2003 ford windystar

Hello to all,

I don't want to beat a dead horse here, but I have the following codes P0171, P0174, AND P0302 along with a mulitiple missfire msg as well. My Windy is a 2003 with the 3.8liter. I have changed the following all spark plugs, new wires, mass airflow sensor, and new coil pack. The plugs were changed when a bought the car back in 2010 with 107000 miles. I changed the plugs this weekend with 173000 miles they were shot gaps where between .065 thousand and .075 thousand. Orginal gap should only be .044. Before I changed the plugs I induced seafoam into the intake to help decarbonize the intake. After I changed the plugs on the van, I cleared all codes and drove the van. I noticed it stumbling like it was misfiring again. Pulled the codes and once again po302 code popped back up the the other two codes. I also noticed when I really ripped on the throttle I heard a new noise coming from the intake I never heard before. It was a loud muffled sound. I personally think the isolator bolts and upper gaskets need to be changed from what I gather on this forum. And I guess I should change the DPFE on the safe side as well. Any other suggestion or insulates would be greatly appricated.

Thanks, :banghead: :sarcasmsign:

do the isolator bolts and dpfe first, make sure all vacuum lines are tight and no cracks. You might be having the dreaded baffle rattle but that's likely minor at this point. Do the things you know you need to do (171/174/302) and then see how things are.

+1 on the isolator grommets and dpfe sensor. You can just cut off the grommets and slide on new (green) ones to save a few bucks vs buying new isolator bolts if you want, but definitely get new grommets in there and swap the dpfe. All of those symptoms are the completely typical of this issue that we've all had at one point or another. Be sure to clean out the EGR ports as well. I'll bet one or more are completely blocked.

I would do the P0171 and P0174 correction first as there is no escaping the problem. But be aware that there are other air leaks, not just the hold-down bolts, that can cause the problem. Any air leak after the MAF sensor is a problem. I did not know that the green grommets were available separate from the rest of the bolt hardware ... interesting. Don't overtorque the bolts ... it does no good, but can be very destructive.

Does your model have the igniton pack or the individual coil-on-plug design? My '99 uses the single ignition pack ... and I'm about to have to buy the third replacement pack to be installed now at near 370k miles.

My windy has only one coil pack. The one I changed was the original and installed a borg warner.