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Should I be wary of this dealer? (see inside)

D

Dirtylimey

CEG'er
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
Messages
93
Location
Kenosha, WI
Well im getting the good ol 0420 code on my 2000 SVT, I have read about MIL eliminators and gutting the pre-cats and such and have put some seafoam in my tank to see how that goes, but in the meantime I figured I would call up the dealer to see if I can get my pre-cats replaced under the federal emissions warranty (Car was born on January 27th 2000)

So I called the service dept of the local Ford dealer, told them I was pulling a 0420 and asked if I could get the pre-cats replaced under that. First he asked "The What?" then he told me that only the catalytic converter or the processor are covered under the warranty. He told me my problem was likely the EGR valve.

These guys charge a $95 diagnostic fee, probably just to discover what I probably already know. Stay away?
 
Find another dealer. No matter what, they have to diagnose it before they confirm that you need a new precatalytic converter. For the 2000 model year, if the P0420 is indeed due to a bad Precat, they will first attempt a reflash of the computer. If that doesn't work, then only will they change out the precat.

Note that if it is determined that the p0420 is due to something else other than a warrantied mechanical breakdown (translation: manufacturing defect) of the emissions components, they will charge you the diagnosis fee.
 
what I found with dealers is if you tell them what is wrong they are going to give you a hard time. I would go to another dealer and see what they have to say. I think that it would have to be a failure of the cat not by other means for it to be covered.

I would save yourself the hassle and install mils at a minimum, if not gut the pre-cats or go for headers.
 
Provided my main cat is doing its job, the MILS will I assume just get me through emissions by blocking the check engine light?

Putting headers on and removing the precats I assume would give me a little performance gain also due to less airflow restriction? Or is it purely to eliminate the pain in the butt that the pre-cats are?
 
I got lucky when I went to get my precats replaced under warranty, they dealer even replaced my main cat! He said since it's not monitored, the shot precats could have ruined the main one, so as preventative maintainence, everything was replaced for free!
 
"Provided my main cat is doing its job, the MILS will I assume just get me through emissions by blocking the check engine light?"

Yes, if your state has only "plug in, scan, no CEL, pass" method. If your state does a smog test, you need a good main cat to meet the emissions from your exhaust.

"Putting headers on and removing the precats I assume would give me a little performance gain also due to less airflow restriction? Or is it purely to eliminate the pain in the butt that the pre-cats are?"

Both.
 
Thanks fellas. I think ill speak with one more dealer in the area to see if I get a more educated response, I suppose getting my warranty work while I still can for free would be a good thing.
 
Well, I guess my car is not under the fed emissiosn warranty (7yrs/94,000) and I just took it to a dealer. $90 diagnostic fee, they told me they could replace the computer for a total of $195 (diagnostic is in that) and it 'might' fix the problem... Or they could replace the cat, for 1800...

Sooo uhhh yeah, MILs and headers it is :p
 
Gutting the pre cats and installing MIL's is actually very easy. Make sure you buy new gaskets and hardware. Dont bother re-using the old flange bolts, just buy new ones there super cheap. Also, weatherproof the MIL's.
 
Dirtylimey said:
Well, I guess my car is not under the fed emissiosn warranty (7yrs/94,000) and I just took it to a dealer. $90 diagnostic fee, they told me they could replace the computer for a total of $195 (diagnostic is in that) and it 'might' fix the problem... Or they could replace the cat, for 1800...

Sooo uhhh yeah, MILs and headers it is :p
Click to expand...

um the "reprogramming" of the PCM will work. it widens the limits so the cel doesn't turn on for the pre-cats.

my mothers 99 had this done, it had the CEL on and smelled often of unburn gas. had the PCM reprogrammed and it has been fine for the last 30k miles
 
So if it were you, you would pay the 200 bones? Im willing to do if it theres a good chance it will work... But at the same time, if it doesnt work, that 200 could have gone towards headers and such.

ech.
 
Dirtylimey said:
So if it were you, you would pay the 200 bones? Im willing to do if it theres a good chance it will work... But at the same time, if it doesnt work, that 200 could have gone towards headers and such.

ech.
Click to expand...


iffy. depends in if you want to remain stock or not. THis also happened with my 99 with about 100 miles of the federal warrenty. I took a look at my car and figured they where goign to hassle me because of the modification I had done .... and I wanted headers anyway so I put some mils on and later got headers.

if you want to mod I wouldn't bother unless you want the latest calibration in the PCM. If you want to remain stock and not worry about anything its not that un reasonable.
 
Well I intend to keep this car so some light modification is fine by me :)

Ill pay the dirty diagnostic fee then prepare myself for the battle of installing headers. I hear its tough... but worth it.

Appreciate all the input here. Wish I could have gotten a warranty replacement on the cats, but oh well. Guess sometimes you gotta spend some moneys.
 
without me being 100% certain that my pre-cats or main cat is plugged, wouldnt mil eliminators alone just be ignoring the potential for damage and rough running?
 
If you don't have issues with your car, chances are the exhaust is not plugged.

If your car is not idling well, stumbling when accelerating, bogs down at high rpm, you should try the el cheapo plugged exhaust test. That should give you an idea of whether the exhaust is plugged or not.

http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/showthread.php?t=762
 
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