Emissions after battery disconnect

[LieutenantCracker]

She failed her Georgia emissions test.

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The read-out the technician at the testing place gave me says:
MIL CMD: FAIL
DTC1= P0420 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold ( B
DTC2= P0430 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold ( B

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The battery had been disconnected for about a month (it died & I couldn't afford another one). I know that you're supposed to run the car for about 100 miles after disconnecting the batt. I did drive her for about 100 miles but it was just "around town" and I never got above about 45 MPH. Would it make any difference if I were to drive her on the highway above 55 or so, or do I probably just have an unrelated Cat Conv prob?

Is there any diagnostic testing that I can do?

1996 Lincoln Town Car, Signature Series
4.6L, V8
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Missionary Creampie

[All2kool]

Originally Posted by LieutenantCracker

She failed her Georgia emissions test.

================================================== =======
The read-out the technician at the testing place gave me says:
MIL CMD: FAIL
DTC1= P0420 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold ( B
DTC2= P0430 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold ( B

================================================== =======

The battery had been disconnected for about a month (it died & I couldn't afford another one). I know that you're supposed to run the car for about 100 miles after disconnecting the batt. I did drive her for about 100 miles but it was just "around town" and I never got above about 45 MPH. Would it make any difference if I were to drive her on the highway above 55 or so, or do I probably just have an unrelated Cat Conv prob?

Is there any diagnostic testing that I can do?

1996 Lincoln Town Car, Signature Series
4.6L, V8

Reset the Codes to Pass Emissions. I had this same code about a year ago; reset for free at local auto parts store, it hasn't returned.

[Blue)(Fusion]

How long did you drive it between connecting the new battery and the E check? The specific emissions related items may take quite a bit of driving. But the 2 codes you have will only be set if the rear O2 sensors detect low efficiency of the cats. So either the cats are going bad or the rear O2s are going bad.

You can reset the codes and try again. Hopefully it will work. If not, than you may be looking at an actual emissions problem. Maybe you're burning oil?

Sometimes carbon caked cats can be cleared with some high RPM shenanigans. The temperatures of the excess exhaust and the rich mixture at WOT which burns in the cats will help burn off the carbon. No guarantees. And don't do anything illegal (and get caught ;-)).

[LieutenantCracker]

I drove her for about 100 miles after reconnecting the battery, but it was just "around town" and I never took her on the interstate so I never got above about 45 MPH.

Would just running her "idle" in the driveway for a while help, because I'm worried about getting pulled-over by the police if I drive her-- I have an expired tag because I didn't pass emissions-- Kind of a "catch 22(!)


I know that there's nothing that I can do to repair the Cat. b/c I'm not experienced enough but is there a diagnostic I can run to see if it's the O2 sensor (s)? If the O2's are the prob, I'm pretty sure that I am capable of replacing those... I've changed the spark plugs before... Replacing an O2 sensor is about as easy, right(???)

How do I reset the code? Could resetting the code without actually preforming any repairs make it pass?
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Vaporizer

[Blue)(Fusion]

Replacing the O2s might require a torch and some elbow grease since they can get stuck in there pretty good from all of the heat and cool cycles.

You need to get it up to 60MPH atleast for the tests to finish. One test requires you to coast from 60MPH down to like 30MPH if I remember correctly.

There is a specific instruction cheat sheet to get all of the tests done in like 20 minutes, but I don't know where it is. Maybe someone else can post that here.