Short history:
Car is a 98 SE duratec ATX w/ 77K.
About 4 weeks ago got a CEL after a moment of full throttle acceleration. Thought maybe the computer just confused, so disconnected the battery to reboot the computer and see if it would happen again.
1 week later, happened again after another full throttle run. This time I took it to AutoZone to have them read the code. Came back that precat in bank 1 not at proper efficiency. He clears the CEL.
Next day, it happens again. So I go to the Ford dealer to ask about the emissions warranty. Service tech says if it's the cat they will replace it, anything else I have to pay for it. They will charge me $80 to diagnose it. If it's it the cat, the diagnosis is free. So I figure I will think about, maybe change the oxy sensors this week-end and see what that does (they're about due anyway..)
Then I notice that the CEL is off when I get in the car yesterday. I didn't know they would turn themselves off. Does the computer turn the CEL off if the problem doesn't show itself for a period of time? I did a few full throttle runs since then to see if I could trigger the CEl again. No CEL. I suppose this is good news, but I am just wondering about it.
The car seems to be running fine, except that after the second CEL the car seemed to stumble when the "secondaries" opened. It didn't lose power altogther, more like it was surging from having trouble getting a good mixture. It only did this once. (Though I have noticed it in the past. I don't go full throttle very often because I still have the original WP and have noticed that many people's WP failure occured after a full throttle run.)
Any insight would be helpful
Thank you,
Richard
