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<title>Automotive Right to repair - Say Bye Bye, automotive information
and tool lockout Mark Giammalvo</title>
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<center><big><big><b><i><font color="#3333ff">Giammalvo Files</font></i></b></big></big></center>
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<p><i><font color="#000000">Mark Giammalvo specializes in driveability
diagnostics </font><font color="#000000">at his family
business, Sam Giammalvo's Auto Sales & Service, Inc.
in New</font> <font color="#000000">Bedford, MA. </font> </i>
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<p><i><font color="#000000">Mark, who has been with the business for
over 20 years, is an ASE Master Technician
and Parts Specialist. He also holds the ASE L1 certification,
and has an associates degree in business</font>
<font color="#000000">management. <br>
Mark is also a writer for Motor Age Magazine and is the past
secretary of the Alliance of Automotive Service Professionals, (AASP).<br>
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<td
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<p><small><i><font color="#000000">(Printed in the Journal of The Alliance
of Automotive Service Providers, AASP) </font></i></small></p>
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<big><big><b> Say Bye, Bye</b></big></big><br>
<br>
<br>
<div align="left"> The new car dealers must really like me. After all,
I've been sending them more and more cars that I can't work on. Has that
been happening to you? Well, I find its happening all too frequently now.
This week a customer came in reporting his check engine light was on. Other
than that, the car was running fine. The vehicle was a 1999 Mercury Sable
with the 3.0 Duratec Engine. <br>
Connecting the scan tool to the OBDII connector revealed code P1518
"IMRC stuck open." Upon reading this I wondered: "What the heck is an IMRC?"
Turns out that it stands for "Intake Manifold Runner Control." The Duratec
engine has one of those electronically controlled valves on dual intake
runners to increase air flow for improved low-end response. As usual, the
first thing I did was check for service bulletins. Bingo! I found one that
read: "Code P1518 stored with no driveability symptoms." The TSB said that
the movable intake runner control plates can stick open due to sludge buildup.
I will tell you that it takes quite a throttle goosing to open them. I
really don't think this guy was driving when the plates stuck open. This
owner is about 80 and I doubt he ever drives over ½ his age in MPH.
He did mention that he had just got the car back from a body shop. I can
only presume that the final road test was performed by someone that drove
a lot faster than him. That might explain why the plates suddenly opened
and jammed in the sludge now at 38,000 miles. Anyway, the TSB said to verify
that the plates open and close freely. A quick check confirmed that the
plates and linkage were working fine. Guess what the fix is? Reprogram the
PCM to updated calibration software with the Ford Worldwide Diagnostic
System. The new program will cycle the IMRC plates during decelerations
above 40 MPH at every other drive cycle. This is a typical evasive OBDII
test that will occur without any indication to the driver. This will eliminate
any sludge buildup on the plates. Chalk it up as another car that I had
to close the hood and say bye-bye to. Once again, a nice, clean, profitable
job yanked out from under the independent repairers. Not to mention the
fact that it did not make me look very professional having to tell my customer
that I couldn't repair his car. Perhaps the recent EPA rulings will eventually
give us access to this programming information. Something deep inside
me says that it will never happen though. At best, the data and tools will
be probably be too costly for us to afford. The government mandated web
site data access sure isn't cheap. Ford has a payment plan to access
the site at 299.95 per month or 2,499.95 per year. I don't think I'll be
subscribing to that anytime soon. <br>
<br>
Is this ever increasing service lock-out just a product of technology?
Could this lock-out be partially planned at the corporate level to detour
repairs from the independent service market? Food for thought? What do you
think?<br>
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<br>
<b><big>Does information lockout bother you? Do you want
to be forced to have your car serviced at the dealer? Make a difference,
tell your legislators by clicking below: </big></b><br>
<br>
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