Fault code P0444

[Grizzly68]

High everyone, my son has just bought a 2008 Fiesta zetec 1.25 16v, Its his first car and he loves it. He has just told me the engine light had come on twice with the fault code P0444, the first time was literally 5 miles after he picked it up from the dealer. He took it back , they scanned it , then sprayed the filler cap with wd40 cleared the code and it was ok for 2 days. Yesterday the light came on again a mate has scanned it for him and its the same code.Unfortunately he's 70 miles away from where he bought it, anyone any ideas on whats the common cause of this fault code and how to fix it. i Know its something to do with a purge valve. Any help would be appreciated as he's not mechanically  minded and i'm 80 miles away.

[unofix]

20 minutes ago, Grizzly68 said:

i Know its something to do with a purge valve.

Tell him to unscrew the petrol filler cap and see if the fault goes away. If yes then you need a new cap. If no then the evap purge valve is stuck in the open position and needs replaced.

[rd457]

P0444: Evaporative Emission System Purge Control Valve - Circuit Open

The EVAP system stops fuel vapors escaping into the atmosphere causing environmental damage. It instead traps them in a canister, and when the engine is running, a valve is opened to let them flow into the air intake and thus get burnt in the engine.

Circuit open means that a broken electrical connection condition has been detected, here with respect to operation of that valve, no doubt preventing the vehicle from opening/closing the value.

[Grizzly68]

10 hours ago, unofix said:

Tell him to unscrew the petrol filler cap and see if the fault goes away. If yes then you need a new cap. If no then the evap purge valve is stuck in the open position and needs replaced.

Thanks for that, it’s a mk5. Where would the purge valve be located please.

[unofix]

3 hours ago, Grizzly68 said:

, it’s a mk5. Where would the purge valve be located please.

2008 is at least a Mk6 it could even be a Mk6.5

@TomsFocus may know the location of the purge valve. They are normally just a push fit on to the hose so not to hard to replace.

[TomsFocus]

4 minutes ago, unofix said:

2008 is at least a Mk6 it could even be a Mk6.5

@TomsFocus may know the location of the purge valve. They are normally just a push fit on to the hose so not to hard to replace.

Mk7 was released in 2008 so it's probably Mk6.5.  Purge valves are different for Mk6 & 7.

On Mk6 it's bolted to the side of the engine.  New part here, used also available. Ford Valve 1474350 Genuine Ford Part 1 474 350 | eBay

[Grizzly68]

Oh ok, it’s a zetec blue first registered in April 08

 

[TomsFocus]

7 minutes ago, Grizzly68 said:

Oh ok, it’s a zetec blue first registered in April 08

 

Zetec Blue is the end of the Mk6 facelift.  Was one of the final 'run out' trims.