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CEL question

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Phoenix33

CEG'er
Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
90
Location
Eastern Iowa
Hello, I apologize in advance if this is discussed in another topic/in the wrong section etc...

I'm driving a 2000 svt with 134k miles, The only things that i notice that are out of the ordinary with it is that it idles rough and there is a clicking noise that sounds like its coming from the belt. The other day the CEL came on, i went to advance auto to get it checked.

The guy who helped me was one of these people who used big words but had no idea what he was talking about. From all of his rambling all i picked up was that apparently the air coming out of my tailpipe wasnt clean because one of the cats doesnt work right. This man confused the hell out of me. He said i need a new O2 sensor in bank 2. Im confused as to why a new sensor would make the cat in bank 2 work properly.

A new O2 sensor was 50 bucks from advance auto, and bank 2 is the side closer to the driver not the side closer to the front right? Thanks for any help
 
exactly.. This is why a code NUMBER is required... you saw first hand what the morons at PepGirlz, or the other stores know. They know how to check you out, ring you up and plug in that scanner-thingy..

they aren't mechanics. If you have the CODE (P1151, P1516, P0420, etc) then we can narrow things down much more accurately.
 
p0430, catalyst efficiency below threshold,

sorry i didnt include that to begin with i had to call my house and ask what it was i left the printout there
 
ok typically a P0430 by itself means that the PCm believes that the pre-cat isn't working correctly. sometimes this code is caused by a bad O2 or cat monitoring sensor but that is normally when there is a O2 sensor code also.

to confirm try swapping the down stream O2 sensors. If you then get a P0420 then you could replace the O2 sensor. might think about swapping up stream sensor also but do everything one at a time and see what happens.
 
Are these sensors easily accessible? Is this something i can do myself or should i take it somewhere, my dad is a mechanic but we dont have the necessary equipment to do anything major
 
Okay.. P0430 is referring to the catalyst itself being out of efficiency.. "below threshold" is indicating that your downstream O2 (the one after the cat) is seeing the problem.

The solution is either that your cats really ARE old and are out of efficiency and not cleaning the gasses as they used to. OR.. that your downstream O2's are old and aren't swinging and showing the changes in ratio like they would, regardless if your cats are working or not. You normally would see an upstream code, too, but let's just see what he have here, first.


Choices:

replace the lower O2(potentially both instead of that one) and see if it goes away. (still potentially the cats!!)
clean or replace the cats (and still potentially the O2's!!)
Remove the downstream O2's, install MIL eliminators to keep the same "below efficiency" code from showing up all the time.


Start by swapping the O2's (bank one and bank 2) to see if the problem follows..
 
Ray said:
Okay.. P0430 is referring to the catalyst itself being out of efficiency.. "below threshold" is indicating that your downstream O2 (the one after the cat) is seeing the problem.

The solution is either that your cats really ARE old and are out of efficiency and not cleaning the gasses as they used to. OR.. that your downstream O2's are old and aren't swinging and showing the changes in ratio like they would, regardless if your cats are working or not. You normally would see an upstream code, too, but let's just see what he have here, first.


Choices:

replace the lower O2(potentially both instead of that one) and see if it goes away. (still potentially the cats!!)
clean or replace the cats (and still potentially the O2's!!)
Remove the downstream O2's, install MIL eliminators to keep the same "below efficiency" code from showing up all the time.


Start by swapping the O2's (bank one and bank 2) to see if the problem follows..
Click to expand...
M&M how to for mileliminator installation.
http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=56
 
Catalyst efficiency codes are not caused by faulty downstream sensors.

There have been numerous discussions of this fault code and its bank one partner code, P0420. Poke around using the SEARCH function and look for posts by myself and Big Jim.

No need to beat this horse again.

Steve
 
projectSHO89 said:
Catalyst efficiency codes are not caused by faulty downstream sensors.
Click to expand...

I guess I'm not seeing how an UPSTREAM sensor (before the cat) can cause a catalyst code at all, so... where am I missing things, here? I was up until 6am and its only 9:30 so maybe that's it?
 
Ray said:
I guess I'm not seeing how an UPSTREAM sensor (before the cat) can cause a catalyst code at all, so... where am I missing things, here? I was up until 6am and its only 9:30 so maybe that's it?
Click to expand...

The downstream sensors are tested for proper function prior to running the catalyst efficiency test (as are the upstream sensors).

It is not very likely that a faulty O2 sensor in any position is the immediate cause of these codes.

However, a faulty upper O2 sensor (or misfires) can cause exhaust mixture problems that lead to a fuel-damaged catalyst that WILL cause an efficiency code error. When this happens you have more problems than you really wanted. Usually, the upper sensor has faulted with a P1131/P1151 code and it has been ignored for too long.

See the OBDII reference manual that is available for free from www.motorcraft.com for specifics.

Steve
 
I like a temp check myself. Usally will aid in telling if the cat is doing something. Working cats will have one temp at the inlet, the outlet is usally about 100 deg hotter on a fair/good cat. A lazer temp gun is used for this, which can be had for about 40 bucks or less depending.

True you should verfiy the O2 are working correctly before replacing anything, but this would only be done with a scanner that can display live data.
 
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