Teckus

Recently bought a 2004 Regular Cab Short box with only 76,000 miles. It has the 4.3L v6 and I drove home 2 hours fine, I got home and it was idling for 10 mins tops and I get a P0430 code, so I reset it. The next day It idles for maybe 5 mins tops and now i have a P0171 and P0174 and P0430. What could cause this? This truck has low miles for it to be something major (I think/hope)

mountainmanjoe

when I web search those codes, it tells me what the codes mean and the possible causes. There's quite a few of them. Just start with the easy things.

Teckus

I was thinking to buy some MAF cleaner to start off with that, then hopefully I'll get lucky and itll fix that, otherwise I'll probably rent a fuel pressure guage and see how bad luck I have after that

mountainmanjoe

yup. checking for vacuum leaks is easy too.

Teckus

Dont I need a smoker to check for vacuum leaks? And I checked all the vacuum hoses near the front beside the throttle body and only found like 2, am I blind or something?

mountainmanjoe

yeah smoke machine is the best way, but I've also use a flammable aerosol to spray around the engine. When you hit a leaky part, it gets sucked in and you can hear the engine rev up.

You'll want to find a vacuum routing diagram, but there's usually a hose from the intake to a vacuum reservoir tank (which can leak too), then through another hose into the firewall and cabin. Plus checkvalves and T connectors. But vacuum leaks can also happen anywhere between the throttle body and cylinders.

Teckus

that video is actually really smart I thought it was a joke when I first saw it, I guess tommorow when it's like I'll have to try that or the aerosol can considering I dont smoke, is there common vacuum leaks you know for the 4.3l?

mountainmanjoe

yes the plastic tubes that run over top of the hot engine tend to get brittle and break.

Teckus

okay I'll clean the maf and let you know tommorow, thanks