I recently bought an 2001 F-150 4.2L that I have been restoring the engine and mechanics on . The truck had idle problems , surging etc. and some vacuum leaks , long story short i pulled the upper intakes and discovered the Intake manifold runner valve was missing the short linkage ( left side looking at firewall/passenger ) , after many searches i finally found a set of linkages , bought and installed them..
The Question ( finally )
With the linkages installed and the motor cam turned all the way counter-clockwise the butterflies in the intake manifold on the driver side are all the way closed but the ones on the passenger side are open almost an 1/8" , I see no way to adjust these and find it hard to believe they would be different, the linkages I bought, the drivers side is exactly the same as what was originally on there and obviously I have no way to compare the other one since it was missing ( the questionable/open side) ,

IS THIS CORRECT OR DOES IT MATTER ? or am i missing some way to adjust these for total closure on both sides ?

I suppose they could be set differently for length/flow reasons but it just seems wrong to me.

any guidance would be appreciated before i put this back together an end up with bank 1-2 lean again error codes etc,etc .. :)

 

Pictures would hep. And more info.

How many miles? Has anyone else worked on it? Might be that somebody has hacked something together or you have the wrong actuator motor on it. It is the electric motor right, not the vacuum actuator?

Besides that, are you replacing the isolator bolt gormmets, or the bolts themsleves that have new grommets? That's where the vacuum leaks originate. The IMRC can cuase running problems, as I understand things, although it's really not very clear. All that it does is increase runner volume for high air flow situations.

 

Are the ports in the intake clean?

If the mileage in your profile is correct, I’d be shocked if there wasn’t oil residue all inside that intake. It’s possible those ports are blocked and not letting those valves close fully.

 

Expanding on Johnny P.'s point - do the valves close completely with the linkage disconnected? You didn't say.

 

mechanically they open and close fine and easily by hand.

 

it looks like the original to me , the crud build up on the mount and case suggest it has been on there a very long time,

the thing i really need and can not seem to find is the exact length of the smaller linkage , or if the engineering of the valve air flow DOES leave the the on side open a bit compared to the other

 

Well , I am embarrassed at how simple a fix it was and for not figuring it out before i asked.
For anyone else that runs across this because of a linkage falling out and missing here was my solution.

1. Remove motor and replace ALL 4 bushings with new 2-motor and 2-manifold
2. Install the short linkage and reinstall the motor making sure the motor cam is turned all the way counter clock wise and also making sure the butterflies on the passenger side are all the way closed. ( clean up , best you can before, ports and such if you are not removing the intake manifold watch for hard debris )
3. hand tighten the 3 motor mounting bolts.
4. close the driver side butterflies and insert the long linkage at the motor, eyeball the other end and see if it is long or short for sliding it into the manifold bushing
5. ( KEY POINT, OBVIOUS TO ALL YOU NON-IDIOTS, UNLIKE ME, OUT THERE ) bent the long linkage at the 2 elbows to size the linkage to slide freely into the bushing , you will probably have to remove from the runner motor a couple times to get it perfect. this should require just a hair, mine was off 3/8" short, but took just a very slight bend to adjust.
6. check that both sets of butterflies are still closed and final tighten the 3 motor mounts. There is about 1/4" of slack in the mounting holes so you can adjust a hair with that also.
7. DONE

I haven't tried this yet this yet because i have the fuel rail removed but if you have a diagnostic tool you can probably cycle this runner motor on and off to check that it works correctly . I will be trying this after i get the top cleaned off and my new fuel injectors installed so i can reconnect the battery.

PS: if anyone needs part numbers for bushings or a linkage kit just ask , not sure of posting vendor names or links and such in here .

 

Good job
I was going to post about the bushings that wear out
Figured you'd find them with a good visual inspection of the flaps
happy motoring