P1443 code

[john112deere]

Driving to work this morning in my '97 Ranger, 2.3, manual trans with ~240k on the clock, the check engine light came on. It shut off driving to AutoZone tonight, but they were still able to pull a P1443 code (only code it pulled).

The truck has been running poorly intermittently for over a year now, and in the last couple months has gotten a bit worse, but never consistent enough to NEED repairing, or be easy to diagnose. Symptoms were a slight stumble off idle (just enough to make it difficult to start moving without a slight lurch or shift gears smoothly), worse in rain, or after sitting a few days or more; and an occasional, slight miss- just a little gentle lurching cruising at fairly low throttle. Floorboarding the pedal would smooth it out. That was VERY intermittent, but has been getting worse lately. It started out worse in rain, but doesn't seem to matter anymore. The truck was missing a little worse than usual, pulling a decent hill (throttle open pretty wide) just before the light came on.

On looking a little closer at the AZ printout, they list missing/loose gas cap as a possible cause. My sister was the one who filled the tank last, but that was Sunday evening and about 140 miles ago, and the cap seemed tight when I checked it after the light first came on.

I'm kind of hoping the light is connected to the missing, because that's gonna be a booger to diagnose otherwise...

Thanks for any advice or suggestions...

 

[blacksnapon]

P1443 indicates an incorrect evaporative system purge control valve flow. Possible causes---obstructed, open or cracked hoses between evap cannister purge valve and intake manifold. Damaged evap cannister purge valve. Damaged purge flow sensor.

 

[john112deere]

I'll look at that tomorrow...had to get some tractor work done tonight, and now it's dark.

Might that cause any of the symptoms I'm experiencing?

Thanks!

 

[mrfixit]

yes. especially if the vac hose is off, leaking, cracked, etc...

 

[blacksnapon]

I'll look at that tomorrow...had to get some tractor work done tonight, and now it's dark.

Might that cause any of the symptoms I'm experiencing?

Thanks!

Yeah, essentially, you're getting an intermittent vacuum leak.

 

[john112deere]

Ah- that makes sense.

After 10 years and 240k miles, the hoses certainly could have deteriorated a bit, too.

 

[john112deere]

So I've finally gotten a chance to really look into this. The light was on for a straight week, then went out a few days ago and hasn't been on since.

The vac line off the EVAP canister looks pretty bad, I'm going to replace it Wednesday. Between the EVAP canister and the intake manifold, there are two electronic devices... I don't know what they are, nor can I figure out how to find out what they are with my Ford factory repair CD or Haynes manual.

Are these things I can clean? Things I should replace on principle? What do they do, and what are they called?

Thanks, and please forgive my ignorance on these matters.

 

[john112deere]

Went down to NAPA this morning, with the parts.

They had the Purge Valve for $25, but he didn't know what the other thing on the line was, and he didn't have the vac line from the canister to the first device, which is the one that looks so rotten and cracked. It is different diameters at the two ends.

The local Ford dealer was very helpful; the parts man found a tech, who said that the unknown thing on the line is a solenoid, but they both thought that the rotten line is the only thing causing my problem.

Now, the problem- Ford doesn't sell just the line, they only sell it with the valve, solenoid, and two more vac lines, for $120. He gave me a piece of gas line that is a little too small for the canister (but I think I can make it fit), and a bit too big to for the solenoid. Again, I can probably make it work, but I'm not crazy about the whole thing.

Anybody got any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[lenny1carl]

ha.....you're having a Carl fit. bring it here, we'll be out there in Feb. i've got all the tools to screw it up.

 

[john112deere]

I managed to find a plastic barb that will let me use two pieces of hose that are each the correct diameter for what they need to fit on where they need to.

Carl, as tempting as bringing it out there is, I need to help a buddy move on Friday morning, be 600 miles north Saturday night, and have half of what I own 300 miles north of here (halfway to where I'm going Saturday night) sometime Sunday or Monday.

So I need this friggen thing done a couple of days ago (coolant flush and oil change still to go...) so I can organize and pack my crap up.

 

[john112deere]

Well, it's back together and running better than it was before. Not perfect, but better. No CEL, but it was off by the time I got around to trying to fix it anyway.

Changed the oil and coolant this morning, too, and nearly had a heart attack when I came out of a store and saw an oily puddle running out from under where the oil filter is on my truck. Closer look showed I'd run through the puddle when I'd pulled into the space, so it wasn't my truck, but still...