P2450 Ford Code - Evaporative Emission System Switching Valve Performance/Stuck Open

[19Walt93]

Will they stay on at less than 90 ft-lbs... like the dealership installed them?

If they can't torque lug nuts correctly, or balance tires, or properly inflate tires.... Would you trust this dealership to remove the gas tank and replace the evap valve on your truck?

I've had this chart hanging in my shop for decades.. and that's what I've used to set the torque wrench to.

View attachment 84076

With luck they'll stay on, I assume you have 14mm lugs which are close to 9/16". Are they your only choice for a dealer? Our Ford rep used to send us what he called visiting owners- meaning they bought the vehicle elsewhere- for us to do the final repair attempt before a lemon law case went to court, or if their selling dealer couldn't fix whatever problem got him involved. We had a service department, not a profit driven flat rate hack shop. All dealers aren't the same.

 

[HenryMac]

With luck they'll stay on, I assume you have 14mm lugs which are close to 9/16". Are they your only choice for a dealer? Our Ford rep used to send us what he called visiting owners- meaning they bought the vehicle elsewhere- for us to do the final repair attempt before a lemon law case went to court, or if their selling dealer couldn't fix whatever problem got him involved. We had a service department, not a profit driven flat rate hack shop. All dealers aren't the same.

The lugs are 12 mm (0.472). These are the lock lugs I bought back in 2019.

It's 45 minutes to the dealership I won't be using anymore. And it's 75 minutes to the next closest. What should I ask them, if they are a flat rate shop?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You know how when you have a doctor's appointment and get up the morning of the appointment and question your judgement and wish you could just wave a magic wand and not need to go?

Our 2019 Ranger did that very thing this morning, waive the magic wand that is. We were scheduled to take it to the dealer to get the evaporation valve replaced, which involves removing the gas tank. Seems like a little access door in the floor of the bed would be better, but what do I know?

So we're about a half mile from home and my wife points to the dash. The check engine light is no longer on.

We go back home, and I fire up the laptop and run FORScan, and ran the diagnostics and it shows that the evap. code was triggered. I clear out the code and then start the truck up and run diagnostics again. No evap code.

I called the dealer, told them to cancel the evap repair, but we would be there to get the new Michelin LTX A/T2 tires re-balanced that they didn't balance correctly on 10-06-2022.

When we arrive, they treat us like royalty, they take the truck back and we're back on the road in about an hour and a half. Before we left the Service Advisor said he asked the tech "Why didn't you re-balance those when you flipped them from black wall to white wall on 10-06-2022?" He said the tech just shrugged his shoulders. I looked at Shaun and said, "I guess that's why you make the big bucks; you have some common sense".

So, I get home and check the torque on the lug nuts. The owner's manual specifies 100 ft-lbs., that seems high? I did some research on this when I bought the truck (Sept 2019) and 85-95 ft-lbs is what most tire shops use. So, I've been torquing them to 90 ft-lbs. when I rotate the tires.

I set the torque wrench to 90 ft-lbs... and only (4) out of (24) lug nuts were tight. The others weren't "loose", but they weren't 90 ft-lbs.

I checked them on 10-06-2022 when we first had the Michelins installed, and every lug was tighter than 90 ft-lbs.

I called dealership and left a message with the Service Advisor, he didn't answer, I told him what I found and told him 4 out of 24 were pretty horrible odds.

I also noticed a scratch on my bash plate (aka skid plate) under the front of the truck. Probably from the tech hitting it with a floor jack.

Whatever... moving on.

The tires were indeed out of balance and are good now.

Pretty bottom of the barrel dealer if they are using a floor jack to swap tires...

I torque them when I put the wheels on and drive it to work and back (roughly 15 miles) and retorque.

Once in awhile one will need a bit more, not common though.

My '85 and the Bronco have 1/2" studs, I run 100lb-ft for torque.

 

[franklin2]

You know there has been a problem before, when you go to Walmart to get tires, the youngster mounts and balances them and installs them, and before the car is moved the shop forman comes out with a torque wrench and checks them. It must be their standard practice, they have been doing it for years each time I go in.

 

[19Walt93]

The lugs are 12 mm (0.472). These are the lock lugs I bought back in 2019.

It's 45 minutes to the dealership I won't be using anymore. And it's 75 minutes to the next closest. What should I ask them, if they are a flat rate shop?

View attachment 84095

Unfortunately almost every dealer is flat rate, we were the last hourly dealer in our area and the new owners switched it to flat rate. It's the most profitable plan for the dealer and techs who do repetitive jobs like services, brakes, tires, etc can make a lot of money. The problem is that the customer gets the least for their money and techs who can actually diagnose and fix the tough problems get short changed.
We had the Ford Boston regional manager stop in a few years ago unannounced. He had visited the now defunct dealer in Barre-Montpelier, Vt earlier that day and the owner, Wade Walker, told him Flanders & Patch had the best service department in the zone so he wanted to see what we did. He couldn't comprehend that hourly technicians could do a better job than flat rate techs who knew the extra time to do it right would cost them money.
You could ask if they use torque sticks when installing wheels, that was actually a Ford mandate a few years ago. I do just what you did, I check the torque on my wheels whenever anyone else has worked on my vehicles. Other than state inspections, I still do everything myself. Like Reagan said "trust but verify".