Hi All,

I have been using this site for a while now to help out whenever I have a problem. So far my answer has always been there! I have looked through all the threads that I can think would apply and have not found anything like this so far. I am hoping someone will be able to help me out.

First off, a brief history of my problem: I bought my Expy used from a local Ford Dealer a little over a year ago. When I bought it they added on a free oil change service for the first 2 years. Last summer I took a road trip to Minnesota (leaving from Colorado: Big elevation changes!). In the middle of the road trip my engine light came on. I luckily was able to take it to a local parts shop and get the code read. It turned out to be P0455. The guy recommended replacing the gas cap. I tried this and he cleared the code. For about a week, the light stayed off and everything was fine. After that the light came back on with the same code. To make a long story short, the light has been going on and off for close to a year now.

I have seen no issues with performance, just the stupid light! I have checked the Vapor canistor and connecting hoses and everything seems okay. I was reading through a post about this and somebody said to check the Vapor Management Valve for broken/cracked hoses. I looked under the hood and found a major problem. The hose that goes from the VMV to the intake manifold was disconnected from the manifold end. After closer inspection, I noticed that the port on the manifold actually had a rubber cap over it to seal it.

At this point I am very suspicious that the dealer may have done this during a "Free" oil change in order to get a little extra dough. There are 2 things that are puzzling me about this that I am hoping to get some answers on.

1. Could having this hose disconnected cause a P0455 engine code? Further, would it be possible for this code to show up intermittently?

2. Does anyone know of ANY reason that somebody would intentionally remove this hose and plug the intake port? Fuel Economy? Band-Aid Fix of something else?

Any inputs or ideas are greatly appreciated! I have relied on this site a lot and I think it is great to have such a wide knowledge base out there!

 

Perhaps the Vapor Management Valve is no good, so rather than replace it someone eliminated it. Reconnect it and see what happens.

 

I did pull the plug off last night and reconnect the hose. I have not had a chance to get the code cleared yet. I didn't notice any difference after doing so.