stillkiller

I recently started to get the P2197 Lean Bank 2 sensor 1fault code. I purchased my 2006 FX4 acouple of months ago with 84,000 miles on it. No sparkplug change so that was one of the 1st things on mylist to do. After reading countlessstories on here of breaking plugs I decided to pay my local stealership to dothe job. I can do most of the work on mytruck. But it was the thought of brokenparts falling into the engine that I decided a little more $ spent was worthit. Sometimes spending $ is easier thandealing with a dead truck in the driveway.

So on with my story.

I had the sparkplugs changed 2 weeks ago by the local stealership,only one plug broke so $350+ $50 for broke plug.

My dreaded misfire on # 5 a couple days later returned. And I thought changing sparkplugs would makethe truck run better…

I started to get P2197 codes and the dreaded low power,misfire # 5 continuously on my trip to and from work 20 miles away. So, research on here shows dirty MAF,throttle body, 02, vacuum lines, COPS. Ichecked all the wires, vacuum lines and they were all good. Well I went with changing the COPs. Ran great the first trip down the road, nostalling hesitation or rough idle at stop lights. Problem fixed…. Nope, it just got worse thenext day driving it. So, on to throttlebody cleaning. Pictures of other peoplesTBs shows lots of gunk. Mine was dirtybut not like the pics I have seen. Itlooked more like a fire had happened in the throttle body than it lookeddirty. Weird.

Throttle body cleaning took an hour just likemost people on here said it would. Drovethe truck and it was still more of the same; bucking, loss of power, shiftinggears to maintain speed on flat road. Now I have to tell you I already did the transmission pan/fluid change afew weeks before the sparkplug change so old dirty tranny problem should not bean issue. Now I am starting to getmultiple codes, P0174, P0175, too richtoo lean, an P2198 and P2197 both within a few min of each other. Everything else had been checked so I wentwith getting a 02 sensor from Autozone, $60.00 with military discount. Swapped it out with their handy rental tooland presto no more codes.



Question to the more mechanically minded folks on here. How would a too rich or too lean SENSOR faultcause the sparkplug to misfire?

Sometimes it may be worth it to just change a sensor for$60.00 rather than hundreds for COPs, sparkplugs etc. Thanks for reading mystory.

edbc

Sorry wrong

redfishtd

Sensors can go bad like anything . But mostly not o2 sensors are robust not usually a fail within the first 150k . I assume you replaced bank 2 o2 which is the side 5 is on . O2 changes your pulse width on injectors on that side thru pcm since it was calling lean it added fuel when it really didn't need it . I guess it could have fouled plug . Not really good on cats . O2 usually degrade over time , I guess some additives could damage them . A lot of the time the wiring ends up melting on exhaust manifolds due to tiebacks failing or other work . .


P2197 says bank 2 stuck lean , Comparing o2 switching between banks would be one clue and operation of o2 s2o1 against o2s202 would be another way of determining o2 fail . Why it caused 02 on bank 1 to go rich is beyond me .


Analyzing o2 readings takes some skill, I have not mastered that . You still did a good thing changing plugs .

F150Torqued

I would rather spend $4.95 for the Torque Pro app, about $25.00 for a Bluetooth dongle and use my phone to monitor O2 graphs, Fuel Trims, other systems fault flags and diagnose what is causing the problem. Even if I had to spend another $25.00 - $50.00 for a used Android device to run the app on.

dukedkt442

For what its worth, I replaced my replaced upstream O2 sensors (delphi) with less than 3k miles on them with genuine Motorcraft sensors, and saw an immediate 4 mpg increase. An O2 sensor's information to the PCM is only as good as the accuracy of the sensor doing the reading, and all sensors aren't created equal. I don't have an android, but if I did, I would certainly invest in Torque Pro. Maybe someday it'll be iOs compatible?

F150Torqued

^^^^^ AGREE ^^^^^

^^^ there is the reason that I recommend preventatively replacing O2 sensors every 100,000 miles or so --- even though there are some who say if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Combustion contaminates (the same stuff that accumulates and builds up inside heads and plugs) also builds up on O2 sensor elements making them respond to changes in ability to sense presence of oxygen - (the very thing they are supposed to do). The PCM "IS" capable of compensating for those changes ----- (by adjusting fuel trims). And fuel trims are _directly_ related to fuel mileage.

dukedkt442 - Torque Pro is so cool and useful, it is well worth picking up a old used Android phone or tablet. If it has Bluetooth and WiFi, doesn't even need to be a working phone or activated. Can even be an OLD version of Android. Connect it to your WiFi network and download the app. You can STILL get updates (via WiFi when at home), upload Log Files, Screenshots, Trip Logs and everything else - except certain 'sensors' phones have that tablets don't. Not bad idea to have a 'dedicated' Torque Pro device anyway.

redfishtd

My wife would buy them to use the credit system square that plugs into phone and uses wifi to get card swiped . They had wifi from next door business and permission to use it . Now she has finally got her own smart phone that is activated ,She still uses the un-activated shop phone over wifi to run credit. .
So yes a cheap used android is easy to come by and doesn't need to be activated. As a small business a phone line and bank credit machine are excessive costs, so is the internet. Luckily her landlord has a bigger business with wifi next to it. She sells some of their products too ,its great when businesses network ,of course it takes people skills to keep it together .
Torque pro is a wonderful tool I just need to get smarter at my advanced age .Any body that does diy repairs needs it. Fuel trims are very important and I agree its good to refresh your o2 sensors after 100k as it can save you money in fuel and repairs to cats . Many youtube videos on reading fuel trims ,it is not intuitive, it takes learning .

dukedkt442

^^^^Old Android is actually a great idea, hadn't thought of it. I can probably get one for free. I have the full dealer software suite installed on my laptop for my X3 for full diagnostics, it does make sense I have another setup for the Ford, much more convenient on a phone or tablet. I guess it's time to learn another computer program. Time to start researching... at 36, I'm a luddite by choice.

F150Torqued

Damn - I'm twice your age. If I can do it ........................

dukedkt442

I said luddite by choice