2003 5.4 Rich Bank 1
11-30-2015, 01:28 PM
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2003 5.4 Rich Bank 1
Hey guys. I have a 2003 5.4 4WD FX4 extended cab truck with 273,000 miles on it. Original engine in the truck to my knowledge. I keep getting a P0172 Bank 1 Rich code which I believe is the passenger side. Truck runs fine above idle speed, but you can hear a slight, uneven "whop" in the exhaust if you hold it steady at 1500rpm while parked. Here is a history of what was done to the truck in the last 25,000 miles or so:
247,000 miles all new Ford spark plugs and boots to remedy a slight miss. I have changed plugs a few times in this truck and that always seemed to fix it.
250,000 miles all new Ford COP units to fix the miss that continued. No codes were thrown, just figured I had one going out and seemed that it was common to have to replace them on these trucks after they get high mileage. Seemed fine afterwards.
260,000 miles I had a head gasket go out on the passenger side and it was blowing out from the #2 or #3 (can't remember) to the outside of the block by the exhaust manifold. Removed the heads and had them cut 0.007" to fix the blowby area. Cylinder pressure was pushing into the cooling system and popping the cap on the coolant tank, but no coolant exchange into the engine oil. Valves and valve seats were all re-cut before re-installing the heads. Cylinder walls looked really good and the top of the block was checked for flatness and was in spec. New Dorman intake manifold installed since the coolant tube location on the front was corroded and leaking where it met with the cross tube. New OEM Ford timing chains, slides, and tensioners were installed at this time also. I did all of the disassembly/assembly work myself. Cam and rollers on the rocker arms all looked good. Didn't have a check engine light come on right away afterward, but did have to screw in the setscrew stop on the throttle arm on the throttle body to get it to idle. Thought this was due to different mounting positions on the intake manifold. Got a check engine light later and had a rough idle. Found out the idle air unit never got plugged back in. Plugged it in and it helped, but never quite fixed it.
265,000 miles replaced idle air unit. Thought old one was maybe gummed up a bit and it was pretty cheap to replace. No change.
270,000 miles took it into Ford dealer for diagnosis. This was their reply on the invoice based on what I had told them I had done tot he truck: Confirmed rough idle concerns, smooths out off idle. Slight off noise while cranking. O2 sensors are switching normally, Bank 1 goes rich after startup. Seems like base engine issue like timing is off. Possible worn timing chains, tensioner malfunction, timing is off 1 tooth, or improperly installed CPK tone ring. Engine disassembly required for further diagnosis.
272,000 miles I removed the front cover off the engine and checked the cam timing on the passenger side with a square to the top of the head and it was indeed one tooth off on the cam timing mark. Re-assembled and it was better but not entirely fixed. It took about a week and a half for the check engine light and code to come back. Seems to show up after prolonged idling
273,000 miles I replaced the fuel filter and checked fuel pressure for kicks. It is within spec, but is on the low end. Fuel pressure does go up when you pull the vacuum line off the regulator. I unplugged each injector on the passenger side one at a time while the engine was running and couldn't tell a major difference from one to the other. The engine seemed to pick up about the same when I plugged each one in.
The tone ring on the crank is keyed so it's not like you can get it out of place unless you flip it backwards, but I think it hits other parts if you try to do that from what I remember.
I know it's likely that there's something not quite right from the work I did, but I'm not sure what at this point. I do know the exhaust manifolds have some small cracks in them if that makes any difference. Leaning towards having an injector going downhill. Anyone have any other ideas of what might be going on?
247,000 miles all new Ford spark plugs and boots to remedy a slight miss. I have changed plugs a few times in this truck and that always seemed to fix it.
250,000 miles all new Ford COP units to fix the miss that continued. No codes were thrown, just figured I had one going out and seemed that it was common to have to replace them on these trucks after they get high mileage. Seemed fine afterwards.
260,000 miles I had a head gasket go out on the passenger side and it was blowing out from the #2 or #3 (can't remember) to the outside of the block by the exhaust manifold. Removed the heads and had them cut 0.007" to fix the blowby area. Cylinder pressure was pushing into the cooling system and popping the cap on the coolant tank, but no coolant exchange into the engine oil. Valves and valve seats were all re-cut before re-installing the heads. Cylinder walls looked really good and the top of the block was checked for flatness and was in spec. New Dorman intake manifold installed since the coolant tube location on the front was corroded and leaking where it met with the cross tube. New OEM Ford timing chains, slides, and tensioners were installed at this time also. I did all of the disassembly/assembly work myself. Cam and rollers on the rocker arms all looked good. Didn't have a check engine light come on right away afterward, but did have to screw in the setscrew stop on the throttle arm on the throttle body to get it to idle. Thought this was due to different mounting positions on the intake manifold. Got a check engine light later and had a rough idle. Found out the idle air unit never got plugged back in. Plugged it in and it helped, but never quite fixed it.
265,000 miles replaced idle air unit. Thought old one was maybe gummed up a bit and it was pretty cheap to replace. No change.
270,000 miles took it into Ford dealer for diagnosis. This was their reply on the invoice based on what I had told them I had done tot he truck: Confirmed rough idle concerns, smooths out off idle. Slight off noise while cranking. O2 sensors are switching normally, Bank 1 goes rich after startup. Seems like base engine issue like timing is off. Possible worn timing chains, tensioner malfunction, timing is off 1 tooth, or improperly installed CPK tone ring. Engine disassembly required for further diagnosis.
272,000 miles I removed the front cover off the engine and checked the cam timing on the passenger side with a square to the top of the head and it was indeed one tooth off on the cam timing mark. Re-assembled and it was better but not entirely fixed. It took about a week and a half for the check engine light and code to come back. Seems to show up after prolonged idling
273,000 miles I replaced the fuel filter and checked fuel pressure for kicks. It is within spec, but is on the low end. Fuel pressure does go up when you pull the vacuum line off the regulator. I unplugged each injector on the passenger side one at a time while the engine was running and couldn't tell a major difference from one to the other. The engine seemed to pick up about the same when I plugged each one in.
The tone ring on the crank is keyed so it's not like you can get it out of place unless you flip it backwards, but I think it hits other parts if you try to do that from what I remember.
I know it's likely that there's something not quite right from the work I did, but I'm not sure what at this point. I do know the exhaust manifolds have some small cracks in them if that makes any difference. Leaning towards having an injector going downhill. Anyone have any other ideas of what might be going on?
Last edited by 406F150; 11-30-2015 at 01:31 PM.
12-02-2015, 01:40 PM
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Well I've been told on another forum that it could be sucking enough air in the cracked exhaust manifold that it may trying to add fuel to compensate, but since it is then actually over fueling and not burning it all then the excess fuel is showing up as an overall rich condition. Seems thin to me but I'm not really well versed in how these systems operate. Guess I'll have to get a good code app on my phone and watch what the fuel trims and sensors are picking up while I'm driving.
In the meantime I may swap all the injectors from one side to the other and see if the code moves to the drivers side. That should rule out or confirm a bad injector I would think.
In the meantime I may swap all the injectors from one side to the other and see if the code moves to the drivers side. That should rule out or confirm a bad injector I would think.
12-03-2015, 06:54 AM
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Mark
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I would think if it was sucking air...it would be running lean..not rich.
12-15-2015, 03:44 PM
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Ok I have an update. I got a chance to mess with my Torque Pro app this weekend and did some checking while I was driving around. See attached freeze frame of what the fuel trims are doing. I made a 250 mile highway trip and I cleared the codes in the truck before starting out to hopefully see when it would pop up and under what circumstance. I could see the same P0172 code was pending and a couple times when pulling some steep hills at speed the check engine light would flash if the motor went over 4000rpm. If you kept it there or below it would not come on. After seeing that I also had a P0300 pending code for random/multiple cylinder misfire but couldn't feel a hard miss. Permanent codes never popped up on the whole drive. Next day driving through town (slow speed and idling) to work the P0172 is back. Seems the evap system readiness is the only one that sometimes doesn't show up as complete if that means anything.
I was watching the O2 readings and had some observations. Under acceleration, all four would more or less even out in the 0.6-0.8 range (0.6-0.7 or 0.7-0.8 depending on acceleration rate). Under even deceleration the #1 sensors would both drop to 0.0-0.1 and the #2 sensors would both remain at 0.7. Once I decelerated long enough the two #1 sensors would go out of sync. The mismatch on the #1 sensors would also show up under regular no-load cruising speed. I have some screen shots from that as well. Couldn't screen shot everything as I was driving.
Let me know if this tells anything or if there are other parameters I need to be looking at.
Also, I have not swapped my injectors. Wanted to see if this info would tell anything first.
I was watching the O2 readings and had some observations. Under acceleration, all four would more or less even out in the 0.6-0.8 range (0.6-0.7 or 0.7-0.8 depending on acceleration rate). Under even deceleration the #1 sensors would both drop to 0.0-0.1 and the #2 sensors would both remain at 0.7. Once I decelerated long enough the two #1 sensors would go out of sync. The mismatch on the #1 sensors would also show up under regular no-load cruising speed. I have some screen shots from that as well. Couldn't screen shot everything as I was driving.
Let me know if this tells anything or if there are other parameters I need to be looking at.
Also, I have not swapped my injectors. Wanted to see if this info would tell anything first.