Egr ...........check Engine Light?????

[booner]

Hey ........first of all great site .........thanks . Second ..... the check engine light has appeard on my dash . The wife is afaid to drive the car , do this pose any seriouse trouble if we keep driviving it . The car has only 48k miles it's 5 years old and has been babed.I have read the it could be some thing like a plugged sesour line that just needs to be blown out . The really funny thing is about 1 year ago this happenend after a simple oil change at the dealer,they had the car for 4 days and "They coulnd'nt find any thing wrong" the dealer told me this. So needless to say I wont take my care back there . Any one please if you could take a minute and reply to this site or to me at mattdeg65@comcast.net thanks again god bless happy new year

[beyondloadedSE]

Chances are its a bad 02 sensor. Mine check engine light will come on sometimes and go off the next day. It always comes on during city driving and goes off after highway driving. Take it to Autozone and theyll pull the code for free and tell you what it is.

[clydes270]

If they read the codes and there are multiples, suspect that the EGR has clogged the throttle body.

I just serviced a 1997 Mystique 2.5L w/ 55,000 miles. Codes were for the EGR, PFE, O2, and Canister Purge solenoid. Carbon from EGR had plugged the ports behind the throttle body. I removed the intake to get a good overall cleaning.

All this resulted from not driving the engine hard, after warm. Should rev the engine above 5000 rpm, once or twice a month to kick the carbon out. An entrance ramp on the highway is a good place to run the car.

FYI, there are four O2 sensors on the 1997. Two fore and two aft. Cost is around $60 to $120 each (depends where you buy) to experiment.

[Mango113]

OK, I have a 98 with V6 and 5 spd. Check engine light has been on for 6 months. Dealer says catalytic converter for $1000+. I'll try Autozone, but does the V6 and 5 spd have any history with check engine light issues?

[beyondloadedSE]

Originally Posted by Mango113

OK, I have a 98 with V6 and 5 spd. Check engine light has been on for 6 months. Dealer says catalytic converter for $1000+. I'll try Autozone, but does the V6 and 5 spd have any history with check engine light issues?

$1000!!!! Are they out of their minds?! First of all, all ford cats have an 8 year/80,000 mile warranty, so if it needs to be replaced, theyll do it for free as long as your still within that warranty. If you are out of warranty, you could buy a high flow cat for like $150 and have a muffler place weld it for you for another $100. I swear...they should just call them stealerships instead of dealerships. Try autozone first and get the codes pulled. If they dont have an OBD-II manual on hand after they pull the codes, ill be more than happy to tell you what they pertain to.

[Mango113]

Haven't made it to Autozone yet, but thanks for the advice! I read on contour.org that this car has 4 O2 sensors and that they wear out. Is that more likely than a dead cat? (car has 93,000 mi). Are they a DIY replacement?

[beyondloadedSE]

Originally Posted by Mango113

Haven't made it to Autozone yet, but thanks for the advice! I read on contour.org that this car has 4 O2 sensors and that they wear out. Is that more likely than a dead cat? (car has 93,000 mi). Are they a DIY replacement?

Its really hard to say without given any codes. Youll be able to really tell if you have clogged cat. Intake will be louder, loss of backpressure, and extreme loss of performance. I know when mine was clogged, it would take me 16 seconds at wide open throttle just to get from 0-60. I know on the 95-97 models there was a catalytic convertor recall because the main cat was clogging. I cant remember if this was an issue on the post 98s. Go to autozone and we'll go from there.

[Mango113]

Just came from Autozone (what a great deal - the manager came out and pulled the codes, made some recommendations - no pressure to buy anything!)

Two codes come up 420 and 1131

Think it's worth replacing the upstream O2 sensors?

[beyondloadedSE]

Originally Posted by Mango113

Two codes come up 420 and 1131

Think it's worth replacing the upstream O2 sensors?

If the O2 sensors have never been replaced, id upgrade to some Bosch O2 sensors.

[wlovett]

I have a 1996 Mercury Mystique LS 2.5L V6. Check engine light is on. I went to AutoZone and got the following codes. I assume that I should replace the EGR valve, I would just like someone elses opinion. The codes are below and any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks

DTC P0401
EGR Flow
Insufficient

DTC P0430
Catalyst Efficiency
Below Threshold
(Bank 2)

DTC P0171
System Too Lean
(Bank 1)

DTC P0174
System Too Lean
(Bank 2)

[beyondloadedSE]

sounds like the culprit to me.

[wlovett]

BeyondloadedSE,

Thanks for the quick reply. Do you know where the ERG valve is located? Is this something I can replace easily myself? Thanks again....

[Mango113]

Originally Posted by beyondloadedSE

If the O2 sensors have never been replaced, id upgrade to some Bosch O2 sensors.

Thought I'd give an update.
Replaced the O2 sensor (Bosch) by the firewall. The check engine light went off, but came back on a few days later. Then, after about a week, it went off and has been off ever since (knock on wood). My mechanic says it's because the system needed to go thru 3 complete engine cycles without an error. (He didn't pull the fuses mentioned elsewhere in this forum to reset the computer).

So, the Ford place tried to convince me to replace the cats. I replaced one O2 sensor instead and the problem is solved.
Thanks to this forum for saving me money!

By the way, they say that you won't be able to pass the annual NY state inspection in 2005 with a check engine light on anymore. My mechanic says they have to send the computer codes to the state so you can't just turn off the light either. Could get interesting.

[drmattdogg]

interesting. i just recently had my light on and it came back as an inefficient catalytic converter also. they assured me at the shop that i could drive with the light on and it wouldnt create any problems if it happend to come back on. maybe ill check into this O2 sensor if it comes back on. and i havnt really noticed any preformance drops either. i guess that is a good sign.

[clydes270]

All those codes sounds like what I just went through. I replaced no parts. Just removed the Intank Manifold and soaked it in cleaner for 2 days. It was really clogged. Then, I washed it out with a hose, dried it for a few hours in the sun. Now, no codes. Now, I make sure that I hit the redline once in a while each month.