New guy with a few questions!

[2001RedSport]

Hi everyone. I have a 2001 Explorer Sport 2wd 4.0 sohc w/ 5spd auto trans. I was just hit in the rear end by a honda accord. The truck is back from the body shop, where they replaced the bumper and adjusted the rear hatch. They did a terrible job painting the bumper. It is glossy and too light gray. I'm going to take it back and see if they will re paint it. But the big problem I have is that my truck is now sluggish. My mileage went from around 16-20 to around 13-15. I got a check engine light (the body shop refused to address it because there was no way a wreck caused the check engine light. Auto Zone scanned it and said it was "EGR insufficient flow", they didn't know what it meant so they cleared the code and it hasn't reappeared. What do you think could be causing the poor mileage and check engine light? Thanks in advance!

 

[KPT]

That code is typically caused by a bad DPFE. Mine had no effect on mileage or performance when it went though.

 

[Robb]

Originally posted by JL 3x12 Xplorer
That code is typically caused by a bad DPFE. Mine had no effect on mileage or performance when it went though.

I will second that! Most of the time, the auto store would have tried to sell you an EGR Valve, so props to them for not doing that to you. There is about a 90% chance that the CEL was caused by a DPFE malfunction. If the lights doesn't come back on, I wouldn't worry with it.

I can't think of why the damage would have effected your mileage off the top of my head right now.

 

[MONMIX]

2001 should still be under warrenty shouldn't it ?

 

[X~FACTOR]

Originally posted by Robb
I can't think of why the damage would have effected your mileage off the top of my head right now.

Maybe the impact of the accident caused a leak in the fuel system out back. Cracked gas tank or gas filler perhaps?

 

[expo5.0]

yeah the only thing back there is fuel delivery

 

[dmasini]

Anyway the impact could have jarred the exhaust, pushing it into the CAT? I got rear-ended a couple months ago and my exhaust ended up bent and pinned against the sway bar. The bodyshop bent it back out and although I have no loss of power, it's still loose, rattles and makes weird squeaking noises. And this is after 3 different trips to the bodyshop. I got so annoyed I got a Gibson CAT-back system... solved all my problems

 

[jersha]

Just another thought here, but I do know of one instance where someone rear ended a guy's Blazer and he had it taken to get body work done. The bodywork was finished and he also noticed that his MPG went down after the accident (no check engine lights though). After a few thousand miles, he noticed abnormal wear on the rear tires, couldn't figure it out. Took it in to have it check and found out that part of his rear end suspension components had been bent up, not really noticeable I guess, but enough to tear up the tires and after he had that fixed, it fixed the lower MPG's. I am guessing more resistance from being out of alignment? Just a thought, didn't know if the frame or rear suspension was looked at closely or not.

 

[2001RedSport]

Thanks for all your replies! Unfortunately I am out of warranty (50K on the clock). I also wondered if the exhaust was crimped somewhere, or if something with the rear end was causing drag. The CEL has stayed off, so I'm hoping I won't have to replace any sensors.