[uniqhan]

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95 Taurus LX, V6 3.8L
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check engine light went on twice days back.
I just read the code by myself, and got two codes:
181C: Adaptive Fuel rich limit reached at part throttle, system lean, right side;
189C: Adaptive Fuel rich limit reached at part throttle, system lean, left side.

What I can understand is
Fuel fraction in the gas mixture is too high;
'at part throttle' means the problem happened when the throttle was pressed partly.

What I cannot understand
'system lean' means what?
'right side ' & 'left side', of what?

And BTW, any clue about the why this happens?

1M thanks.

 

[biteableniles]

You computer can provide the engine with varying levels of fuel to account for different Air levels or amounts (or, if it sees its not putting enough fuel in, it will put more in.) Thats what the adaptive fuel system is; in the old carb day's, the fuel level was pretty much set (more was sucked in at higher rpm's); nowadays, the fuel level has to be monitored to make sure it's not running too rich or too lean.

Running rich is running with too much fuel; it can lead to f'ed up cat's and generally bad gas mileage. Running lean is when there's not enough fuel; the air in the combustion chamber can get too hot without the right amount of fuel and detonate the gas charge before the spark plug sparks, causing at a minimum spark plug damage and at a max engine destruction. It isn't nice

I believe left and right sides of the engine refer to the front and rear banks; I'm assuming that since the 3.8l was originally the 5L v8 from the mustangs, that they kept the naming conventions of the v8 (ie, since it was mounted in a RWD setup, the left side of the engine was the 4 pistons on the left, and vice versa.) On the Vulcans and Duratecs, left and right would refer to front and back (or vice versa, but you get the point)

I got this same code a while ago; I took Lilu to two mechanics, who both could not find the problem; I assumed that the O2 sensors had both gone bad at the same time (ha ha) so I replaced the front one and the problem persisted. Then, I heard a vacuum leak, and discovered the PCV hose had a large, gaping hole in it. I replaced the hose and the PCV valve and the engine ran fine after that (even managed 25mpg on the highway!)

Anyway, check around for vacuums leaks and maybe replace your fuel filter; those are cheap repair items, and if those arn't the causes, we can move on and try something else. Good luck!

 

[uniqhan]

thanks a lot!!

Nice reply, and very reasonable. Let me have a try.

BTW, I found there;s a little difference between my car and the repair manual.

In the manual, there is only a single hose to the PCV
Yet on my car the hose bifurcate to TWO near the PCV, and one of the end is just empty, and put there. Should it connected to anywhere??