Today the Check Engine Light came on in my new to us 2008 E350 Van with V10. We just picked it up this past weekend and its got over 110K miles on it.

Luckily my new OBDII Adapter arrived today and I connected it to Torque on my Android to be able to read the codes.

The error was "P0430: Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 2)". I used Torque to clear the code and it hasn't come back.

I did a bit of looking on google and this appears to be an issue with O2 sensor behind catalytic Converter, the catalytic converter itself or maybe an exhaust leak. This doesn't seem too critical to me. Does that sound right?

Can you suggest a path to resolve this?

 

Post cat would imply more of an issue with the cat. I would take it on a good drive and get the cat hot to see if your code comes back.

 

It is NOT the sensor.

Most likely, you got sold a van with a bad converter. The seller probably just reset the codes and then sold it to you, now you're screwed and may have to replace the converter and, perhaps, the original issue that might have caused a converter failure.

There are certain diagnostics that need to be performed to ACCURATELY assess the system, so get it checked by someone who knows what they are doing.

 

Well, I wouldn't go and just 100% say "it's not the sensor" - but don't go rushing to change it, either.

Is it low on power? Does the catalytic converter get overly hot, or even glow red?

If not, and there are no other drivability concerns, I'd monitor that rear O2 sensor with the Torque app and see what it's doing.

Matter of fact, do you have DUAL catalytic converters? If there is only one, and there is only one O2 sensor, it should be "Bank 1" not "Bank 2".

Fill us in on some more details, and we'll work through this.

 

And on a completely separate note, I gotta ask if it was a dealer or private sale?

 

To answer the question, I purchased it from an individual. I had it taken to the dealer to be inspected before purchase and they found no issues.

Can you clarify which sensors you think I should monitor to diagnose? As you know there are a ton in Torque and I'm not sure which I need to watch. O2 Sensor 1-8 (Wide-Range Voltage & Equivalance Ratio), Catalyst Temp (Bank 1 & 2, Sensors 1 & 2). Should I set them to graph? Torque is new to me and I'm still learning it.

Since I live in FL, can I just remove the Catalytic Converter (s)? Will that cause me more issues?

 

Does the exhaust rattle? When idling or driving or when you hit it with your hand? I've had that a couple times in the last decade: and took it apart and found the honeycomb busted up. (One was 2000 Ford Contour V6- I just smashed out the honeycomb stuff and put it back together. Check Engine light forever but it ran perfectly. The other was my 03 E250 V6- same exact thing here.)

 

I dont hear any rattle, but haven't yet hit it with my hand.

So I drove it 700 miles on the interstate this past weekend with plenty of hills through TN and the light didn't come on at all. It came on yesterday when the wife was driving kids to school and running errands around town. I reset it last night and drove around town and it didn't come back on.

 

Did you have the dealer also check the status of the OBDII monitors or check for a P1000 DTC?

Download an OBDII manual for your vehicle: http://www.motorcraftservice.com/vdi...f/OBDSM804.pdf

The catalyst monitor only runs once per driving cycle and it requires that the monitor fail twice in a row before setting a MIL. A driving cycle is defined as a warm-up after a cold soak, usually of at least 8 hours. That means the test basically has to fail on two consecutive driving days before it turns on the light.

O2 sensors are tested for proper functionality before the catalyst monitor is run. It does a fairly good although not perfect job of weeding out sensor faults which might otherwise cause false efficiency codes.

If you do not have a requirement for emissions testing for licensing, you can do whatever your conscience lets you do.

What you'll want to look at in Torque is a simultaneous display of the upstream and the downstream O2 sensor voltages, if possible. A properly operating cat will cause the downstream sensor to switch slowly, if at all, under sustained driving conditions. An inefficient cat will cause the downstream sensor to switch very much in sync with the upstream sensor showing that the converter isn't doing anything. There's not necessarily any correlation between a catalyst that isn't working with one that is physically damage (broken, melted, etc). so don't be surprised it the physical structure of the honeycomb is fine, it just isn't working anymore due to a chemical breakdown.

 

Problem with removing the cats is that if you don't alter the calibration in the PCM or buy one of those O2 sensor bypass boxes, it'll just throw that efficiency code all the time

Wait, how old it is? 2008? It's 2015? How long are the emissions warranties now?

 

http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Fo.../08frdwa3e.pdf

5/50 for >8500 GVWR

 

Well the light is back on already.

I will work on setting up the graphs tonight.

We have an extended warranty which kicks in, in a few days. Need to see if exhaust is covered.

 

Check out this thread. You may be covered.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...er-issues.html