p0171,p0174 (again)

[bornagain]

about 8,000 miles ago i installed new upper intake port seals and isolator bolt seals because of the p0171,p0174 codes. after that my windstar ran great and no check engine light up till now.you guessed it,check engine light back on with same two codes.i called 3 different ford dealerships and told them what i'm about to tell you heres my diagnosis i checked for vaccum leaks and found none,i pulled pcv valve and hose and found alot of oil entering throttle body through pcv hose 1 dealer suggested another pcv valve,another suggested install new left hand valve cover any advice would be greatly appreciated,also with my scan tool i did system monitors and found evap sys. not ready, so i pulled purge sol. and using jumper wires i could not get the sol. to open up.i've heard of a stuck open sol. causing one to run rich,but could a stuck closed sol. cause one to set a lean code. thanks in advance for your help

[garync1]

What year windstar do you have.? Some years need the vavle cover replacement. I did just the port seal and Isolator bolts and upper intake plenum.So far so good on mine.knock on wood..

[bornagain]

Originally Posted by garync1

What year windstar do you have.? Some years need the vavle cover replacement. I did just the port seal and Isolator bolts and upper intake plenum.So far so good on mine.knock on wood..

it's a 1999 with a 3.8Liter.since you put the valve cover on have you checked the pcv hose going into the throttle body to see if there is alot of oil there? some say the new cover helps others say it don't.mine is getting alot of oil via the pcv hose,I tried a new motorcraft pcv valve but it didn't help

[garync1]

On my year,I just replaced the port seals,upper air intake plenum and isolator bolts. I do still get a little oil into the system although a little more than I am use too seeing I hear this is normal.. If you keep the oil changed like i do in mine it should not be a problem. With over 80,000 miles on my van..Excuse me my wifes van!!!LOL. My port seals were fairly clean.. So the oil has not really been a major problem..I did however only change my upper intake plenum because it had a crack in it and the newer style has the baffle molded together instead of snaped in. Some use the RTV sealer to seal them back together..I say I have spent a total of around 200.00 in parts instead of the dealers price of 600.00 I have heard estaments as high as a 1,000 bucks..
http://leckemby.net/windstar/windstar01.html
This site from other post I have read and are still on here, give great detail to this fix.. It explains the other year windstars and not all of them need the valve cover replaced. My year had the updated vavle cover.The Ford dealer has been helpful in my repair.They did say they have had some problems with the upper intake baffle cracking and flaking off sending plastic parts into the intake system.Mine had a crack so I replaced it. If you do this yourself I would take off the windshild cowell were the windshild wiper assembley is, makes the job alot easier and lowers the risk of damgage to the upper intake plenum. hope this helps..

[garync1]

another suggested install new left hand valve cover any advice would be greatly appreciated,also with my scan tool i did system monitors and found evap sys. not ready, so i pulled purge sol. and using jumper wires i could not get the sol. to open up.i've heard of a stuck open sol. causing one to run rich,but could a stuck closed sol. cause one to set a lean code. thanks in advance........ I copied this from your first post I would check this along with the valve cover the purge sol could be a factor as well.... Also the new isolator bolts should have been green not black so you may want to look at this from memory to make sure you used the new ones and about 5 ftlbs of torque tighten them down..Ibroke one when i torque mine down. I only have 7 issolator bolts holding mine down with a little RTV seal as back up. worked so far..