2.5 V6 timing chain & CEL

[blackkat]

Looking at a '99 V6 with 71,000 miles.
Yellow check engine light stays on constantly.
Owner has repair receipt for oxy sensor replaced 13 months ago at 52,000 miles and apparently Ford dealership looked at this recently and did something to get the light to go out, but, it has come back on again.
Any ideas as to possible causes and repair cost?

Does the 2.5 V6 with timing chain (I believe) require replacement of the timing chain and if so, at what mileage and again, approximate cost?

Thanks

[rista]

if you have a CEL then take the car to autozone or someplace similar and have them run a FREE diagnostics test on it. that will show you pretty much what the problem is. good luck.

[blackkat]

We don't have an Autozone or similar place here that will run a free diagnostic, however, the owner will likely get it back into the Ford dealership. I was hoping to get an idea of possibilities from current owners that have dealt with CEL issues.

How about the timing chain issue? Does the V6 have a chain as opposed to a belt and does it need to be replaced at a specific mileage?

[Fett]

Chain, 100k.

[blackkat]

Thanks. Appreciate that info.

[coolcatstrut]

I had the same problem with the car I just bought. It turned out to be the EGR or something like that. They can get rid of the CEL but it will keep coming back 'til it's fixed. They ended up fixing the EGR vacuum routing, non-computer controls, and solenoid repaired. I don't know if you have the same problem but I hope I helped.

[blackkat]

Any info always helps. Can you tell me how much it cost you to fix going this EGR route?

I've spoken with a Ford dealer this AM and they suggested allowing about $500 - 600 cdn. to fix the problem. They suggested a mass air flow sensor problem because of the fact that it was fixed recently and then reappeared. I'm competeing against a price the dealership is offering the seller Vs. the seller selling it to me and buying their new vehicle for cash. I'm not certain if the new vehicle dealer is aware of the CEL problem and if I have to pay $600 cdn to fix the problem, the deal on the car is not nearly as appealing to me as there are other things I'll have to fix as well (although I know my specific pricing on those things).

[coolcatstrut]

I was about to buy a car that had a couple of problems but I decided to give it sometime and wait to see if I could find a better deal. I was going to buy a '99, which is infamous for having problems, and ended up with a 2001 MTX for the same price and couldn't be happier. My advice is to look around for the best deal on a '01-02' car. I think they are the ones with the least amount of problems.

P.s. I have no clue how much it was to fix the problem. All of this was done before I bought the car. Sorry.

[blackkat]

I just spoke with the seller and the Ford dealership that normally services the car is suggesting the problem is a DPFE sensor which they are quoting replacing for approximately $200 cdn.
Does this sound like a reasonable possibility and normal pricing for that part?

[01blkcat]

Originally posted by: blackkat
I just spoke with the seller and the Ford dealership that normally services the car is suggesting the problem is a DPFE sensor which they are quoting replacing for approximately $200 cdn.
Does this sound like a reasonable possibility and normal pricing for that part?

Buy that part from FordPartsOnline, and do the install yourself. The how-to can be found on this board, and it's very easy to do. Should cost no more than 25 dollars US if you go this route.

Edit: Upon reading everything again, it sounds like you have no real idea what the problem is. If nobody will do a free scan, then go and buy a diagnostics tester and do it yourself, otherwise you're bounded to get screwed. Shouldn't cost much over 70USD - IMO, it would be foolish to pass up purchasing one for a situation just like this.