Hello all. It has been a while since I have posted here but I do lurk every so often.

I have a 2005 F-150 Lariat Screw I have owned for a year and a half or so and has been trouble free up until now. The truck has around 94k miles on it and 2 days after I went through the emission test the engine light came on. I stopped at Auto Zone and had the code read (P0430 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 2)). The guy told me I had a bad cat. He told me this could be caused by a misfire, a large vacuum leak, or oil contamination /consumption. I doubt it is the first two as that would have been noticeable and/or thrown other codes. I did check my oil and noticed that it had gone down a little more than a quart since my last oil change on May 6. I use Castrol synthetic usually but since I have been out of work for most of 2010 I used Castrol Synthetic blend (5w20) for that change along with a Motorcraft filter.
I bought an extended warranty with the truck so I was thinking of taking it into Ford to have it looked at. My experience dealing with these extended warranty companies so far has been pretty negative. Like insurance companies they seem to try their best to exclude your particular problem from coverage. I am guessing they would have to do a compression test to see if there was a bad cylinder. I don't really know for sure. I have been successful if fixing most small problems through these forums, but I am looking for a little advice on what my next step should be here. I just had my truck into the dealership to have a recall fixed (brake booster hose). They must have reset the computer as the light was off for a couple days after I picked it up. The truck still runs alright although I have noticed a slight decrease in gas mileage.
Since I am going to have to change the cat, I was thinking of buying just the cat and having it welded in instead of spending 3 or 4 hundred dollars for the whole assembly. The rest of the exhaust system is in fantastic shape for the number of miles on the truck.
Any advise is greatly appreciated!

 

The truth is, it could be caused by several thing. Or, it could just be a poorly manufactured cat that is no longer functional. I'd suggest replacing the cat, then having a shop monitor the fuel trim to see if there is a problem. If it looks good, don't worry about it.
Also, losing 1 quart over the course of an oil change interval is nothing I would worry about.
Just my 2 cents.

 

Take it in, they'll fix that 430, - free of charge.

 

It would have to fall under the extended warranty, because the factory emissions warranty is 8/80k - you have 94k. This may require paying a deductible.

 

http://www.aa1car.com/library/converter.htm

Look this over, there are some things you can check yourself first.

 

It would require paying a deductible. I have a similar warranty for my Freestar and had to pay $200 when Fords crap transmission took a dump at a little over 50K miles. Glad I had it though. Saved me a couple thousand in the replacement. Of course they just replaced it with a used tranny so it will eventually fail again.

 

Thanks for the link. I will look it over.

 

I took an 04 in for catalyst rattle and they replaced the converter, - no charge, no deductible, no DTC. It's the manufacturers emission warranty, not yours

 

That sounds way too easy jbrew. I am going to take the truck in tomorrow to see what they have to say. I did mention that I had the P0430 code to the service manager at Ford when I took my truck in for the recall work. He didn't offer to fix it for free then. In fact he said that it would probably run me $800 to have them replace the cat. I did notice a rattle on one of my heat shields after I got the truck back. He said they had to remove the drive shaft to replace the brake booster hose so I thought they might have broke a band on the shield while they were under there. I have not noticed a rattle for a few days though.

 

I don't believe it. Report them then, don't waste any time, report them ASAP. Do you have the number? It's Ford CS, I don't have it handy , it's easy to find, Ive posted it on this site a few times. Its also in your manual in the glove box.

 

Brew, his factory emissions warranty is expired, he has 94k miles.

 

I think that it varies from state to state. Not completely sure but I think Calif is 100K, and yes I know he isn't in Calif! The point is he may still be covered in his state.

You know the part I mean: This warrenty gives you specific legal rights which may vary from state to state...........BLA BLA BLA!

 

Ford emissions warranties: = up to 10 years or 100,000 miles.

 

Page 12 of my warranty guide states:

8 years or 80,000 miles (whichever occurs first) for catalytic converter, powertrain control module, onboard emissions diagnostic device, natural gas vehicle (NVG) modile (Bi-fuel/CNG), electronic emission control unit, and transmission control module.

Now I have to find my extended warranty to see what it says....


Edit: Out of luck with that too. http://www.fordwarrantys.com/extraCare.cfm. Even the premium plan doesn't list cats. Looks Like I am on the hook for it.

 

Yea, if that's what your book says , that's what you go by. The 04 I took in had 48,000 miles on it. It must be like jgger posted, it varies.

http://www.swopnet.com/hw/ford_recalls_warranties.html

It depends where you look.

Edit: AllData has the same thing 10year 100,000 miles on emissions. I'd say it's worth mentioning to service, - since those guys love to play dumb with yuh. I always try to talk with the techs turning the wrenches and avoid the service guy. Hard to do when you have to go thru him, I know. But from my experience, you get the facts from the techs and the bull from the service rep. Hell, even the guy at the parts desk will help out more.