Originally posted by Ray:
Tony,

while the MILs may keep the CEL from coming ON, your cat is still GONE.. (clogged, etc) and the performance aspect of the car is still hindered, you just aren't getting a visual representation of that fact.
....
Ray



Ray, thanks for clarifying for the benefit of others. Let me clarify my situation a little more. My situation is a little different. I am not getting a performance loss (i.e. clogged pre-cat) nor any other CELs.. Rather than spending $200 to reprogram the PCM, I chose to spend $30 for the MILeliminators. I did not gut my pre-cats nor main cat. The reprograming of the PCM will result in maybe another 2 to 3 years (only those who have done it will know eventually) of no CEL (for P0420 or P0430) as it is just widening the band of limits for the malfunction. When my Contour was 8 years old (one month before I started getting the P0420), I had to do the smog emissions test and it passed with flying colors. HC 7 ppm with a limit of 81 (15 mph), and HC 13 with a limit of 78 (25 mph). CO and NO were minute. Would it be higher when I have to do the emissions again in May 2006? Probably. And would it fail the sniff test? Probably not. But if it did fail, even the reprograming of the PCM would not be able to "save" it. I would still have to foot out the $$$ to change the precats. This way, I save $170. What about leaving it alone until the time comes for the smog inspection? Well, I doubt it will pass the visual (CEL bright yellow) if the P0420 code shows up during the dyno/sniff test. And I would have to check and turn off the CEL every week or so. What about just ignoring it? Well, it would be hard as I would not know if there are other codes which could be the reason for the CEL. Plus, it would be hard to advise fellow CEGers to "scan it and not to ignore a CEL as it is not normal to have a CEL". Do what I say, don't do what I do? Nah, I can't give that advice.

"Always do the cheap and easy ones first." 1996 V6 ATX 96K miles