I've been having an ongoing problem with a slight miss. When I bought the car in May I replaced the fuel filter, installed new plugs, and the air filter. About 2 months ago I replaced the plug wires and today I just replaced the Bosch platinum plugs with Motorcraft Platinum plugs. The miss is mostly at idle, although it can sometimes be felt when cruising the highway with your foot barely on the gas pedal. I've posted links to videos I took with my scanner connected and the car running. What you can see in the videos are the short term fuel trim, banks 1 and 2, the rpm's which you can see fluctuate. The #1 O2 sensor voltages, banks 1 and 2 and the fuel pressure. These numbers are all Greek to me and I don't know what to look for. What I do see is difference between the two banks. I thought I'd throw these out there in hope that you guys understand these numbers can help?
If there's any more info from the scanner you need to see, let me know. Thanks for looking
You should post the long term fuel trim data (banks 1 and 2). Short term trims and O2 sensor voltages are fluctuating normally so you have good fuel mixture control. Only thing I don't like there is fuel pressure being too high (should be around 39 psi).
Are you able to access mode $06 data with any of your scan programs?
You should download this program and use it instead: FORScan
You can save the data in a log file and upload it instead of a video of the screen. Much easier, faster, and complete.
Sorry I cant seem to use the program you suggested. My scanner is a wireless device and it's unable to connect to Forsan. I was able to save a report using the Scanmaster software. Let me know if I need to post more info?
You must have an OBDLink tool? If it's not the MX then it probably won't work with FORScan.
Nonetheless, there is some useful data in that log. I see you have a P0300 pending, and your freeze frame data shows it was set about one minute after engine start at idle. However everything looks normal in the freeze frame including fuel trims (bank 2 is slightly high (+7.8%), but that alone doesn't cause the DTC).
The only thing I didn't like is seeing your fuel pressure at 61 psi in the live data log.
I do see some mode $06 scan data there, but unfortunately I don't see the cylinder specific misfire counter which would be under TID $53. You have a fail on TID $83, CID $00, but that one isn't defined in the 2006 MY OBD specification document from Ford, so I can't tell you what it means. Your car has California emissions, so it might have something to do with that. Can you try the mode $06 in OBDwiz to see if you can get TID $53 to show up? Maybe it's not there because you recently resets the codes?
So the abnormally high fuel pressure is really the only thing I see wrong here. With the engine running, pull the vacuum line of the IPS, wait 2-5 minutes, and make sure there isn't gas leaking out there. Also make sure you have vacuum on the line.
Other than fixing the fuel pressure I would be looking at the ignition coil (it might have weak spark). Try the cylinder drop test (video in misfire sticky).
Okay, when I used the scanner again today I started the car after it had been sitting for about 2 hours. The fuel pressure started at 39psi and was very slowly rising. Ended up at about 50 psi after about 10-15 minutes of idling. I pulled the vacuum line you suggested. I didnt see any change in fuel pressure, just a slight increase in rpm's. There was good vacuum and no fuel leakage what so ever. I posted a pic of what I thought is the IPS. I'm not sure of what I was supposed to check for other than fuel leakage? I did he cylinder drop test as shown in the sticky. All cylinders are firing and the spark seem strong. I knew about the pending code (P300), that's the one that keeps showing up. Funny thing is, it will show up mostly when sitting in the driveway while idling. I have had the CEL come on a few times while driving but mostly when driving short distances such as garage sales with the wife. I posted another report for you to look at. The fail isn't there this time.
This time the fuel pressure looks normal in the freeze frame. Only thing different is that the evap purge solenoid was open a bit this time.
I find it very strange how the fuel pressure increases with time. It should be maintained at a constant level of about 39 psi while driving. If you are driving the car around normally is the fuel pressure maintained right at 39 psi or is it still high? I'm not really sure if the rising pressure is somehow intentional to avoid vapor lock, or some sort of malfunction of the IPS, FPDM, or the PCM.
Can you avoid resetting the trouble codes for a few days so I can see if those cylinder-specific misfire counters show up in the mode $06 data? When you reset the codes it clears all those out.
Okay, I posted another report. This time I drove the car to work and back a few days, and didnt have CEL light on until today when me and the wife went to subway. I started the car light was on, drove about 4 miles to gas station, turned it off and put gas in it. Started the car, light was still on. Drove about 2 miles to subway, turned it off, went in got our subs and when I started it the light was off. When I got home the car sat for about an hour before I hooked up the computer and did the report. One thing I noticed in the report is that it always says...Misfiring monitoring enabled ""no", misfiring monitoring complete "yes". I'm kinda thinking this scanner I got is just not that smart? It's an ELM327 wireless I got on Ebay. I also noticed there was another fail in the PID but when I did the report it was gone and I didn't get the number. So I tried to get it again when I restarted the car but all I got this time was another CEL light and a stored code. So I created another 2 more reports. They probably don't have any more info but I thought I'd throw them at you anyways.
How does the report do it's thing? What I'm asking is does it keep a history or does it only do a snap shot of whats currently happening?
FPDM is outlined in the forum software for you to mouse over and see what the acronym means. FPDM = Fuel Pump Driver Module. Tells the fuel pump what duty cycle to run at.
Hmm, if it's an ELM327 off eBay it should work with FORScan just fine. The ones Sam and I use look like this:
So I looked at the new logs. A few interesting things with the P0300 freeze frame:
-It was set at 27 mph / 1400 RPM
-IAT is 98.9ºF at an ambient air temp of 63ºF, which is high unless it had just been started after a hot soak
-Fuel pressure is high again at 51.8 PSI
-I see -100% EGR error
IAT being high might be because of heat soaks. I'm not sure if you started the car hot or cold, but the ECT was 177º after only a minute so I think it was at least partially warm. Keep an eye on that one. After 5 minutes of driving it shouldn't be much more than 10ºF above ambient temp.
-Fuel pressure is still jumping up too high for some reason. It seems to be associated with the DTC. It seems to be a normal 39 psi when you took the captures.
-That -100% EGR error seems concerning. EGR valve was supposed to be completely closed, but the DPFE voltage was signaling that there was EGR flow. It's possible you have a bad DPFE sensor, but you could also have a leaking EGR valve or solenoid, or perhaps exhaust back pressure. If you floor the car does it have normal power and accelerate?
Next time the engine runs rough, take the vacuum line off the EGR valve and cover it. See if the roughness goes away.
I'll also remind you again to test the ignition coil for weak spark since that may be causing it.
Yes that's the ELM, only mine is wireless (WiFi) not bluetooth. I noticed the 27mph to but not the 1400 rpm. That has to be a false reading of some sort? With the car parked in front of the garage, I'm sure I would have noticed it moving at 27 mph and 1400 rpm's:lol2:. Yes the car was partially warm when I started it, it had been sitting about 45 minutes to an hour. The car runs good except for the idle. When I floor it it has good power and accelerates very good.
Okay...I pulled the vacuum line off the EGR, made no difference. The engine idled the same (rough) and no increase or decrease in rpm's. What I did notice is that when I grabbed the vacuum line it was stuck and wouldn't come off, so I pulled my hand out to get a better grip and noticed a lot of very fine soot all over my thumb and fingers? Next test will be the spark test...I should be looking for a very strong blue spark, right?
I tried the ForScan again, still wont connect so I don't think it's able to connect with the wireless (WiFi) ELM 327. I checked their website and there's no mention of WiFi. I bought the wireless so I could use my Ipod to connect because the Ipod wont connect with the bluetooth. Unfortunately I cant find any software at Itunes that's worth a crap or they want a fortune to buy it, so I'm stuck using my laptop for the moment. I did read at their website about the ELM clones and how bad they are and I'm sure this is a clone because it came from China:blush:. I'm thinking I'll order another one that connects with a cable? So I did another report...this one has all the info except misfire monitoring? I know I've seen it before when I hooked up the scanner because it said...IIRC..."misfire cylinder #2". To me that would indicate "misfire monitoring". What I did learn is that I need to "monitor all the tests" before I create the report or portions will be missing, so this one has a lot of info. Please note that mode 6 indicates 2 fails, the original one and the one I mentioned in the previous post. I really do appreciate you taking the time to look at these reports.
Yes, FORScan will only work with USB and Bluetooth adapters, not WiFi. Yes they are cheap Chinese junk, but if you get a working one all is good (I bought a cheap one so I could modify it to read MS-CAN). I have a more expensive cabled scan tool I use for more detailed logging.
Not sure what to make of the soot. That could just be rubber dust, dirt that settled on the engine from outside, or actual soot from a leak in the EGR system. Did you get a change to take at look at the DPFE sensor?
Again, I can't find TID $81 or $83 in the OBD specification for 2006 MY. Also still not seeing the cylinder specific misfire rates, so I'm thinking you need to run the scan after driving the car for 10+ minutes rather than right after starting it each time.
The misfire monitoring is active, it just sort of changes behavior once you already have a misfire code. Because you have a P0300 already it might not be trying very hard anymore because the engine is running too rough to make a determination. FYI, the crankshaft profile learning is an important part of the misfire monitor. After you reset the codes it takes a while to relearn the unique crank accelerations of the engine. To help the learning process you usually do three 60-40 MPH closed throttle, non-braking decelerations. I know the way some people drive this will never happen, so you might give that a try and then do a scan before turning the engine off.
Oh it was definitely soot....very, very fine soot.
Okay I'll try the deceleration trick tomorrow when I come home from work. Is the DPFE, the sensor that controls the vacuum to the EGR? How would you like me to check it? Also I noticed that when pulled the vacuum line from the egr, I placed my finger over it, and it had a very tiny amount of vacuum and it seemed like it had pulse or vibration, is that normal? I did do a report after driving it home from work today. I left the car running and hooked up the scanner and created a report without doing any tests. That's how I learned it was missing so much info so I didn't post it, and I had already turned off the car so it was useless.
DPFE is the sensor with the two hoses that go to the EGR pipe. It's used to sense the EGR flow through the pipe so the PCM can verity it's occurring. Unfortunately it's a failure prone part on the Taurus. I guess I'm just asking for a visual inspection at first to make sure the hoses are hooked up and nothing is melted. If you can get to a DPFE voltage PID on the scan tool, then I would try pulling a vacuum on the EGR valve and raising the idle to see if you can get the DPFE voltage to go up to 4-5 volts. At idle (EGR valve closed) you should have less than a volt (no EGR flow). If you have a pulse or vibration it might mean the EVR solenoid is sticking open a bit. Maybe those pulses are pressure pulses in the intake manifold from a sticking valve or something?
I think you're confused with the terminology. Vacuum has to come from the intake manifold through the EVR to the EGR valve. Here's a diagram of the Ford EGR system so you can understand how it works.
FYI the arrow on the far right side in the intake is pointing the wrong direction.
What I'm saying is, that when I pulled the vacuum line off the EGR valve and put my finger over it, that is where I was feeling the pulsing vacuum. The other end of the vacuum line is connected to the EVR. According to the diagram you posted, vacuum originates from the intake, goes to the EVR, gets regulated there and then controls the EGR valve. In other words the vacuum/pulsing is coming from the EVR .
Ok. I have a 2005 taurus sel with the exact same problem. I replaced my coil pack, wires, idle air control valve, fuel filter, air filter, cleaned my intake, replaced the gasket on the large valve on the intake. Its the vulcan Engine. What did you find out to be the problem? It bothers me so much, I have been trying to track this problem down for 2 years! I figured something would break and then I would replace it, but that didn't happen. The problem only happens at idle, if I unplug the idle air control valve and then manually move the throttle it acts fine, no surging of the engine. When I reconnect it, same thing, random fall in about 50-100 RPM every 10-15 seconds. PLEASE HELP! Thanks.
edit- This idle problem is enough to make the lights in my car flicker.
I assume spark plugs have been changed as well with proper Motorcraft/Autolite plugs?
MID:$3f TID:$71 isn't in the book but it looks like something with the EVAP monitor (you might have a leak somewhere). Any trouble codes?
Could you provide fuel trim data while it's idling? This could still be a vacuum leak somewhere.
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