E-Check Misery

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

Thanks Rod. I removed the shroud above the firewall on that side and I'm 99% sure that I've now found it. It's under where the cabin filter is. The cars main electrical connector runs right above it. According to the '03 Ford manual there is a heater hose above it too, but for '04 it looks like that hose is now made out of a metal tube. The main part that's in the way is the main electrical connector which bolts to the firewall. If we unplug that main electrical connector, other than loosing our cars radio station presets and the time, will anything bad happen? I would think disconnecting that electrical connector from the firewall would have the same effect as just removing the battery, right?

[shorod]

I would expect you're correct, it shouldn't be any different than unplugging the battery. Just be sure you don't break any wires, cut wires, etc. You will loose your I/M Readiness data so you will need to complete the drive cycle before you'd be ready for any emissions testing if that's a requirement in your area and the car may run/idle a bit strangely for a few start cycles afterwards.

-Rod

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

I'm going to try to remove it without disconnecting the main plug from the firewall. I was able to loosen the two nuts holding it on today, so as long as the vacuum lines come off as planned it shouldn't be to hard to replace. The part on the car looks a lot more like the Auto Zone part shown below (which costs 4 times more than the original Ford part) than what the Ford service manual shows as the part, which kind of surprised me. The new part is 'supposed' to arrive here on Friday. In the mean time I'm cleaning all of the other emission parts like the EGR valve. I soaked it in Seafoam and now it looks like new. I love that stuff, it's great for removing carbon off of parts.

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

I installed the new part last Friday. All of the cars symptoms have gone away and the car runs great, however, the cars engine light is still on. I think I read somewhere that it takes a few days to recycle and go off, but it's been over 4 days now. Is this normal? How long should we wait before we take it back up to the mechanic to have everything rescanned?

[shorod]

If the mechanic charges you to scan it, stop by your local auto parts store and see if they scan codes at no charge. I would expect that your light would have gone out by now.

-Rod

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

This weekend I will try to get the code cleared. Assuming that the engine light comes back on (and is the same code as before) what should we test next?

[shorod]

Let's wait and see what the code is.

-Rod