Evap system.
Most likely the rubber lines are dry rotted, could also be the purge valve and solenoid. All are located under the front passenger side splash guard by the headlight. Parts should total about $80, and a search on P1443 will give you the part #s.
I just had the same thing happen to me. I had the "Assembly" replaced. My gas mileage went up about 6 MPG on the highway. Now I'm getting 30 on the highway with the A?C on, averaging 75 MPH and 4 large people and a trunk full of luggage.
IC, It could also be your car sucking charcoal out of EVAP canister through the purge valve wrecking it. That is what happened to me. Change out the purge valve assembly, and voila! My car now gets 30 MPG on the highway at 75+or- with the A/C on and a full car.
My '96 had only 68k miles on it when I got the code.
All of the soft lines from the intake to the charcoal canister were totally shot. Ford must have used an inferior rubber.
After replacing all of the soft lines, the code returned less than 1,000 miles later. The sensor and solenoid had to be replaced.
Is that why other vacuum lines and rubber parts on the rest of the car are in great shape? No, I don't think so. These lines are just as exposed as everything else, and I've only had to replace these particular lines. No problems elsewhere.
The material they used to connect hard lines for the evap. system is inferior.
I mean, how many threads have been started for code P1443?
its the same rubber. Im tired of hearing how this is inferior and thats inferior on a car thats at minimum 10 years old. You changed the hoses and still got the code....well duh, its the sensors. I bet you like doing things twice. Road salts, grease, temp extremes, etc....take a toll of plain heater hose. So, in another ten years, go to the auto parts store you got the hoses from and tell them they buy inferior rubber.
There is one simple fact that I learned: These hoses literally crumbled in my fingers when I removed them. It was as if the outer 1/2 of the material turned into dust when it was flexed.
I still haven't found any other hoses or lines on my car that look like that. They all still look new (73k miles).
Further, these lines reside in both the engine bay and inside the wheel well liner - they were all the same. Do you still think you're right?
It is not the same rubber.
I'll reiterate: Look how many threads that have been created on the P1443 code. The specific hoses they used on those lines has a propensity to deteriorate faster than other hoses used on the assembly line.
How else can you explain this?
All these have been like 96 models right? Do you know if you were an early or later built car? Just think, They probably got that hose off 1 step of the assembly process that takes them off a reel of hose thats like probably hundreds or even thousands of feet long, that has nothing to do with the rest of the vacuum lines that were probably installed later down the line. It would be inefficient for 1 person to install all the soft vacuum lines, and inefficient for 1 person to cut the different lengths of all the vacuum lines.
If you have replaced the components, cleared the code, and it returns, I suspect you're encountering a circuit problem, unless the valve or solenoid is DOA. Doublecheck all work completed.
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