Replaced the DPFE about 1 week ago, pulled a trailer for 250 miles and it still runs great! - Thought I would let everyone know.

Thank you for the great info!

 

I have a '97 F-150 with the 5.4 liter and I have got the infamous PO401 code. A lot of the posts that I have been reading are talking about 4.6L engines, and cleaning out the ports on the EGR valve is the most common fix. Is this the same for the 5.4 liter?

Thanks!

 

Has to be the same problem.... you are going to have to take the throttle body and EGR apart and clean out the carbon.... you may be able to do it without buying any parts.

I bought the EGR, but probably could have just cleaned it and saved that 50 dollars. I would say an 1 1/2 hours of work..... or probably 300-350 at the dealer... (if they will clean carbon ports)

metal dentil pick type tools that i picked up from the hardware store were my best friends.. i also used my air compressor and brake cleaner type spray.

 

I have 200k miles on my 4.6 and have been drivin around with the check engine light on for this code for some time. I tried doing the fix as I read on this thread but couldn't get the last bolt for the elbow off. I paid a local ford mechanic directly to clean it for me. I gave him 50 bucks and in 15 minutes he took the entire assembly off picked all the carbon out and used 2 big cans of brake cleaner on the entire thing, it looked brand new when done. He put everything back on. Cranked up the check engine light has not been back on since and its been almost 2 weeks and several hundred miles

 

It may need the cleaning, but if you read my posts, it turned out to be the sensor. 5.4L on 98 E250 van.

You can test the sensor voltage - one line is 5 volt, the other is supposed to be about 1v - tested mine on on and then on running and it stayed at .4v

 

Have had same problems as many others. (Replaced EGR valve, switch, etc., but CEL still comes on. Have failed inspection as a result.) Does anyone have picture(s) of elbow that needs to be removed and cleaned..or the area that must be cleaned? Thanks

 

don't have a pic...but it's the piece that the EGR attaches to.... there are four bolts that have to come off... you just have to pull everything off piece by piece

maybe an hour and 15 minutes including picking out the carbon....

i replaced the EGR....but i didn't lose the light until i cleaned out the carbon.

 

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Can someone post a pic of the two EGR ports on the intake elbow as described above... I gave very little engine experience, but willing to give it a shot... thanks!

 

sorry i don't have a picture to offer..

you really need to spend the hour and a half to take off the EGR and the throttle body elbow... the ports get carboned up on the inside of the throttle body elbow...

on a scale from 1-10...this job is about a 2... pretty easy.

you will probably get dirtier changing your oil than doing this.

 

my 98 f150 4.2 has the 401 code. I do not see any on this thread with this problem,after reading so many of the 4.6 engines,having this problem I assumed my EGR was plugged with carbon. however after removing it there was virtually no build up. Is there something I missed or could it be the DPFE?

 

I would say do a voltage test on the DPFE, as I mention earlier in the thread. If the voltage stays the same running and just power on then it probably is bad. It should read 1 volt if I remember correctly, but go back to my previous posts on this thread.

 

Welcome to the forum wraz333

The DPFE is the most common cause of a P0401.
In other areas they seem to have different gas that causes carbon buildup but where I am I haven't seen that often at all.

 

Thanks to fatherofmany and racerguy, I had to replace the dpfe, should have tested that first! so far it seems to have worked, I have driven only 50 miles with no check engine light coming on. now all i need is for it to pass inspection....

 

Been awhile since I've visited the site, let me just say it's everything I remember but better ,

I have been learning alot since my purchase of a high mile '02 F-150.

I have read everything in this thread in regards to my problem. Truck keeps throwing the P0401 code and has a slight miss. Truck has 205,000 miles.

After reading the thread I have done the following:

1. Removed throttle body and cleaned carbon out of the vacuum ports. Once was completely plugged but the other was not. This wasn't really a hard carbon, but oily. (truck uses about 1 quart of oil every 2,000 miles) Cleared code and drove about 5 miles before it gave me a pending code (I believe the P0401 is a "2 trip code" meaning it will move from pending on the next drive it happens)

2. Checked EGR, with truck idling, put vacuum on EGR and engine stalled, indicating the EGR is ok?

3. Checked voltage on DPFE. Checked with key in ON position and with truck running. One wire checked 5.0 V and the other 1.6 V. Does not change whether the truck in running or not.

Is this indicating that the DPFE is bad? I'm just not sure what the voltage test is telling me. DPFE at Ford is $69 and I just want to confirm before I purchase.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.