Sudden Check Engine Light

[Skrilla412]

Im a new Ford Explorer owner. Today I bought a 2006 Ford Explorer LImited Edition today (8/3/12). It drove nice and I took for a test drive to put it to the test. No hard shifting or loud noises coming from the explorer during the test drive. I bought this explorer the next day. I drove it a little bit durring the day but it stayed mostly at my parents house. I left my parents around 9pm and on the way home, the check engine light came on (FML). I dont hear any wierd noises or signs of something going wrong. Any ideas on what it could be??

This car is loaded with a dvd player, sunroof and power everything. Im wondering if it could be soemthing electrical. Im going to see if advanced auto or autozone are able to read the check engine light warning on my dash and tell what it is. At least I have a 3month warranty that came with the purchase of the car and i also have an extended warranty through my credit union (Clearview), its the Route 66 Easy Street warranty for 4 years. But this is something I do not want to worry about the vehicle on the first day of purchase. This is not a good start to a long partenership that me and this exlorer have. I hope she can prove herself and actually become a good and reliable vehicle. So if anybody has any ideas on what caused the check engine light to come on, i would greatly appreciate it, thanks a bunch!

 

[waskly]

bring it back!

let them fix it...

 

[Town]

There are a very large number of diagnostic trouble codes that will set a check engine light on. Many of these codes (such as yours) do not have driveability concerns so there is no way of guessing what the problem is that has been detected.

The easiest approach is to get the dealer to check and fix the problem under the 3 month warranty. Sooner is better than later.

Another approach is to have the code read as a free service and post the code, not just the description, here for some views on the fix; and then get your dealer to fix the problem under your 3 month warranty.

Another approach is just ignore the problem and remove the neg battery terminal to delete the code (and your PCM's learned idling settings and trans shifting schedule, etc) and see if you get a check engine light again.

Good luck.

 

[Skrilla412]

Ok, i went to autozone and got my check engine light checked. I got a multiplt 3 codes come up. I got the PO420, P030, P0457.

I hope they are just o2 sensors errors. The last code was for the fuel cap or line. I may need a new fuel cap or there might be a leak some where in the fuel line or fuel filter. Im going to take it to the dealership on Tuesday and hope they can get back on the road asap because i love this explorer.

 

[Town]

The P0420 DTC is explained as follows: http://www.obd-codes.com/p0420 note that one of the causes is an engine misfire that causes unburned fuel into the CAT and damages the catalyst and can block it.

There is no code P030, so the possibilities are:
P0030 explained as follows: http://www.obd-codes.com/p0030
P0300 explained as follows: http://www.obd-codes.com/p0300

P0457 is a very large leak in the evap system. It is not normally associated with the liquid fuel lines or filter from the tank to the injectors (unless perhaps fuel is gushing out onto the road and then there would be other symptoms). These evap leaks are detected by the evap system closing the tank vent line and opening the solenoid near the engine to allow the engine to draw vapours into the intake and create a vacuum in the tank and evap lines. The evap monitor then measures the time for the vacuum to be eliminated. A short time is a big leak a longer time is a small leak (P0457 is a huge leak, then P0455 large leak, and then P0456 is a small leak).

Good luck.

 

[waskly]

thats alot of codes, looks like they cleared it to sell it. bring it back....

 

[Skrilla412]

The 3 month warranty will cober all this correct? As long as they fix tall these error codes, ill be fine. Better beleive thay i will keep bringing my car back until its fixed for that 3 months i have the warranty.

 

[Joe Dirt]

I would assume so. I wouldn't even mess with much of anything, I'd just keep taking it back and demanding service friendly, yet firmly.

 

[waskly]

The 3 month warranty will cober all this correct? As long as they fix tall these error codes, ill be fine. Better beleive thay i will keep bringing my car back until its fixed for that 3 months i have the warranty.

it should even be covered by retail warranty. i know some states cars cant be sold with known issues by dealers.

so lets say you purchased a vehicle with a trans problem, if its not disclosed at purchase they are responsible.

the fix also on the showroom dime.

 

[Skrilla412]

I took my explorer to the dealer this morning and they said its def a bad catalytic converter and he is still working on the fuel issue for the P0457 error code. I should get it back tomorrow and ill let you guys what he says.

At least with Fords 8 year or 80,000 mile warranty for all emmissions parts, Ford should most likely replace catalytic converter free of charge. Has anyone heard of an instance where Ford denied an install of catalytic converter? I know Ford said that as long a sthere is no outside damage to the converter and all test point to converter being bad, they wil replace free of charge.

I will post again tomorrow with an update...thanks for every ones input on this topic!! Greatly appreciated!

 

[Skrilla412]

I got my truck back today!! My explorer is back at home. So the codes that i had listed above at the begining of this post are all gone. The guys at ford replaced the catalytic converter and put a ford OEM gas cap on it and now all the codes are gone and this baby is running like a chap so far. Hopefully i wont have any further trouble with this behicle in the future. At least this happened now instead of down the road when i would have to pay a deductible fee to get it replaced. Now hopefully i wont have to worry about a cat converter for a long long time.

Im new to the ford explorer family and hope to enjoy this new partnership that me and this explorer will have for a while.