Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting OBDII fail screens...what to fix?

Hi,

Well, I got Alex Peper's Vehicle Explorer running and it said I failed! Here are the screens... Fail Screens
Don't know about the first or second one but, I assume I need a new DPFE to fix the third "fail".

Anyone know for "almost" sure what will fix these errors? George??

...Ed

Here is what I know at this point (which is not too much)...

It seems that we both have similar problems with our cars (don't know how similar at this point though).

I am getting the following codes: P0401 (EGR flow insufficient), P0171 (system too lean – bank 1), and P0174 (system too lean – bank 2) codes.

I researched the problem here on the boards and it seems that there are a lot of people with similar problems. Some people have successfully fixed their problems by replacing the EGR, EVR, and/or DPFE. Some people have replaced the parts and thought they had it fixed, only to have it return days, weeks or months later. Others have replaced these parts but still get the same problem.

At first, I thought that if I cleaned/replaced the EGR that it would fix the problem.

But then something interesting happened...

My wife came home and said that the Contour stalled on her while she was sitting at a red light. I popped the hood and started the engine. I noticed a hissing sound and, by the grace of God, noticed that there was a hose that was caving in on itself. The hose happened to be the evaporative emissions hose. When I examined the hose, I noticed that it had a 1" tear in it.

This hose is part of the vacuum system. Since there was a tear in the hose, it could not hold the vacuum and this led to problems with driveability.

As I continued to research the problem, I came across a chart of the 2.5L vacuum system (p. 4-36 of the Chiltons manual) for the Contour. It showed that the vacuum system was comprised of the EGR system, EVAP (evaporative emissions) system, and fuel pressure regulator.

I guess what I am trying to say is that the EGR system and EVAP system seem linked together. I am guessing that if you fix the one true problem, then all of the other tests will pass.

As an aside: I don't get the EVAP test results that you have. In researching this problem I found out that after 1998, Ford added sensors to the evaporative emissions system. Thus, your OBD-II test shows three tests ($21, $22, and $25) that do not show up for my car.

My suggestions: Check all of your vacuum hoses first. This includes all of the hoses for the EGR system AND the hoses for the EVAP system. There are two EVAP hoses in the engine bay. Next check the EGR.

Right now, I am waiting for parts to fix the torn evaporative emissions hose (about 4" and attached to the PCV valve) and cracked evaporative emissions tube (about 2-3' and attaches to 4" evaporative emissions hose). Once I get that fixed, I then will run the OBD-II tests again and see if I still get the same codes.

Let me know if you find anything.

edorfox wrote:

Don't know about the first or second one but, I assume I need a new DPFE to fix the third "fail".

  My Mystique always reports a failure here too.  The EGRDNHDIS always contains the same number as the EGRUPHDIS, which, of course, means that one or the other will always fail.  I'm sure if there really was a problem, I'd get error codes.

  This isn't the only place in this section where failures are always shown.  It also always tells me that my bank two catalytic converter os bad (I don't have a bank two catalytic converter) and that I am getting 100% misfires on cylinders five through eight (on a four-cylinder motor).

  I strongly suspect that the EGRDNHDIS/EGRUPHDIS test is a test that the PCM performs, even though it's not applicable, to this particular car, and that this is why it reports failures here just as it does for the nonexistent bank two catalytic converter and cylinders five through eight.

Well, the funny part of all this stumbling/stuttering is, I have NEVER gotten a code! When I ran the "Enhanced" Ford key on engine on test, it gave me two codes...P1650 and P1703. I don't thing these are related to my stumbling issue though. Tonight I took apart the DPFE and saw nothing but a little moisture on either side of the diaphram "module". The circuit board looked fine. The pipe was clean also. I'm about to run a vacuum/voltage test on it and see what happens. I suspect it will be fine. Everything I check is fine...I'm starting to think there's something wrong with me!

...Ed

I also get the failure that Bob is talking about. When I run the test, EGRUPHDIS = EGRDNHDIS = 511.3" H20.

But I also get an EGROPEN failure. EGROPEN=89.76% with a maximum limit of 80%. I'm sure that this is a real error, since I am getting codes.

Click here to see the test of my Contour using the Vehicle Explorer Scan Tool.