on the front side of the lower manifold
This is the escort forum not the ford taurus.
Since you are asking, I assume you have a V6 Duratec powered contour. If this is the case, the IMRC is located just in front of the engine, underneath the IMRC cover, the plastic cover mounted to the engine with several screws and says "Duratec" on it.
The IMRC is held in a metal box in front of the engine. It is covered by the plastic thing, called the IMRC cover by ford. There should be three or four bolts holding the cover on.
The actuator assembly of the IMRC system is attached to the cylinder head/intake manifold, just up of the water pump.
Its under the front valve vanity cover.
its under the plastic manifold cover with duratec v6 on it,
The imrc on a 2002 Mercury Cougar with the V6 Duratec is located just in front of the engine under the plastic IMRC cover, the plastic cover which says Duratec. There should be several screws holding the cover in place.
It is located to the right of the serpentine belt, left of the intake manifold, directly above the water pump. It has two rods coming out of it and it electric controlled, not vacuum.
It is located on the backside of the intake manifold. You have to remove the upper intake manifold to get to it. A common problem I have been told by a couple of mechanics is that if the wiring harness has been undone and reconnected before, that the harness could be draped over the top of the imrc rod, preventing it from moving. Also, it is common that the imrc will get clogged up with gunk and flushing it out with a intake cleaner sometimes will free it up and fix the problem. I had to replace a bushing on my right IMRC actuator rod yesterday. I did not remove any part of the intake manifold. I used a mirror and a flash light to see the part. I had to put tape around my finger sticky side out to hold the bushing as I could only get one finger back there. I used a coat hanger with a hook bent in to it to pull the control rod up into place. It was tough, but the bushing is replaced and everything works fine now. Hope this helps
The intake manifold runner control (IMRC) is beneath the plastic IMRC cover, which is held on by several screws.
Intake manifold runner control aka imrc valve
the imrc is located on the front of the motor under a plastic cover it should be a gray box with a cable coming out of it and will have a 5 wire plug