code p0401 after changing spark plugs

[LMHmedchem]

code p0401 after changing spark plugs (changed out the ERG sensor)

Hello,

I have recently changed out my spark plugs. The engine wasn't running perfect afterwards, I thought because I had been in a rush and forgot to gap the plugs. I am still in the process of fixing that, but the engine is running decently at about 13mph for around town driving. Today I hooked up an ODB link and it gave me p0401 Insufficient EGR Flow. I am wondering if I didn't get something reconnected properly after having the air intake off to get the passengers side plugs. I have had this in the shop a few times recently and there were no codes right before I changed out the plugs. The only problem I still notice is that it seems to rev a bit higher than it should when I step on the gas from a dead stop or any other significant acceleration.

Suggestions would be appreciated.

LMHmedchem

 

[lincolnshibuya]

the EGR sensor is a common issue, replacing it with a cheap BWD fixes that.

 

[LMHmedchem]

the EGR sensor is a common issue, replacing it with a cheap BWD fixes that.

I don't mind paying the $30 for a new part, but I think it's suspicious that this appeared just after I had the air intake assembly removed to change out the spark plugs. Do you think there is any chance I just didn't get the hoses back in place quite right? The air intake is right in front of the ERG sensor if I remember right, so it's possible that I hit it and dislodged something. I suppose I could have broken the sensor but I don't remember any accidents. I guess I should check all of the hoses and such anyway.

There is about a $20 difference between the Motocraft part and the BWD. I have heard that the non-Motocraft EGR sensors have a high failure rate. Do you think it makes sense to spend the extra for the Motocraft part, or should I just use the BWD and not care if I have to replace it if it breaks. Even the Motocraft part is only $50, so it's not all that big of a hit either way.

LMHmedchem

 

[lincolnshibuya]

its close to the air intake but in no way it will be affected from removing the air intake (it's closer to the passenger side firewall) it's hard to pull this sensor out and the other way it could fail is if the steel(copper?) pipes are broken or cracked. it's an emission device and in my opinion doesn't need to be motorcraft, i have this for over 40 or 50k (can't remember) and has no issues with BWD. in my case it failed right after i fixed the vacuum leak (the famous pcv elbow hose going into the throttle body) so that might be related to failure. nothing wrong with motorcraft, if i have the extra $$ i would go for it but i only put the cheapest chinese part on my mounty..

 

[LMHmedchem]

Well I went through things today when I finished setting the gaps on my spark plugs and I found that there was a split in the elbow that connects the passengers side vacuum hose to the valve cover. This is the smaller of the two hoses that runs into the air intake assembly. I fixed this with some hose repair tape since I couldn't find a replacement at advance auto or autozone. Once I repaired the leak, my p0401 code is gone.

I can't seem to find that part anywhere. I probably don't know the proper name for the part, or else it's hard to find one. Does anyone know where I can pick up a new elbow?

It's a good thing that it was the elbow and not the sensor because I could by no means get the old sensor out of the two pieces of rubber tubing. I tried for a few minutes but I was afraid I would break it. If I ever do have to replace it, I think I will have to cut the rubber tubing.

LMHmedchem

 

[swshawaii]

Same elbow? (KCV-129 or KCV-240) See post #11+

https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217062&highlight=p0171

https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1183398

 

[LMHmedchem]

Same elbow? (KCV-129 or KCV-240) See post #11+

https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217062&highlight=p0171

https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1183398

It's hard to say looking at these pictures. The hose on my engine doesn't look anything like these. There is no insulation covering the hose and there is no fitting on the end that inserts into the air intake. The hose on my engine actually looks longer than the hose in these pictures. The hose on my engine with the bad elbow is the hose from the drivers side of the engine. The other, larger, hose on my engine looks more like the one in the pictures.

In my earlier post, I said this was the hose from the passengers side. That was incorrect, the hose is from the drivers side, meaning the right side when looking at the engine from the front.

It's too bad the pictures from this thread are no longer there.
https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217062&highlight=p0171

LMHmedchem

 

[LMHmedchem]

I replaced the split elbow with this part,

Dayco/Hose (Heater) ($6)

that was mentioned in another thread. The part above fit perfectly. I did use two hose clamps to secure it. I wasn't sure that the fitting on the valve cover was quite tight enough without a clamp. It may have been fine, but I would rather use a couple of 0.50 hose clamps and be sure. The elbow is a bit bigger than the original and could have been cut down a bit but I didn't bother. It seems to fit fine as it.

If I ever do need to replace the sensor, can I get replacement sections of the short pieces of hose that the sensor fits into? I didn't have any luck getting the old sensor out. There is a plastic zip tie around one of the hoses that is used to secure the wiring for the connector that goes to the sensor. I guess that may be on tight enough that it is acting like a hose clamp. I don't want to cut it off since I am not replacing the sensor, but I assume that I will need to replace that sensor at some point and if cutting the zip tie doesn't free it up, I will need to cut the short pieces of hose to get the sensor out. I don't want to do that until I know I can get replacements. That is the kind of thing that can be very easy to find, or very difficult.

LMHmedchem

 

[LMHmedchem]

Well my p0401 code is back, so it looks like I need to keep looking for an EGR sensor problem. Now I would really like to know if anyone knows where you can get replacements for the short hoses that that EGR connects into. I don't think I will be able to do the repair without replacements for these.

I can find a variety of links for "EGR Pressure Feedback Hose",

Tech Smart EGR Pressure Feedback Hose ($10)

but I don't know if this is the right part or not. It would be nice to hear from someone who has replaced these before. There are two hoses, so I guess they are not the same. The sections of hose I am talking about are only about 3" long, so I'm not sure why these would be as big as they look like they are.

My guess is that this is what I need,

TechSmart High Temperature Hose, 2 DPFE Hoses ($7.73)
MOTORCRAFT EGR Pressure Sensor DPFE4 ($36.79)

Getting the motocraft part from rockauto only costs $7 more than the BWD part from advance auto, so I guess I go with the motocraft. Please let me know if these are not right.

LMHmedchem

 

[lincolnshibuya]

Last time i did the replacement was in the AutoZone parking lot (replaced it there). Make a twisting motion first to the hoses (the twisting action will loosen them) and pull out but you have to be very careful since those tubes/pipe going into the exhaust manifold are very fragile, they could crack from the joint if you move them too much. It will allow you to twist them since the hoses are bendable from that point.

 

[LMHmedchem]

Last time i did the replacement was in the AutoZone parking lot (replaced it there). Make a twisting motion first to the hoses (the twisting action will loosen them) and pull out but you have to be very careful since those tubes/pipe going into the exhaust manifold are very fragile, they could crack from the joint if you move them too much. It will allow you to twist them since the hoses are bendable from that point.

So it sounds like you didn't replace the hoses. I guess I can try and replace just the sensor, but I couldn't get it to even budge a little. I will try twisting the hoses and see if they will loosen up some. It seems like it would be safer to just cut the hoses and then replace them, but I need to find replacement hoses if I am going to do it that way.

The hoses I linked to above are from the rockauto catalog. They have two consecutive categories,

EGR Pressure Feedback (DPFE) Hose
EGR Pressure Feedback (DPFE) Sensor

these are from the "Hose" section so I would guess they should match the sensor. There are three parts listed there. The part I linked to has both 3.5mm and 6mm ID hoses. The other links are for separate 4mm and 5.6mm ID hoses. I don't like the fact that these parts don't have the same inner diameter. I guess that 0.5mm may not be enough to be a problem, but that kind of thing is unsettling. I could always throw on some hose clamps but it would be nice to know what the actual specs are.

LMHmedchem

 

[LMHmedchem]

Well I changed out the sensor today and as expected, I had to cut the hoses to get the sensor out. This means I had to replace the hoses a well as the sensor.

This part from rock auto,

TechSmart High Temperature Hose M40001, 2 DPFE Hoses ($7.73)

are definitely not the right size hoses.

In fairness, Advance Auto has the identical part in there system as well. The larger of the two hose (6mm ID) is the right size for the smaller of the two ports on the sensor. The smaller hose (3.5mm ID) is ridiculously small and bears no resemblance to the part that came off of the truck. It looks like the ID of the larger hose should be ~7-8mm. I stopped by a Ford parts department and thought they didn't have the part in stock, they gave me the part numbers and I think that I can get them here,

Hose YF1Z-9P761-KA ($5.73)
Hose YF1Z-9P761-LA ($5.73)

For now, I just used the larger of two hoses (6mm ID) from the Tech Smart part M40001 for both fittings. This worked reasonably well, thought the hose is a tight fit on the larger fitting. My p0401 code is gone for now. I don't want to leave it like that because the size of the hose dictates the volume of flow that the sensor receives and I would guess using a hose that is too small may cause the sensor to read incorrectly. At any rate, I don't mind spending $12 to get the proper part.

LMHmedchem

 

[LMHmedchem]

Well I received my new hoses from tascaparts.com and they are exactly the correct OE part as compared to the hoses I removed. The installation took 5 minutes and everything seems fine now. At any rate, I don't have a code P0401 anymore.

This is the final part list if anyone else needs to make this repair,
MOTORCRAFT EGR Pressure Sensor DPFE4 ($36.79, $6.50 shipping, rockauto.com)
Hose YF1Z-9P761-KA ($5.73, $3.50 shipping, tascaparts.com)
Hose YF1Z-9P761-LA ($5.73, $3.50 shipping, tascaparts.com)

Total it came to a bit over $60 with the shipping. Many users may not need to replace the hoses, but I think it's a good idea. Hoses don't last forever any more than other parts and for an extra $20 or so, it's nice to not have to deal with it later. There is a range of prices for available replacement sensors. The least expensive is $18 and the most expensive non-Motocraft part is $24. You could certainly save a bit by going with a third party sensor, but to me the difference is not enough to risk the cheaper part not working or failing quickly. There are no guarantees with any part, but I think that the risk is lowest with Motocraft.

This is the first time I have bought anything from tascaparts.com and can report that things went smoothly. They emailed me the day after I placed the order and said that one of the hoses was special order (they didn't have it in stock) and that it would take about 3 more days before the order shipped. In fairness, their web site didn't list the part as in stock. As they said, the order did ship in three more days and I got it the next day. I appreciate it when a vendor lets you know what is going on and keeps to the timetable they give you.

LMHmedchem