Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting my cel codes

well here they are p0402.......the pcm has determined that there is excessive flow in the exhaust gas recirculation system..

p1405... egr sensor or tube/hose off or plugged or egr dissconteced or plugged..

pp0420.... the pcm has dtermined that the catalyst system effieceincy for bank 1 is below threshold for the current engine operating, blah blah blah...

i had another one, it was a misfire in cylinder 4, but stupid me forgot to make sure the tube was connected properly to the spark plug after i jsut changed it, but anyways, this is very intersting, these other codes i mean, because i just had my egr valve replaced about a month or maybe 2 months ago at the latest, so i dont know what these egr codes can be, the guy at autozone said maybe cleaning the hoses out, but i have no idea if i should do this myself or take it in, i have the haynes manual, should i rely on it, to do it myslef? this car is really starting to piss me off, i want a svt damn it...any comments or suggestions would be great..

What year ?

4 or 6 ?

Mileage?

P0402 EGR Flow Excessive at Idle.

P1405 DPFE Sensor circuit Upstream Hose.

Either the upstream DPFE hose is off or the EGR tube is leaking above the orfice - AND - you have too much backpressure (read: plugged cat).

Ate lunch, boy I feel better!

Thought of annother explanation.

Maybe the EGR vacuum solenoid is stuck or leaking.

If you have a vacuum guage, pull the line off the EGR valve and check it. There should be no vacuum at idle, if there is the solenoid is probably bad.
If you don't have a vacuum guage, pull the connector off of the IAC at idle and then pull the line off of the EGR valve.
The RPM's should not go up. Again if they do the EGR solenoid is probably bad.

I don't think the EGR valve is ever supposed to get any vacuum at an idle RPM.

Still, check the DPFE lines and EGR tube for damage.

the only probelm with a plugged cat is that i dont have a cat...lol...i have a straight pipe there right now, and it seems that there is no back pressure at all, is the egr hard to get to?, i have no idea how to get to it, from underneath or through the engine,? what i think is wrong, and its just my guess is that my pre cats are just all messed up?? another question i have, when i cut my cat off, alot of unburnt gas was in there, and it just started pouring out, my question would be how does all that unburnt gas get in there in the first place?? what would be the mian reason that all that gas actually was not burnt and clogged my cat up so bad??

i really need a new car(prefferably a svt)

Flooding bad is the only reason for gas in the exhaust - or maybe warped exhaust valves.

A plugged precat is a plugged cat, and gas in the exhaust is really bad for the cats.

What year/engine/milage we talkin? and how long has it run bad?

Forget the EGR right now and find out if the precats are plugged (there was even a recall on some) and then find out if it's running rich. Then the EGR.

Backpressure is measured with a low pressure guage connected to the upper O2 sensor holes, or the back can be checked by hooking to the upstream DPFE port on the EGR tube.

This tube goes back between the engine and firewall and hooks to the exhaust manifold. I use 3/16 rubber hose and a vacuum/fuel pressure guage. Over 3psi aint good (while revving).

i have only had the car for about 6 months, i remember when it all happened.. i was driving home from work, doing the speed limit 50, and coming to a stop, the car started to shake violently, and all the sudden there was a hissing noise coming from the engine, for the next couple days i was freaking out, took it somewhere, they said i t was a front right bearing, lol...not a chance....got that fixed cuz it was shot anyway, but that wasnt the problem...a couple days later the cel came on, the codes were insuffcient fuel flow through the egr, and a clogged cat converter....so i took it to a shop, they told me that the cat was so plugged that it probably put so much pressure on the egr that it gave out, blew a hose, etc....i drove around with the hissing noise for about a month before i got it fixed, and it ran i would say about 95% efficiency til i got the egr replaced, it then went to [censored], ever scicne then, its been horrible, on the freeway it wont go past 65mph and when i step on the gas, the speed will decreas if i'm going uphill, anyways took off the cat, put a pipe there, its running alot better, but still not good at all....i would say the car is running at about 50% efficeincy, it feels like i have no horsepowere at all....but to answer your question....the year is 97, 85k miles, and its a 4 cylinder ztec engine, manual...btw thanks for the help, it seems like everytime i would post a question about my problems no one answers..

Let's do this one step at a time.

You may have to take the plastic plenum chamber off to do this. I haven't seen a Zetec so get a Haynes manual and read.

On the EGR valve there is a small vacuum line. The EGR valve is shaped like a flying saucer on it's side hooked to a chunk of metal and has a metal tube the size of your finger going down to the exhaust manifold. Remove the line and plug it with something that won't suck inside. Disconnect the battery for awhile to reset the computer.

Now keep notes on how it runs from cold to hot and at idle to driving around. Post your results and then we can check something else.

And look at that tube while your at it. There should be two hoses connected to it. See if you can get your hand down there.

hey again thanks for the help, unfortuantley i wont be able to do that til monday during the day, i have to work 12 hour shifts both saturday and sunday and will have no time to try this out, i already have the haynes manual, but i will do this monday, and post the results, hopefully you can wait it out for me?? thanks ......later...