XSKI712 Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 just in the process of daily driving, my check engine light has come on. its a 1999 legacy 30th ann. sedan, with a bit over 120,000 miles. the engine temp is normal, and there arent any sounds or smells that are out of the ordinary. i was wondering if this had anything to do with the fact of it being sub freezing for the majority of the day. the clutch is getting replaced in 2 weeks, and is slipping pretty badly. after some research i found something that said it might have something to do with ice forming somehwere in the transmission, not sure exactly what it meant. i also found it might just come on every 60,000 miles? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahDL88 Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 I'll look into my Crystal ball and try and diagnose this. Umm, nope, crystal ball is on the fritz. Try autozone or another similar auto sales place, they should scan your codes for free, their crystal ball is better than mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XSKI712 Posted December 11, 2005 Author Share Posted December 11, 2005 just got back from autozone, heres what they said. if anyone knows the extent of these problems, please let me know The oxygen sensors monitor the Catalytic converter's ablility to store oxygen Probabal Causes: 1st-Catalytic converter defective (i know thats pretty costly) 2nd-Engine misfire or running condition 3rd- Large vacuum leak 4th-Engine oil leakage into exhaust valve , guide seals, piston rings it seems to be running fine, no weird nosies, even from the exhaust, which makes me think that its not the Cat. but ANY help ASAP would be greatly appreciated, PM or email me (XSKI712@att.net) with any info. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 HUH? can you list the codes that were pulled off, as what you just said does NOT make sense. Firstly there are TWO 02 sensors, which one is reading out of spec. Engine misfire WHERE large vacume leak car would run like crap 4th is total bs The codes are a jigsaw puzzle, and you look at the common denominators when you have multiple codes, so we need to see the exact codes. If not i have a bridge to sell you in brooklyn nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 if the car is running fine i wouldn't panic, this is usually something simple like a sensor issue. did they give you an exact code? like P204 or something? that sounds like they gave you possible fixes, it's better to know the exact code/item that is causing the CE light to come on. one sensor is triggering this code, we need to know which one. if it's O2 sensor related, i'd look to replace the O2 sensor, not a big deal. replacing the catalytic converter doesn't have to be costly. it can be, but doesn't have to be either. but i highly doubt that is your problem. a "clogged converter" is something i always hear people that dont work on cars say to check when in reality i work on alot of cars and have never seen one fail personally. i know they do, but other things have much higher failure rates in my experience (even with 200,000 miles soobs....) the cold shouldnt cause the CE light, nor should the 60,000 miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmm001 Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 My brother was on his way out the door but I called him. The code is PO420. Again, he said the car runs fine, idles fine. The car was just inspected when he bought it (on Tuesday), and passed the emissions inspection. Brian M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 sorry, i should have said we need to know what the code means, not the exact number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 assuming i looked this up correctly this is what i got for that code: Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmm001 Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 Yeah, that sounds about right. This is what the book told them at autozone about the code: Probabal Causes: 1st-Catalytic converter defective 2nd-Engine misfire or running condition 3rd- Large vacuum leak 4th-Engine oil leakage into exhaust valve , guide seals, piston rings It's probably not a vacuum leak since the car runs and idles fine. Also, he hasn't noticed any smoke out the tailpipe that would be a sign of an exhaust valve leak. The cat part is what confuses us, since it passed emissions inspection just fine at the beginning of the week. I guess misfire is a possibility, are they always noticeable? Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 Well they could have the threshopd set a bit higher then the polution limits. At 120k it wouldnt be unreasonable to have a cat go, as they are only desighned for 120, but they do last much longer then that usually. The system is good at saying which o2 sensor is bad, but you know if it was me, i would risk the 70.00 to have both o2 sensors replaced and see what happens. 70.00 gamble is much better then a 500.00 replacement, and at 120k i would prbbly replace the o2 sensors with the cat anyway. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 The problem may be due to a intake manifold leak after the MAF sensor. I would check that out first. It sounds to me that the O2 sensor is detecting more air, going out, than is being measured, coming in, by the MAF sensor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 and this is why i shouldnt do these things on vicodin easy way to check for leaks is use either a can of carb cleaner or a spray bottle of water around the suspected area. If you have a leak, the engine will suck in either one and the engine rpm will change. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XSKI712 Posted December 13, 2005 Author Share Posted December 13, 2005 gave the garage a call, and they say its the o2 sensors, and they'll replace them when they do the clutch on the 22nd. until then...i have the acceleration capablilites of my 1991 toyota tercel with the gas mileage of a ford excursion... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 13, 2005 Share Posted December 13, 2005 yay its so hard to do these things over the net .... nice to know we all had the right idea nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted December 13, 2005 Share Posted December 13, 2005 It seems strange to me that both sensors would fail at the same time so I would have to wonder if something else is wrong. Due to the age of the sensors though it is reasonable to put new ones in. Hopefully coolant isn't getting into the exhaust and damaging the sensors. It would be interesting to do an exhaust gas analysis after the work is done to see how things stand. For you Toyota problems, I would look the igniton system over and check for bad plugwires, plugs, and connections. gave the garage a call, and they say its the o2 sensors, and they'll replace them when they do the clutch on the 22nd. until then...i have the acceleration capablilites of my 1991 toyota tercel with the gas mileage of a ford excursion... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boysoccer3 Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I have had the same problem with my 2000 OBW. I have replaced the CAT three times now. I paid around $300 for the first replacement and the other two have been under warranty. Despite fixing what the computers say the problem is, I still continue to have the Check Engine Light warning. Let me know what you do because I am very interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teppichkopf Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 Buy an OBD II reader. I got mine off ebay for less than $40 with s/h. I get the P0420 code and have been resetting the CE light until I have time to replace the O2 sensor. In any case I'd like to hear what you end up finding out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 I hope the devices are not going bad due to coolant getting into the exhaust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtoyou7747 Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 I got this code a couple of years back on my 98OB. Came on a few min. after I went through a large puddle. My mechanic reset the computer and it has not come back. He was able to see the perfromace of both O2 sensors with is OBDII tool and they looked normal. He told me that in the early days the limits on the diagnostics were set abit tight and that this could happen. As I said it hasn't come back for about 2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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