Well, here are my experiences for the past several weeks.

First my CEL comes on. No problems, but it is on. I have the codes read and there are a few including several of the misfire codes (0300s). Well since the car is at 110K on presumably originals, I go to a Goodyear and ask how much. They say about $250, which, given the labour, is reasonable. I asked if it could wait a week so I could cobble up the money and they said yes. Even if it wasn't the problem, I should do it anyway.

The next day, the car starts up and idles terribly. I say screw this and have it done that day. The mechanic says there was a stored code that was probably the air sensor and I should take care of that. The CEL is off, but he wouldn't be surprised if it came back on. I was barely out of the parking lot when it did.

I went to Autozone and bought a MAF sensor. The light was still on.

Then it freezes and freezes hard suddenly down here in Texas. My car would start, idle and sputter, then die after about thirty seconds. The CEL light was now flashing. After a few more tries, I thought it was possibly a dying battery not allowing it to stay on. I have the battery tested and it is at 88% which is a little low. After charging it, the car starts, but takes about 5 minutes to even out.

After it warmed up and I had a day off, the car was driving fine. I got the codes read and I had misfires again, along with P1000, and a Catcon one which I don't remember (5730?). I took it to my guys thinking maybe something was wrong with a plug they put in. They fiddled with it and found a service memo about a corroded ground wire which could cause all of these codes. They cleaned the thing off. No codes. Drives great.

Then, this morning, it would barely start, the CEL flashed for a while and for the first couple of minutes of driving it would barely move. After that, it drove fine with no light. Getting off work six hours later, It started fine, but the light came on and stayed on halfway home. I had the codes read again and got 1701, 1704, 0430, and 1000.

The guy at Autozone (I never buy anything there btw) said I needed a new Catcon, but I seem to remember these threads popping up before on other threads, so that sounds wrong. I don't remember them being associated with these awful startups I've been having.

Any ideas?

It's an 02. The IMT o-rings have been changed about a year ago.

 

Edit. I of course meant 0171 and 0174. That usually means a new PCV hose right? Would it cause catcon codes?

 

Thanks for the reply jfeels. I Will have them look at that after I replace the PCV hose, as mine is original and needs to go anyway. I just bought one, but it looks different from what I expected. I know the new one is different, but I thought the new one was horizontal ribbing. Mine has more of a waffle pattern to the ribbing. It is a Jaguar part, but I had had to order it. Does anyone know the part number?

 

Elrod, the new PCV hose does have a waffle/ribbed pattern to it. You got the right part. Put in the new hose and see what happens with the codes. If that doesn't fix it, then I would look at the line running between the intake manifold and the brake booster and also the IMT valve o-rings. Those are two other spots are notorious for causing these two codes.

Granted, since this started after having the spark plugs done, it may be very possible that when the mechanic put the top half of the intake back on, he didn't get the o-rings set down just so. This can be leading to a vacuum leak and therefore your codes. To check this, you can try spraying some starter fluid around this joint and seeing if you can hear the engine RPM pick up some. If this is the case, then you know that you have a leak where you just sprayed.

 

Thanks, Thermo.

I did the IMT o-rings a year ago, but do they go out again that fast? Not a big deal if they do since it's $6 and 15 minutes. As for the brake booster line. I seemed to remember that and ordered a brake booster hose and it was about $60. Was I getting the wrong thing there?

 

I replaced the hose, cleared the codes and drove it around a bit today. The CEL never came on, but I also haven't had a chance to get up to highway speeds.


Something still feels a bit off, but it might just be in my head. My question is still out on the brake booster. What exactly do I need to buy?

 

Elrod, the line is just that, the brake booster vacuum line. It is an S shaped hard line that runs between the intake and the brake booster. It also has a small "football" shaped piece in the center of the line (this is a check valve). This hose tends to develop cracks in it from vibrations in the engine or being mis-handled and being flexed too far. The hose tends to crack in the elbows as I recall.