check engine light on..need second opinion

ok a couple days ago m dad borrowed my my 96 explore xlt. When he dropped it off, he said the check engine light turned on just right after he got of the freeway.


He took it to his mechanic, and was old the cat is going bad and needs to be replace. since there is two cats it would cost nearly 8-900 at a dealter and he would charge me $600.

In my past experience a cat can't trigure a check engine light since there is no sensor in the cat.. I was thinking the most likely problem would be a faulty O2 sensor not the cat.

How long do ford catylic convertors last? I had a 280zx with 260,000 no prob with the cat. and my old accord had a bit more milegage than my explored (which i also ran in higher rpms) had no prob with it.


the explorer is 96 xlt with app. 93,000 miles on it.

A stopped up catalytic converter can cause a MIL (check engine light)
Whether the converter has caused this problem, I don't know but it can cause it. Hope this helps
fordman123

Yes a Cat. can trip the CEL. What is happening (if it is actually the Cat.), is the O2 is reading the NOX level in the emissions which is tripping your CEL. Like stated before, it can happen but without being there I am unable to determine if it is actually the Cat. or a bad O2. Try having the O2's tested before your replace the Cat.

The first thing to do is get the error codes that were generated. Have the computer scanned, if you have an Autozone they will do it for free. Once you have the codes you can make a logical decision...who knows the light may be on because of an EGR problem or an engine miss! There should be no way that 2 cats would cost you that much($600) in the aftermarket.

i have a 94 with 140,000 on it and the cat is still fine...there may be a sensor AFTER the cat. but if the cat is toast you can get a real nice aftermarket racing cat from summit for like 170$ and most exaust shops can put it in for around 50-100$ so you can get a kick ass cat installed alot cheaper than the dealer...dont ever go to the dealer..it's like going through the drive through at taco bell.." you allways get F*** in the drive through"

I know my cat is still good and i've got 182,000 on it i would say get the o2 sensor checked then if it's good get some nice aftermarket ones

Be careful with the "aftermarket." catalytic converter. I had the Check Engine pop on at about 110,000 miles on my '96 Explorer. After an $80 diagnostic at the Ford dealer (mistake #1 - use Advance Auto and get a free diagnostic) he told me it was a bad catalytic converter, and oh, by the way, they come in sets of two, and to replace will be about $900, labor included. I told the service tech I thought I'd be selling the car within the year, so he recommended an after market. So I went to "The Muffler Center," or something like that, they looked in the book and found an after market replacement, installed for just under $300. So far so good. Within 5,000 miles the check engine light comes on again, and off to the Ford Dealer for another $80 diagnostic. They tell me I have a bad catalytic converter. Nice try, I tell them it was replaced within 5,000 miles. They come back a few minutes later and say "Bad O2 sensor." I ask to see the computer specs, at which time they change the tune and say "We can't find anything wrong." So I ask them to reset the Check Engine light. On the way out I blast the service manager for trying to gouge me. He then claims I shouldn't have bought an after market cat converter, and when I show him my service paperwork from the first trip to the Ford service chop where it was written "Service Department recommends after market Cat Converter," he offers to install a Ford cat conv and credit me the $300 I spent on the old one. I said "Why should I, you told me it is working fine?" He replied that after market cat convs are not recognized by the computer, so when it does its onboard test, it will automatically trigger the light. Not sure that I buy that line of baloney, but periodically I get it checked and everything seems fine. The light is a nuisance, and I have had some temporary relief by pulling the negative terminal of the battery cable, and sometimes this resets the light...sometimes it doesn't. Bottom line, I'm tired of getting stiffed by the Ford Service Department trying to sell me the most expensive thing they can, rather than performing quality troubleshooting and analysis. I'm on 180,000 miles now.

Yeah, I let my dad drive my Explorer, too. That's why I'm here looking for help! We all just need to stop letting our dads drive our cars--that's all there is to it.

...there may be a sensor AFTER the cat..."

That's what I've heard, that there is a sensor after each cat. The computer is aware of what is going in and coming out. I've been told that it would be $800 for both cats to be installed by my local Firestone. My wife had them check the codes while it was there getting the oil changed.

I took my Explorer to my mechanic and he found the vacuum line that came loose.

So, I called Firestone and spoke to the MGR. and they refunded the price of running the code ($60) and the oil change. After apologizing profusely. The sad thing is, this is the same Firestone that fixed and refixed my oil pressure sending unit 4 times. Then my mechanic tightened the screw holding the wire to the sending unit.

Needless to say, we get our oil changed at Jiffy Lube now. :nono:

Try to check the barring which help the belt to be away from the air filter, it might needs to changed

check the ford dealer; most 96 explorers have a pcm reprogramming that will fix the problem

take to autozone they have OBDII scanners