F-150 Trouble Code P1519

graygun · Jul 26, 2018

"Intake Manifold Runner Control Fault/Stuck Closed"... Maybe some of you guys are familiar with it. It's behind the intake manifold,and looks unreachable.

2003 F-150
4.2L V-6
165K miles

Symptom: Sometimes it will cause erratic operation,kind of like a misfire. I've only noticed a problem twice in the 2,000 miles/one month I've had the truck. Driving on I-10 at 70-80 mph...first time it was for about two seconds...second time it was longer and I varied throttle inputs and floored it for about 10 seconds and it was good for the remaining 90 miles of that trip.

ambient temps were 90s to 100s

Common cause is the plastic grommets break due to age and heat which causes the actuating rod(s) to fall away.

Mike J · Jul 26, 2018

I had a 2000 F-150 with that engine. I don't recall ever having that issue. FWIW when I let it go in 2016 it had 390,000 on the original engine & transmission. A/C hadn't worked in a long time but it ran fine. My sister-in-law has it now. She has 18 acres near here. I gave it to her to use as an oversized wheelbarrow as I didn't think I could sell it for much with that mileage. Once you get that straightened out that truck should have a lot of life left in it.

wolfsong · Jul 26, 2018

I very much regret letting my 2005 F150 go. 5.3 Tritan V8 with 250,000 miles on it. Ate gasoline like a jet fuel race car, but ran like a champ. Replaced upper and lower ball joints, other than that, a battery here, a clutch fan there. I got $1500 and and a new S&W M&P AR-15 for it. Sold it to a good friend 3 years ago. He is still using it to pull his pressure washing trailer, and has made a couple of trips to southern California and Reno and back. We've pulled his 30 foot pontoon party barge behind it countless times and still use it for deer hunting in the Sierra mountains. I miss that truck.

Hope you figure out that bad code.

Dan in MI · Jul 26, 2018

I had a mini van with the 4.2. You have described exactly what is and what the issue is.

On the van the clips are at the front of the engine. A re you sure they aren't on the truck?

Ok maybe a tad more info. What happens is the intake has long and short runners. Each is used based on engine speed and load. I may have this backwards as it has been awhile. At higher speeds the IMRC flips to the longer runners. If the clips break then it won't flip to the long runners. With short runners you get too much air and generally spark knock occurs.

The clips are very similar to old door lock rod clips.

graygun · Jul 27, 2018

Dan in MI said:
I had a mini van with the 4.2. You have described exactly what is and what the issue is.

On the van the clips are at the front of the engine. A re you sure they aren't on the truck?

Ok maybe a tad more info. What happens is the intake has long and short runners. Each is used based on engine speed and load. I may have this backwards as it has been awhile. At higher speeds the IMRC flips to the longer runners. If the clips break then it won't flip to the long runners. With short runners you get too much air and generally spark knock occurs.

The clips are very similar to old door lock rod clips.

I just saw this video on YT and it shows the IMRC actuator behind the intake manifold. I wish it was in the front.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhIq9lsKvOU

Mine is not hydrolocked like his was (a problem with the earlier 4.2,from what I've recently read).

Dan in MI · Jul 27, 2018

You probably don't need the actuator. Just replace the clips for the rods.

it does look like the truck has a different upper intake than the van.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cauu2t_Ru24

You can just wire them open. You may notice a little less tip in performance that way.