So as mentioned above, I owned the truck for a total of 4 hours before the CEL came on showing bank 1 catalytic converter low effeciency (P0420).
I started digging and found that condensation in the CAC (or intercooler?) causes spark plugs, catalytic converters, and o2 sensors to fail quickly.
I have researched the weep hole, and intend on doing it Sunday when I get off of work... but I'm wondering if there is a more 100% fix so I don't go through any more cats after this?
The dealer said that it had a CEL when it came in, and they changed the oil, and also the plugs and coils since it had a miss, I'm assuming from spark blowout from old plugs + moisture, and it fixed it...
That said I figured what the hell, if it's running properly and has no CEL, I like the truck and will buy it.
I understand I took a risk buying this to begin with and knew small things could arise because although it is a 2013, it DOES have 104000 miles. Albeit the miles, the truck is easily EASILY a 9/10 both interior and exterior. Very clean and $21k which is why I bought it.
The problem is, I'm about to join the airforce and go from a 90k household income to about 20k household income until my wife gets a job as well again (I currently make 50, she currently makes 40). With the huge pay decrease to serve in the military, I will not be able to afford chasing issues on my only (now) vehicle. I bought F-150 because I assumed it would be extremely reliable.
So reliability in mind as I'm never going to race a ****ing 4 door crew cab normal size bed v6 truck, what all steps do I need to do to ensure this truck keeps kicking for a very long time to come.
So far I intend to:
Drill a 1/16" weep hole
Pull the plugs out and gap them down to .028 to avoid spark blowout
Run only 93 octane fuel unless where I get stationed doesn't have it available, in which case I will use 91+
Replace the catalytic converter; possibly both at once if I can find someone that upgraded to a catless exhaut that has low mileage take off ones that I can pick up for cheap.
I really don't want spend the money to tune this vehicle as I no longer have an SCT handheld since I sold it with my mustang, and don't want to use the funds I'm trying to put back for when we take this change of income plunge, but after researching and seeing some of the things Shaun@AED said I feel like I may need to. What is everyones opinions?
If I could have some experts chime in, and not have 100 people telling me to take the truck back and get my trade in back (I won't do that) that would be excellent. I will bring the truck to him today to see if he will help with the catalyst repair, if not I don't fault him. It's a tiny dealership, not a chain - and he probably didn't know since he fixed the missfire... I wouldn't assume he would leave the cat messed up after he fixed the missfire when he found it was bad. IF it ever really had a miss, who knows - could have been fibbing... but I digress.
Thanks in advance for any information guys. This forum has always had great information on mustangs and I used it frequently when I had one. I hope I can find some of the same expertise for my current vehicle and situation.
I started digging and found that condensation in the CAC (or intercooler?) causes spark plugs, catalytic converters, and o2 sensors to fail quickly.
I have researched the weep hole, and intend on doing it Sunday when I get off of work... but I'm wondering if there is a more 100% fix so I don't go through any more cats after this?
The dealer said that it had a CEL when it came in, and they changed the oil, and also the plugs and coils since it had a miss, I'm assuming from spark blowout from old plugs + moisture, and it fixed it...
That said I figured what the hell, if it's running properly and has no CEL, I like the truck and will buy it.
I understand I took a risk buying this to begin with and knew small things could arise because although it is a 2013, it DOES have 104000 miles. Albeit the miles, the truck is easily EASILY a 9/10 both interior and exterior. Very clean and $21k which is why I bought it.
The problem is, I'm about to join the airforce and go from a 90k household income to about 20k household income until my wife gets a job as well again (I currently make 50, she currently makes 40). With the huge pay decrease to serve in the military, I will not be able to afford chasing issues on my only (now) vehicle. I bought F-150 because I assumed it would be extremely reliable.
So reliability in mind as I'm never going to race a ****ing 4 door crew cab normal size bed v6 truck, what all steps do I need to do to ensure this truck keeps kicking for a very long time to come.
So far I intend to:
Drill a 1/16" weep hole
Pull the plugs out and gap them down to .028 to avoid spark blowout
Run only 93 octane fuel unless where I get stationed doesn't have it available, in which case I will use 91+
Replace the catalytic converter; possibly both at once if I can find someone that upgraded to a catless exhaut that has low mileage take off ones that I can pick up for cheap.
I really don't want spend the money to tune this vehicle as I no longer have an SCT handheld since I sold it with my mustang, and don't want to use the funds I'm trying to put back for when we take this change of income plunge, but after researching and seeing some of the things Shaun@AED said I feel like I may need to. What is everyones opinions?
If I could have some experts chime in, and not have 100 people telling me to take the truck back and get my trade in back (I won't do that) that would be excellent. I will bring the truck to him today to see if he will help with the catalyst repair, if not I don't fault him. It's a tiny dealership, not a chain - and he probably didn't know since he fixed the missfire... I wouldn't assume he would leave the cat messed up after he fixed the missfire when he found it was bad. IF it ever really had a miss, who knows - could have been fibbing... but I digress.
Thanks in advance for any information guys. This forum has always had great information on mustangs and I used it frequently when I had one. I hope I can find some of the same expertise for my current vehicle and situation.
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