I'm closing out this thread with some additional information some of you, specifically with 2002 4.6L V-8 engines, might find interesting.
I had a hell of a time trying to locate just a replacement rubber elbow. I did a little research on the web concerning rubber elbows used on vaccum systems on Ford products. I discovered this is a very common problem not just in Explorers but all Ford autos using the rubber elbows. I don't know why you can not buy just the rubber elbow from Ford. They make you buy the entire assembly that uses the rubber elbow.
I went to my local Ford dealer's parts department thinking that if I have to buy the whole assembly then I'll just do it and consider myself lucky since I was able to self diagnose and repair my rough idle problem so easily. The parts department punched in on their computer parts inventory system the year, model, engine type and even the VIN number to pull up a diagram of my engine's emission control system with parts diagram. It looks like this:
They ordered the assembly labelled 6C324 insisting that this was what I needed and pointed out that the drawing even shows the rubber elbow plugging into the throttle body. When the part arrived it was ridiculously obvious that that assemble was not correct. Thinking it must be the other assembly in the picture labelled 6A664 they ordered that one. When the second assembly arrived it was also obvious that it would not fit my engine. They were baffled and said they didn't have a clue as to why neither assembly would fit. In the end they suggested I go to a junk yard and retreive a rubber elbow off a junked Explorer.
I called a couple of junk yards but no one had a 4.6L V-8. I then went to NAPA and Carquest in search of a rubber elbow. Neither place had them and neither place had a clue as to where to get one expect to insist that my local Ford dealer was the only place with such replacement parts.
I ended up going to a different Ford dealer to see if they were a little more on top of their game. I ended up going throught the same "riga-ma-roll" as I did with the first Ford dealership. Both dealerships were just baffled and at a loss as to an explanation as to why they could not find the right replacement parts. Finally, a fella at the second dealership got the idea of trying to locate an engineering number off of the original assembly. Thankfully, with a little digging around in my engine compartment he was able to cut off a tag on the original assembly with an engineering ID.
Confident he was easily going to figure out this mystery he plugged in the engineering ID into his computer only to find that this number doesn't exist for a 2002 Explorer. In fact, for some reason he was unable to locate the actual part number for this assembly. A crossed referenced part number to the engineering ID would have allowed him to get a list from the computer of all the cars that use the assembly. In the end, on a whim, he walked back to the parts bins that contained a hodge-podge collection of emission control vacuum assemblies and started looking for one that matched my original. By some stroke of luck he actually found an assembly matching that of the one on my engine.
Finally, not only did we have what I needed but we also had the part number of the assembly. The parts guy punched the identified part number in the computer to find out what cars used this assembly. To our amazement this is what was displayed:
Mustang - years 2002, 2003, 2004
Explorer/Mountaineer - years 2003, 2004
The only thing I can think of is that my vehicle is a March 2002 build and therefore has a 2003 engine configuration. I've heard of mid-year production changes but this was ridiculous because the drawings on the Ford computer systems didn't reflect this change nor were there any notes. What is really disappointing is that the Ford dealership pulled up the emission control engineering drawing for a 2003 Explorer and it looked identical to a 2002. Anyone with at least a 2002 or 2003 V-8 that uses the pictured PCV vacuum tube assembly is going to have the same problem I had locating a replacement.
If any of you have a 2002, 2003, or 2004 Explorer or Mountaineer with a 4.6L V-8 and are having the same issue with replacing the PCV vacuum tube assembly and it looks like mine you'll want to have your dealer to order:
Part Number 2L2Z 6A664 BA
Motorcraft KCV-129
Engineering ID Number 2L2E 6K817-BC
In the end I'm glad I replaced the entire assembly. The rubber fitting that plugs onto the PCV value on the other side of the tube was starting to deteriorate too. Because of my troubles, the parts guy at the second Ford dealership sold me the vacuum tube assembly for $16.17 instead of charging me the normal $28.76 price. He also sold me a Motocraft PCV valve for $9.05 instead of charging me the normal $16.09 price. I figured that with 91K miles I might as well change the PCV valve while changing out the vacuum tube assembly.
Lastly, the X is running normal...no rough idle problems and no Check Engine light. Who would have thought that that hole in the rubber elbow on that vacuum line could cause those 7 Check Engine codes?
