but I found that part of the throttle body had to come out to get the cable round the bottom of the manifolds where the secondary movement bar is but it's worth the effort, the car is flying now!! :biggrin:

[MickS]

Thanks for all the advice. Ford have got my car today to run the diags on. Hopefully this should indicate the problem. Will let you all know what the outcome is. :shrug:

[MickS]

Just had the results from Ford. As previously mentioned by other owners on this post the IMRC has shown a fault in the last 40 drives. They tested the unit today but it shows OK, however, when the mechanic took my car out it drove OK, so I'm hoping this is the intermittent fault with the car.

There replacing the unit tomorrow for £170 fitted. I mentioned about spinning the bushes but with the labour on this and the fact my car has done 90,000 miles I thought I'd get a new unit fitted.

Again, I will post if this fixes the issue to help other drivers with similar probs.

[MickS]

Update - Got my car back from ford last wednesday after having the IMRC replaced. Glad to say it's fixed the problem. Car's performance is now superb - well chuffed! Especially as I didn't shell out £810 for the cats to be replaced!

Still got the EGR issue outstanding. This showed up a fault on the ford diags. They said they would change the valve and gasket for £70. They also said this may be causing the engine to be a bit lumpy when holding speed between 1500 - 2000. Anybody got any experiences with the EGR valve.

Thx for everyones advice!