2001 Ford Windstar Codes 0171/0174 & 0302

Hey Everyone - I'm new to this forum/site but have been reading some comments on it the last few days since my Windstar is acting up and I decided to hop on and seek help. I bought my 2001 Windstar 1 1/2 years ago. It had 160,000 miles on it ... it now has 180,000 miles on it. It's been a great van for the family and I. When I first bought it I noticed that is idled a little sluggish until it warmed up ... once it warmed up it ran perfect without any sluggish idle (and I mean perfect). Gas mileage around 25/15. About a month or so ago it started idling rough even after it was warmed up. Even up to this point it was always great when driving it and only had the problems at idle. Well a few days ago it started misfiring and running a little rougher over all ... noticed a slight loss of power but mileage still the same. It misses when going up hills at 30 + mph and I have to give it a little gas ... I ease off and it stops missing but speed is lost of course. Also at highway speed (65 or so) if I'm running long hills (I live in hilly area of So Cal) it will misfire when I give it a little gas ... I can turn off the O/D and it will go away (obviously the rpm's jump a touch) or if I let up a bit on the gas it stops missing. I took it to Pepboys (Autozone doesn't do the check engine light codes anymore for legal reasons) ... the codes are probably no surprise P 0171/0174 too lean bank 1 & 2 and also P0302 misfire cyl. #2 ... the check engine light has always been on and the guy I bought it from told me it ran a little lean ... I didn't complain because it's ran perfect the last 1 1/2 years (20,000 + miles) with good mileage. I don't have much money but I have good mechanical ability but I'm not a mechanic ... more like an ok parts changer. Any help would be appreciated since this is our only vehicle and we really depend on it ... thanks so much.

I would focus on the P0302, which is a misfire on cylinder #2
The computer will be trying to adjust for this and that could be causing the lean codes.
It is also possble that the leanness that could be causing the lean codes could be causing the misfire.

There is a thread at the top of the windstar room that is for a TSB that applies to your year.
The BEST source of information on this TSB is at THIS website http://leckemby.net/windstar/windstar01.html

I always tell folks to make sure that you are up on all the routine maintenance items before looking to the other possible issues.
This would include the fuel and air filters.....checking for cracked, disconnected, collapsed or otherwise out of order vaccum lines or other things like that.
The hose from the PCV valve (front valve cover on 1999 and newer) to the top of the upper intake manifold is known for breaking down from the years exposure to the vapors and heat cycles.
I have experienced this hose cracking (the elbow on top of the upper intake manifold is known for this) and I have also experienced this hose getting soft and collapsing under vaccum.

Also look for any signs of air entry that happen between the Mass AirFlow Sensor (MAF), mounted on the air filter canister and the throttle body.
There is a breather tube that goes from the rear valve cover (1999 and newer) to the big flex hose between the air filter and throttle body.
If this tube becomes disconnected.....it needs to be re-connected.
The breather tube pulls air from the big flex hose and it goes into the crankcase to replace the air that the PCV valve pulled out.
THIS air has already passed through the MAF......so the computer knows about it.
However, if the tube is disconnect.....air enters the big flex hose at that point......instead of leaving.
Air IN the flex hose.....the computer knows about
Air OUT the flex hose at that point, the computer does not know about.......which can cause the lean codes.


The Ignition coil pack (all the coils are in 1 rectanglular block) is known for developing cracks in the epoxy body......the high voltage arcs through the crack.....and the spark happens inside the coil pack instead of the spark plug.....causing a misfire.
The coil pack can ohm out perfectly.....but be arcing under the high voltage condition.

Spark plug wires......they do break down after years of use.
You don't need any fancy high performance (racing) wire......in fact they could be worse than the regular wire.
You DO want to use a quality wire.
A common way for the spark plug wires to fail is that the insulation breaks down under high voltage.......would be worse when they are damp.
Incorrect handling to plug wires can also cause them to fail....if one pulles on the wire to remove the boot from the spark plug or coil pack....the connection inside between the wire and the connector can be damaged.
The way that I remove this type wire is that I grasp the boot part of the wire at the spark plug and TURN the boot from side to side to break the tight seal that tends to develop over time.
THEN I pull the boot straight off the spark plug......a little side to side turning can help free it if it is still stuck.

Spark plugs.....again, stay away from the multi-prong or otherwise fancy "high performance plugs"
You would use a double platinum plug......which is a plug that has the platinum enhancement on BOTH the electrode and the ground tab.
Autolite and Motorcraft make this plug.

I would focus on the 074 and 071 codes .... air leakage into the intake manifold ... very likely, on your model, to be the hold-down bolts for the intake manifold "spacer-to-lower" assembly....or leaky hoses around the PCV system .... or air leaks anywhere.

Once this leakage gets bad enough, misfires will follow on any random cylinders.

Wouldn't blocked EGR ports cause misfiring too?

As 12Ounce said, I would focus on the isolator bolt fix first. Of course wiswind's suggestions are important too.

Oscar.

Do a smoke test to pinpoint any air leaks and focus on PCV, EGR, and Air intake systems.

....Wouldn't blocked EGR ports cause misfiring too?.....

Good Point! A test drive with the vacuum control hose lifted and plugged off the EGR valve would be a good effort.....

Hey Everyone ... I thank you so much for these ideas ... Seems like your all saying the same thing with a few odds and ends thrown in ... planning on doing these procedures next week. Not sure of the maintenance on the van before I got it so will probably check the plugs and wires and coil pack ... may just replace them all while I'm taking care of the 171 and 174 repair via the http://leckemby.net/windstar/windstar01.html website. Thanks again

Replacing at least plugs and wires is a good idea, since the windshield cowl need to come off anyway. It doesn't takes long to remove it, but you're doing it anyway ;).

Oscar.

I agree, with 180K on the odometer changing the plugs & wires is a good idea. Adds about an extra hour or so (assuming none of the plugs are stuck) but can make a big difference in mileage & how smoothly the engine runs.

Is there a way to test if the coil pack is bad (or good) ?!? ... Thanks again for all the great advice.

You can make resistance checks, but if it is arcing through cracks in the epoxy body.....it will still check good and still be failing because it takes a high voltage to jump the gap.

Here's a quote from a previous thread in which I also posted the resistance measurements


Hello g00fball, welcome to the forum!

Please avoid "bringing threads back from death", since this post has more than one year you'll be better starting a new thread and if it's necessary paste a link to the old thread.

About your problem, here are the instructions on how to test the coil pack:

The pins on the back are the 3 PRIMARY COILS which all tied together on one side (Pin #4) and the other side goes to the PCM (which applies either ground or voltage) for firing order. These should be within .3-1.0 Ohms.

The big lugs at the front correspond to the 3 SECONDARY COILS this are physically separated from the primary coils, the magnetic field of the primary coils is induced into the secondary coils and that's what produces the voltage for each pair of cylinders (the engine fires 2 cylinders at a time)

What elevates the voltage from 12v to several thousands is the number of turns of the primary coil in relation with the number of turns of the secondary coil: if the primary has 10 turns and the secondary has 100 turns you'll have 10 times more voltage at the secondary than the primary.

After the theory let's go back to your problem. the readings for the second step should be taken from the big lugs at the top of the coil pack:

1 2 3
O O O --> COIL PACK LUGS
O O O --> COIL PACK LUGS
4 5 6

You should connect your multimeter between 1-4, 2-5, 3-6; each pair of lugs corresponds to the terminals of each secondary coil and the readings should be 10k to 12k Ohms.

NOTE: the numbers have been used randomly, these do not correspond to the actual cylinder number.

Another way to test an arching coil pack is by spraying water around the coil pack, you should see sparkles coming out and arching nearby.

Best regards,

Oscar.


Keep in mind that as wiswind has said, even when the resistance checks are fine the body can still crack and cause arcing to ground, which at the same time will cause misfiring. Pay special attention to the back of the coil pack.

Oscar.

Hey Everyone ... Good news ... I decided to start with changing plugs, wires and the coil pack. The plugs were nasty ... wires may have been fine but was good to change them also. Took the Coil Pack off ... checked out the bottom to see if the epoxy was cracked ... it was fine which made me wonder if I was barking up the wrong tree. Proceeded to change everything out ... while in the process and taking a break I took a closer look at the coil pack ... saw what I thought was just brown 'engine dirt' along the 3 rectangular box areas on top of the coil pack ... looked closer and realized it was small lines of char ... looked closer and saw a couple cracks on the sides of those rectangular boxes big enough to maybe slip a thin needle into ... to make a long story short ... put all the new stuff on and it seems to be running great. Will see in the morning with a cold engine and all but I'm so happy ... all together ... coil pack, wires, and double platnium plugs ran about $100. Thank you all for your advice and wisdom ... still have some minor issues I will probably seek out answers to on this site. Gotta go run my boy to soccer practice. Thanks again and talk soon. For some reason this thread disappeared from my main page. I found it again and subscribed to it to get back in here.