Clogged EGR ports

I have posted this under another thread below, but thought the title might help me get some answers...
Well here I am, I just got my 2003 Windstar back from the dealer. The CEL came on, so I called and made an appointment. They called to say that the code 0171 & 00174 came up. That I have "clogged EGR ports". She then said it would just bee $572.98 to fix it...requiring replacing 6 O ring gaskets, insulator bolts, etc. I can't affort that, so I picked it up. I called another dealer, who referred me to a mechanic at a Lincoln Mercury Dealer. He asked how many miles are on it. It has 70,000 miles, runs great, and has had the routine oil changes, just as recommended by Ford. He told me that he would be more likely to belive it if it had 200,000 miles on it. So, my question is what you guys think, and is there an alternative way to clean them out. I have seen other less costly solutions on the web with other vehicles. Please help me with any suggestions you may have. Here in Florida, we do not have emissions inspections, so unless the CEL light came on, I wouldn't have known anything about it. $80.00 spent so far. By the way, the CEL is not on, if they have reset it, how long until it comes on again, and am I causing problems by driving it? We are about to have company and plan to use the van for trips of about 40 miles at the most.Thanks!

It sounds like your problem is border-line. Probably won't get much worse for a while ... but may eventually have to be attended to. In the current situation, you are not likely to do damage by driving ... especially if the CEL doesn't show up for a while. If it never comes back, just forget it.

The mechanic who thought this wouldn't happen 'til 200kmiles or so, was obviously thinking your model would have the new-design isolator bolts. And that may be true, I'm not sure. But who's to say your engine wasn't overheated along the way ... or it may just be a rare case of failure.

12Ounce,

I can't thank you enough for your quick response and suggestions. I can at least breath a little relief, and enjoy our company. Also, it will allow me time to save up. Could you explain the "New design" isolator bolts how to determine if mine has them, and how they may or may not effect my engine and its problem(?). Thanks!

The top of the engine, the air (topmost "upper" and "spacer" below) intake, is mostly plastic ... and will expand-contract depending of the vacuum level/throttle position. This flexible plastic requires some unusual attachments to the rather rigid metal "lower" intake below. Plastic gaskets are used between the "upper" and "spacer". Isolator bolts, and gaskets, are used to hold the spacer in place to the metal "lower". Isolator bolts are regular bolts, except they have a plastic piece around them that actually holds the "spacer" down. There are 8 of them ... you cannot see them because they are inside/under the upper.

You can search to find many posts concerning the isolator bolts. They first appeared on the '99 model. When they were upgraded a few years later ... the plastic outside part was changed from black to green plastic. The earlier black plastic was not very resistant to engine oil wetness ... and would shrink, causing air leakage.

There are other ways to have vacuum leaks ... so your concern may not have anything to do with isolator bolts ... or even the intake manifold.

It sounds like you have the classic isolator bolt problem. The Ford TSB 03-16-1 explains the causes and the fix. It is the very first sticky on the forum.

This link has the TSB in it (bottom of the page)
http://leckemby.net/windstar/windstar01.html

The TSB covers years 1999-2003

My CEL came on at around 80,000 miles with the P0171 & P0174 codes. The CEL light came on when the weather turned cold. I would reset the light and sometimes it would not come back on for weeks, again when the weather was cold. Eventually the CEL came on and stayed on so I did the repair myself using the above link.

Welcome to the forum kjtdrt...

Do you know if your engine is pinging?

If it is, then I would suggest you do the repairs ASAP, pinging causes internal damage to the engine and needs to be corrected quickly before it becomes a more costly repair. If the pinging goes away by using premium fuel the you can get by, but do not let it go for too long. If it's not pinging then it could wait a little while longer.

By the way, have you had any work done on the vehicle recently?

I ask cause maybe there is a vacuum source left open other than the plenum or EGR issue causing the codes to come up, like 12Ounce mentioned.

And in refence to the EGR, when I did the Isolator Bolt fix on my van it only had 43,570 miles on it and the EGR ports were pretty dirty, not clogged but it had a cosiderable amount of crud on them.
Hope this bit of info helps, keep us posted on the progress.

Thanks guys! The web site is great! As to some of your questions...I had it in for service in September, when they replaced a window motor and the front brake pads and rotors. It does not ping at all, in fact, it is running great! Actually we had a cold snap with freezing temperatures recently...extremely rare for this location! Hopefully it is that...I guess time will tell.

I thought the isolator issue was corrected after 2001, since you have a 03 model year it probably has the new bolts already installed. The other cause for clogging EGR ports could be coming from the PCV valve which is known to allow oil and crude to pass through into the intake manifold.