Hi all, had a slight issue this weekend with my 05 ram 1500 hemi... Went camping in cottonwood AZ, pulled my travel trailer from quartzsite, and used a full tank of fuel (I always use 89 octane like the owners manual says). When I filled up I cheaped out, and bought 87 octane. The next day I went and cruised through Sedona and up Oak Creek Canyon, headed back down the hill to Cottonwood, my dummy light came on, checked it and It was code P404- EGR Control Circuit. Cleared the code, and the light stayed off the rest of the day. Drove the other direction the next day to Prescott, and It came on again after about an hour and ahalf of driving around town. Same code, so I didnt bother clearing it this time as it seemed it would just come back on. Got back to Cottonwood that night and was at half tank, so this time I filled with 91 octane (half 87 and half 91 makes 89 i believe) and the light went off, and hasnt come back on yet three days and about 500 miles later. My question is, what does this code mean exactly? has anyone else experienced this issue? Could the fuel have been the cause? any help would be appreciated, the light has stayed off, so I'm not real worried, more curious than anything.

 

The EGR valve basically recirculates a portion of your exhaust by running it through the combustion process again. This results in a cooler, more complete burn of the fuel which decreases you truck's noxious emissions. Just like the catalytic converter, it's a govt. mandated emission control item that decreases performance AND is something else to replace when it goes bad.

Although I'm NOT a fan of running 87 octane gas in the Hemi (EVERY Hemi with a cylinder failure seems the owner ran 87 octane over the long term). A single tank here and there is not gonna really cause a problem.

My guess is more a case of bad gas than the octane itself. Probably also combined with the fact that your EGR is starting to go. The EGR usually lasts about 50k miles give or take and is a relatively inexpensive part (about $35 at most auto parts stores) and about a 10 minute swap that is held on with two bolts and only requires a common socket set.

The better gas will probably keep the CEL off for a while, but if it starts popping up again, it'd be time to replace the EGR valve...

 

Here is a write up on that code.
http://www.obd-codes.com/p0404

There are a couple of links to RAM issues down near the bottom of that page. Didn't follow them so I do not know if they are of any value.

 

For an 05 with an average of 60k+ miles I would replace the EGR

 

yeah, well, the trucks got over 100,000 on it, so I guess this EGR valve has had a good run at it. Thanks for the replies guys, glad this forum is here, who knows what the dealer would have charged me...

 

I replaced one for a neighbor in his '06 Ram 1500 about a year ago (he started popping a CEL at 45k miles). The dealer quoted him $78 for the EGR and $90 for the install.

I told him I'd do it for a beer if he ran to the auto parts store and bought one. I think he paid $38 at Advance Auto and I had the thing swapped out BEFORE I finished the beer, LOL...
Those two bolts that hold it in can be tight as hell, but if you hit 'em with a little liquid wrench or similar product and let 'em sit a few minutes, they'll come right off...

 

You can change it yourself no problem. Make sure that you are straight on how to disconnect the wiring harness though as they are easy to break.