Getting code p0171 and P0141

J

jakejosy

New Member
hey there

names jake and im new to the forum. i have 2004 ford ranger 4.0 v6 4x4 manual. well the other day i was putting gas in turned the truck on and the engine light came on. got the codes read but i dont know where to start. please help!! O and the codes are P0171 and P0141

thanks !
 
I think I had this once before....I fixed it without parts on the 90 degree intake elbow below the upper rad hose. Let me get some more info when I did it and I will try to get you pics
 
well i was looking around checking the egr and the 90 degree intake elbow below and noticed the positive battery cable was loose. so i took it off to fix the bolt so that it could tighten right on the terminal and reconnected it. the engine light went off and never came back on. so i don’t know what’s going with the truck but it’s gone. anyone have a clue why? I’m just puzzled about it now.
 
when you remove the positive battery cable, the PCM resets, clearing all the trouble codes that triggered your check engine light. you need you drive the truck until the fault happens again to trip the CEL again.
 
TomN said:
when you remove the positive battery cable, the PCM resets, clearing all the trouble codes that triggered your check engine light. you need you drive the truck until the fault happens again to trip the CEL again.
Click to expand...

X2 it will come back on in a day or two
 
jakejosy said:
hey there

names jake and im new to the forum. i have 2004 ford ranger 4.0 v6 4x4 manual. well the other day i was putting gas in turned the truck on and the engine light came on. got the codes read but i dont know where to start. please help!! O and the codes are P0171 and P0141

thanks !
Click to expand...
maf sensor is 171. could be leak too. just replaced my maf and the code never came back. after i would erase the code it would take awhile for it to return but it would return. do u have a aftermarket air intake? have u ever got mud, sand, or water into ur filter?
 
Hooligan said:
I think I had this once before....I fixed it without parts on the 90 degree intake elbow below the upper rad hose. Let me get some more info when I did it and I will try to get you pics
Click to expand...


alright i would appreciate it if you could get me some pics on it.
 
Demon-FX4 said:
maf sensor is 171. could be leak too. just replaced my maf and the code never came back. after i would erase the code it would take awhile for it to return but it would return. do u have a aftermarket air intake? have u ever got mud, sand, or water into ur filter?
Click to expand...


ill check the MAF then. how do i check for a leak? no i dont have an aftermarket air intake either. and no i have never gotten any thing like that in the air filter either.
 
Ok since the code came and went and came back, I checked them out again and now its saying P0171 and P0174 instead of the P0141. I know that it means that both banks are running lean. So I changed the spark plugs and wires which stopped my truck from shaking, check for vaccum leaks with gage reader and it read that everything is good. Ive been trying ot attempt to check the PCV but i cant seem to get the elbow off and I dont want to rip it. And im going to check the sensor of the EGR and so forth to make sure those didnt go bad. Also when i bought the truck it is hard to start when its cold. i dont know if this would cause it to send those engine codes but i was just wondering.
 
If it's just 1 bank, then it could be the O2 sensor on that side (bank 1 is passenger side) for your 4.0L. Swapping sensors from 1 side to other will tell you which sensor is bad, if any.

But since BOTH banks are too lean, then you've got a problem that's common to BOTH halves. So your intake air mixture is off. That means either your MAF sensor is dirty (clean its fragile filament wire with TV Tuner cleaner from Radio Shack), or else you have a vacuum hose leak (replace rubber hoses), or else you have an intake manifold gasket leak.

My truck had an intake manifold gasket leak, and replacing those gaskets made 0171/0174 codes & CEL go away. And now it idles smoother, and no longer wants to stall in winter weather. Yay!
 
sorry for the delay response. when the engine codes first came on i cleaned the MAFS but it didnt go away. is there any way of doing a homemade smoke test because i dont have the money to take it in to get it done so i could see if i have a vaccum leak.?
 
First, I'd check the more obvious stuff like vacuum hoses, IAC, DPFE, and also PCV & EGR. Hoses are cheap to replace.

Intake gasket leak is a common issue for the 4.0, but let's hope yours is a simpler problem? Some say you can check for intake gasket leak by spraying lots of ether or carb cleaner all around the intake gasket & fuel rails, hoping to notice a change in idle speed, but that's not a definitive test. I didn't notice any change in mine when I tried this rather coarse test. My gasket leaked for over 2 yrs, and idled roughly (esp. winter) but ran great at higher RPM. But CEL fails state inspection. After ruling out everything else, I ultimately told the dealer to verify it and then replace the upper & lower intake gaskets, which cost over $500.

Good write-up how to: http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94437&page=3
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top