Don't think I related this story before. Please forgive me if I have. Youger son was driving 98 F-150 with the 4.2 V6 (he got the Maxima that I know I posted about - so we have the truck for sale)
In any event, just before he stopped driving it, it produced a check engine light. Was re-set and did it again. Code was 1537 or some such #. That is related to a control that opens butterfly valves in the intake manifold. The idea is good. It has longer and shorter runners in the intake. One provides better low speed drivability and the other better high rpm power. There are vacuum doodads on the back of the engine that open the butterfly valves on acceleration over 3K rpm. The code said one of these was acting up. Not easy to get to. Tom pulled the upper intake in order to get a look. Ultimately pulled the lower too and put new gaskets in as these tend to leak coolant into a cylinder and destroy themselves when one tries to crank them to life. The problem with the vacuum doodad was not the doodad, but was the linkage that connects it to the butterfly valves. A little plastic or nylon connector had broken and let the metal link fall out. Sounds simple. Tom called local parts store and they said "dealer item". So, he ran over to the dealer, and they told him, no parts available. One must buy the whole intake manifold for $1200. He is an apprentice mechanic so he waited until he went in to work on Monday and looked through some catalogues that they have and found the little doodads were available. Got a half dozen of them for $6. Put it back together and it runs fine. Lord knows what it would have cost to have it done in a garage. Randy _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
