StretchMaK

I just bought this truck last week and today my check engine light came on. I got a P0430 code out of it. Could my cats be bad with only 60k miles on them? I would try to replace the O2 sensors but from digging around it seems this is a waste of time and money. Any of you guys ran into this code and if you could please tell me how you solved it. Thanks.

It also said "bank 2" is this the left or right side?

2010FX4F150GILROY

The cat code you are seeing is either a bad O2 sensor or an exhaust leak ahead of the cat or a bad cat. The computer compares the O2 that is ahead of the cat with the one after it. The one before it should be swinging between .1 and .9 volts. This is hard to see with a digital meter, and analog meter or a scope is your best bet. The one after the cat should usually be almost flat. In order to properly diagnose it you really need a 2 channel scope or a good graphing scanner. If the O2 sensors check ok and the exhaust checks it is most likely a bad cat.
Do yourself a favor, if you need any of these parts, get them from a dealer. The aftermarket O2 sensors are poor replacements usually. Another thing to look at is the connectors and wireing on the O2 sensors, have seen several cut or damaged. This is why if we connect the scanner and see unusaul readings we usually will probe the sensor as well to make sure it is not just a connection issue.

StretchMaK

I just remembererd that I put a bottle of "seafoam" in with the last fill up in prep for changing the plugs. Could this be causing the code?

StretchMaK

I went out and looked over the wires and plugs and they look fine with no damage that I can see. The checks you mention are a little over my head with the meters and such. I will find someone local who can check this for me as I don't have the meters to do it myself anyways.

Mod (Ret.)

While it's possible the seafoam could have put a "coating" on the sensitive O2 sensors, no one else has reported here this situation, and there are plenty of folks on this forum that use seafoam.

StretchMaK

The reason I wonder about the seafoam is that I put about 500 miles on the truck and it gave no codes. I put the seafoam in and about 100 or so miles later the light came on. Just wondering if the seafoam could have changed the mixture enough to confuse the O2 sensor.

SuzukiRider

First of alllet me say this is a useless thread. P0430 is drivers side Catalytic converter failure. I can tell you 99.99% of th time when a car has a P0420 or a P0430 its the converter. Ive fixed probably 100 Converter codes and all but one was an 02 Sensor.

The reason this thread is pointless: Your truck is an 06 with 60k? Catalytic Converters are covered under the emmissions warranty of 8 years and 80k miles. Take it to a Ford dealer and I gauruntee they put a converter on it.

(And btw, my 07 had a converter replaced at 45k so 60k isnt out of the ordinary)

StretchMaK

To me this thread is not useless.

I did not know that the cats are covered under an 8 year 80k warranty. Just learning that made this thread very useful to me and maybe others who did not know that.

I will pay the local Ford dealer a visit on Monday morning and see what they can do for me.

Thank you.

alfack

I think he meant that all the o2 sensor talk was useless. I would be curious to know what caused the cat to go bad, if I were you. I had bad spark plugs causing a misfire which toasted my cat. I ended up replacing them with cheap high-flow cats.

SuzukiRider

Wasnt trying to be a dick... Yes I was talking about the O2 Talk; While it does have to do with the converters there is no way of checking them without a scanner, so there is no point to try at home. And yes... "Typically" concerters ar damaged by unburnt fuel (which is causing my misfires) getting into them causing the fuel to be burnt inside the converter instead of the combustion chamber.