Engine trouble HELP

I have had the check engine lite come on a couple times. The first time it was the 02 sensor that was replaced. recently it came on again and the mechanic I use did a diagnostic test. They found that the computer itself had a problem. They reset it and I have not had a problem since then. I take the coach in to the mechanic every spring for service  (engine, generator, etc) and this spring we will be replacing the engine computer.

Firstly, the engine light turned off after 3 hours of driving after the repair, and yes I do have an OBDII reader and the O2Sensor error code was the only one showing.
Secondly, as I mentioned we always have a full check up done on the engine before our trips, however my mechanic suggested that waiting until their is a full breakdown of the sensor was a good way to tell which one is the problem sensor.  Instead of randomly replacing the sensors. I agree, however would have been better not to break have an issue while on the road.  Like I said, the rig was 100% drivable, it just made a loud noise when you stepped on it and the power was not good going up steep hills.  The engine is purring like a kitten now after the O2 Sensor was replaced, so problem solved.

As for the loss of power, while I was driving up a 12 % grade hill - Thats a pretty tough hill for any engine.

Anyone know how many sensors are in the V10 Triton?  I can see 2 from the inside access.  Perhaps another 2 on the underside??

Jay

I will suggest that the lack of power was perceived and not actual,  steep grade (takes power) and a exhaust leak makes a engine sound like &hit and poor running. surprised the code reader does not indicate which O2 sensor is giving a problem, must be the year. but its fixed, and you now know about spark plug hole repair!

I doubt there are more than 2.  Many vehicles have only one.

Mark R. said:

I will suggest that the lack of power was perceived and not actual,  steep grade (takes power) and a exhaust leak makes a engine sound like &hit and poor running. surprised the code reader does not indicate which O2 sensor is giving a problem, must be the year. but its fixed, and you now know about spark plug hole repair!

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That's what I am thinking too, as there is no logical reason for a missing or bad  O2 sensor to reduce power on a steep hill. In fact, on a very steep hill, the O2 sensor data is NOT used. The computer will switch to open loop to let all the OTHER sensors allow a much richer mixture than the 02 sensor range will allow.  It requires an extra rich mixture to climb up a steep hill.

RV Roamer said:

I doubt there are more than 2.  Many vehicles have only one.

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My Ford Mustangs have four. But two are after the CC to detect excessive emissions only.

My Suburbans have 4!

My Wife's Mustang GT has 4 sensors and 6 Catalytic Converters. Exhaust Shops refer to that model as their early retirement.
  On a Related to OP note: IMHO a 'mechanic' that advised me to ignore the check engine light and run it until failure to save replacing an additional O2 sensor (especially facing a long trip) should be repairing lawnmowers. But that's just IMHO and not wanting an unnecessary break down.

In hind-sight I could see the loss of power being perceived.  With all the noise being made by the engine, I probably was a little more cautious on stepping on it.

Jay

bigskymt said:

My Wife's Mustang GT has 4 sensors and 6 Catalytic Converters. Exhaust Shops refer to that model as their early retirement.
  On a Related to OP note: IMHO a 'mechanic' that advised me to ignore the check engine light and run it until failure to save replacing an additional O2 sensor (especially facing a long trip) should be repairing lawnmowers. But that's just IMHO and not wanting an unnecessary break down.

Click to expand...

I only kinda agree. In older cars, before OBD1, you will get no warnings of any type (other than PERHAPS performance) when small things go wrong. Most of the check engine light stuff are small things that don't mean much, if the car is still running fine. An example will be my last check engine (1999 Ford Mustang) light that showed my electric smog pump was not working. Has no real affect on anything other than emissions while the engine is cold, but the light will stay on even when the engine is warm (many OBD2  codes latch the "check engine" light on and stay on even when the problem is gone). But I replaced the pump (water got inside) when it was convenient to do so (before the next smog test!).

But something like a bad O2 sensor I would want to know about. It will greatly affect the MPG when cruising on the freeway at a steady speed as well as cover up hundreds of other codes when it's already lit. But if my check engine light came on a thousand miles from home, and I had no way to check the code, I wouldn't worry about it much if it still ran fine. I would wait until I got home to deal with it.

However, in my RV I have a ScanGauage2, so I will know the code. And I have several OBD2 readers. I have yet to get a failure code where I felt I could not safely  drive a thousand miles with. A slight reduction in MPG I can live with until I get home and fix it right. Even if a bad O2 sensor. I have driven both a RV and car with no O2 sensor, and there was no way I could tell the difference in performance anywhere. But that was the OBD1 days.

I suppose a bad 02 sensor in an OBD2 system might be able to affect more stuff, but I would not think it could make a noticeable difference when going up hill where an extra rich mixture is required.

These days a Check Engine light typically means an emissions-related problem, which includes the O2 sensor.  You can drive a long time with those.  If anything really serious goes wrong, the engine goes into limp-home mode or even shuts itself down.