insufficient EGR flow, please help
 

Hello,

i am new to the forum and am having a problem with my 02 F150 super crew. I have 107 thousand miles on it, and love my truck. Recently I blew a spark plug which cost me $600 bucks to have fixed. That has nothing to do with my problem though. My problem is this:

About a year os so ago i was driving down the road and on the cell phone (of course) i went off the road a little bit into the soft shoulder. I never changed speeds or anything, and pulled it right back onto the road. Well, my check engine light came on, so I had a mechanic look at it, and they told me the code was insufficient EGR flow. They told me that the EGR valve was wicked expensive, and they reset the light and told me if that did not fix it to bring it back to them. Well, it did not fix it and I did not bring it back to them. I noticied since this past march when i am driving all of a sudden the truck will start to buck, if I accelerate it clears the bucking. It can happen at any speed, and feels like the truck is not getting enough oxygen or something. At first I thought it was bad fuel, and ran some fuel stabilizer through it, but that did not work. We changed the spark plugs in July and that did not help it either. I had the truck inspected last week and the guy told me that it was showing the insufficient EGR flow error code, it did not fail, but next year if there is anything wrong with it, they will fail it due to new inspection requirements. My question is, does it sound like an EGR valve is the problem? I have o idea where the valve is, or how to change it, does it sound like it could be something else, and the two problems are not related? is there anyone in southern NH or merrimac valley in MA that would be interested in helping me change it, i'll bring beer or we can work something out. I love the truck, but this is starting to drive me nuts. I am still getting about 14.5-15 miles per gallon.


jon
02 F150 Supercrew

PS also I am in need of tires, anyone have any decent hookups on that, or have any slightly used ones they would be willing to sell.

DPFE sensor I would put my money on, call your local ford dealer and tell them you need a (9J460) part number....its the sensor that monitors the egr feedback, if its not that then it would be the (9J459) DPFE regulator, the EGR is usuallly the 3rd one to fail, but I would bet on the 9J460, be sure to check your hoses and the 9D477 tube that runs from the EGR to the exhaust manifold. Good Luck! :thumbsup:

There is one on Ebay for cheap money that is brand new. The part number is 4U7Z-9J460-AA. Where is this thing mounted on the vehicle, and is it something I could change on my own? I am not that good with tools, but one of my friends is, and he could help me out, but we have no idea where to start with it.

i dont think so, I think that one is for the 4.2L, I would assume that in a supercrew you have the 4.6 or 5.4?? I think the one you need is the F77Z-9J460-AB or AA, i cant remember I sell Ford parts at my local dealership, but I cant remember which one it is....but is mounted next to the EGR in the front, one harness clips into it, and there are two rubber hoses on it, and 1 bolt on the each side of it, your original may be metal, but they are all updated to a black plastic one now.

Ok, I will try and find it tomorrow, and see what I can come up with for an actual part number on it or something.

Thanks,

jon

I might have one - check the number ( :

I would run some tests to try to determine what is defective before I just started throwing parts at it. The first thing I woult test is the EGR valve and passages. With the engine cold and idling, pull the vacuum hose from the EGR valve and temporarily plug the hose to prevent a vacuum leak. Then, temporarily connect another piece of vacuum hose to the EGR valve and suck on it. If you cannot pull a vacuum on it, then the diaphram is defective and the valve should be replaced. If you can pull a vacuum on it, then suck hard enough to pull the valve open. When the valve opens, the engine should start idling real rough or cut off. If it does, then the valve and passages are good and you need to troubleshoot the rest of the circuit. If you notice no change, when you open the EGR valve by pulling a vacuum on it, check the valve and EGE passages for excessive carbon build-up.

Sold!! Sorry , guy seen me reply to your post. Gave him the package deal - all I had left lol EGR including down pipe and jacket(came with new bolts too lol) and the DPFE Sensor, Throttle Position sensor. (also new bolts , new sensors still in boxes) I gave the crap away for $35 - I just wanted to off it..I don't use them on the my 5.4, so I didn't need them anymore..

Didn't here squat from you.

Hope your getting it figured out , Good luck!:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Ok so I was lazy and called the local ford dealership, they want almost 200 bucks to replace the DPFE valve, so it looks like it will be something I will try and do myself. My question is, where exactly is it, I gave it a cursory look this afternoon and did not see anything. I have the 4.6 V8 and am wondering, do I need to pull off that plastic cover that sits over the top of the engine? Since this whole problem started when i went off the road, I am wondering if it really is possibly just a loose vacum line, or something like that. I am going to have time tomorrow to really get into it, so can someone tell me where this DPFE sensor, and EGR valve are located?

I took all my egr junk off... runs the same, still passes emissions

yep under that cover, i will look it up, here at work......ok looks like you were right, the one you need is that 4U7Z-9J460-AA (DPFE Sensor, msrp $65.96)
I would bet thats it, i sell like a 100 of them a day, i would replace it and might as well do the DPFE Regulator as well to, part number is F63Z-9J459-AA (msrp $28.78)

those are fords prices, since i just looked them up on my Ford Computer!
I think the dealership you called looked up the wrong ones or their prices are marked about about 250%.

:fyi:

The dealer was quoting like 130 to "diagnose" and labor to replace it, then they said the part was arounf 80 but he did not look anything up since he rattled it off so quickly there was no way to look it up. I will look under that cover tomorrow and see what I can find

The Thottle Body passages are very notorious for plugging and cause all this. I would clean them 1st, that is free.

where are they located, and what do they look like, how would you clean them?

I have a little time and can help , but you have to answer questions and follow procedures or I won't waste my time.

Everyone here seams to be focused on the EGR system. The valve itself doesn't go bad that often. The DPFE - sensor itself is most likely the prob. - only if you have a reoccurring MIL , well , you don't. Components on the outside seam fine in this case. You need to focus on the throttle body and throttle body elbow, you need to also clean your MAF. I'll give the procedure next post. I need you to answer questions first before we proceed.

So you never have replaced anything within the EGR system itself , correct?

You had a MIL (check engine light) quite a while ago - LONG time ago and the mechanic got rid of the light for yuh, said the you have an EGR flow prob. and that's as far as it went ?

You stated under light acceleration you have had a re-occurring "bucking" problem.? If so , this is totally unrelated to your EGR system. That's most likely a random misfire issue. It's ongoing because your still operating within your comps programed parameters. We can force it to cough up a code for that later .

There NO MIL (Check engine light) at this time ? You only had the light that one time when you went "off road" ?

A curiosity question - Who serviced your plugs last before you lost one? Yourself ? The Dealership? Another Automotive Repair Facility?

I'll check back again later today.

jbrew