[lowskee]

Hey guys just recently purchased a 2004 Taurus SES (vulcan)

and i have noticed it gets horrible gas mileage average around 15.6 doesn't matter if i'm cruising the highway or city..


anyways everyonce and awhile it's been throwing a P0430 which i know is normally a bad cat, maybe rarely a bad 02 sensor..

I did notice it sounds like i have an exhaust leak towards the back of the engine, i can't tell where exactly it's coming from though,

so my question is this probably the reason for the P0430 right? i mean the car is super well maintained everything under the hood looks new i know the 02 sensors have been replaced, and with 139k i would think it shouldn't be the actual cats yet?


so would an exhaust leak be the sole cause of the P0430 since i guess it could mess with the 02 reading, and secondly what about the bad MPG i mean an exhaust leak shouldn't cause my mileage to be that bad would it?


thanks for any input, i really don't know what to do about the bad mpg, air filter is new and it recently had a tune up...


thanks in advance for any input at all, i'm 100% new to the taurus world and my last 6 cars have had toyota 2JZ's which i know in and out lol..


i've searched these forums a bit, but i guess just wanted some more insight or confirmation

 

[loudsho92]

Depending on where the leak is it could cause the problems just as much as an O2 sensor or cats. It would need to be in front of the O2 sensors. Fix the leak and see what happens.