Car guys/mechanics...question

[SkyhighRocks]

I have a 2000 Mercury Villager that we use for the kids. A couple of weeks ago, the service engine soon light came on. Now AFAIK, this has something to do with emissions. I took it to an Autozone last night to have them run a computer scan on it but they could not get the scanner to connect to the vehicle. It plugged in but there wasn't any connection showing on the scanner. The guy that did it said he never had that problem before.

So I pulled the fuse for the OBD to see if that was the problem but the fuse was fine. Any ideas what could be causing it not to be able to be scanned? I want to look into this myself before I go blow money I don't have for someone to look at it. I gotta drive this to Pennsylvania at the end of the month.

 

[chunktone]

How many miles?

 

[SkyhighRocks]

How many miles?

64,000

 

[The Traveller]

More than likely the o2 sensor

 

[SkyhighRocks]

would the o2 sensor cause the light to go on? Could it be there actually isn't a problem to drive it?

 

[dawnofdreamx97]

02 sensor's can cause your cel to come on but without a scanner its a guessing game to find out which bank is bad...maybe 1 ,maybe none, maybe all. . . could also be a vacuum leak or egr or catalytic converter issue. More than likely not if the car seems to run good... how is the gas mileage, any funny smells from the exhaust ? Sometimes if the cats are going bad you'll get a nasty rotten egg smell , lose a ton of power and get awful gas mileage. I'm not sure why your OBD port wouldn't work, that is odd.

Goodluck!

 

[SkyhighRocks]

the van seems to be running fine...gas mileage about the same, no smells.

 

[dawnofdreamx97]

sounds like an 02 sensor... now you have to find out which one it is... try a different autozone, maybe there scanner was shot?

 

[SkyhighRocks]

sounds like an 02 sensor... now you have to find out which one it is... try a different autozone, maybe there scanner was shot?

yeah I was gonna give another store a shot

 

[jack butler]

Starting in 1996 all cars have to conform to OBD 2 standards. So any generic OBD 2 code reader will be able to pull codes. The only thing that would prevent getting codes would be if the circuit( or connections) that power the code reader is faulty or the data line is faulty. Try another auto zone, the most common cause for SES lights is a loose gas cap, even if you tighten it the code won't clear right away. The computer needs to see a certain number on board tests pass before it will turn off the SES light.

 

[fullscaleonline]

o2 sensor my friend

 

[The Traveller]

would the o2 sensor cause the light to go on? Could it be there actually isn't a problem to drive it?

If it's the o2 sensor your car will be fine to drive. It just won't pass your states emissions test (if you have to go through those )

 

[Digital Jams]

Take it somewhere else, I am not buying the cannot pull up the faults. I am very lucky to have a family run garage that has been working on my stuff for over 25 years, if my wife's rig were to fail tomorrow it would be done by the end of the day without worry of being shafted.


That said it is emissions related, possible o2 or cat.

 

[SkyhighRocks]

Went to a different autozone and their scanner worked. It seems to be the knock sensor and o2 sensor. Need to figure out the cost to fix both although a mechanic told me neither would affect the driveability of the van.

 

[Tnjpekar]

o2 sensor is between 40 and 50 bucks
this site will tell you how to put it in
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automot ... 19927.html

knock sensor is a bit more, 90 bucks or so

 

[headlessdeadguy]

Drive on man. Neither of those things will leave you walking. I just got back from Pa. myself check engine light and all. No troubles.
About 20% of the cars that come through my shop have the check engine light on.

 

[nbarts]

Tighten up the gascap. Disconnect your battery for a minute, then plug it back. Drive for a while & see if the light comes back on.