When I bought the car, the check engine light was on, code read O2 sensor was bad. I replaced all 4 of the O2 sensors to make sure they were all good. The light went out and then came on again shortly. New code read various misfires. Replaced injectors, coils, spark plugs. Light went out ad then came on again shortly. New code read O2 problems. Pulled O2 sensors and found them to all be good. Light stayed on, car ran alright, sporatically, and then still had misses in various cylinders. CEL started flashing, codes didn't show anything new, exhaust was coming out of both pipes, then a few miles later smoke started bellowing out of tail pipes. Spent money getting cylinder pressures checked and other diagnostics done. Head gasket on right side was bad. Would cost twice what another engine would cost. Bought another engine and put it in. It worked great, CEL was off for a while, then the whole procedure started again, this time loud clattering and engine was gone. Replaced engine again with another low mileage 4.6, worked great for a while, then same codes started appearing and while passing 18 wheeler, oil pressure went to zero. Replaced engine again, and this time, the codes read check the exhaust system. This time, when I pulled the cat. section off, I put water through the driver side, and water flowed very well. Passenger side didn't flow anything. The secondary cat./resonator was totally clogged. Replaced that section, and CEL light went out, and the car now has approx. 152k miles on it. The final codes finally showed what the problem was, though thousands of dollars were thrown out the window before the codes were correct. It took me 3 engines until the computer actually worked the way it was intended to.
warped right cylinder head
When I bought the car, the check engine light was on, code read O2 sensor was bad. I replaced all 4 of the O2 sensors to make sure they were all good. The light went out and then came on again shortly. New code read various misfires. Replaced injectors, coils, spark plugs. Light went out ad then came on again shortly. New code read O2 problems. Pulled O2 sensors and found them to all be good. Light stayed on, car ran alright, sporatically, and then still had misses in various cylinders. CEL started flashing, codes didn't show anything new, exhaust was coming out of both pipes, then a few miles later smoke started bellowing out of tail pipes. Spent money getting cylinder pressures checked and other diagnostics done. Head gasket on right side was bad. Would cost twice what another engine would cost. Bought another engine and put it in. It worked great, CEL was off for a while, then the whole procedure started again, this time loud clattering and engine was gone. Replaced engine again with another low mileage 4.6, worked great for a while, then same codes started appearing and while passing 18 wheeler, oil pressure went to zero. Replaced engine again, and this time, the codes read check the exhaust system. This time, when I pulled the cat. section off, I put water through the driver side, and water flowed very well. Passenger side didn't flow anything. The secondary cat./resonator was totally clogged. Replaced that section, and CEL light went out, and the car now has approx. 152k miles on it. The final codes finally showed what the problem was, though thousands of dollars were thrown out the window before the codes were correct. It took me 3 engines until the computer actually worked the way it was intended to.
- Michael B., San Antonio, TX, US