Hey all. I just purchased my 99 3.0 5 speed. I didn’t realize till afterwards that the engine light does not work. The previous owner had a full new exhaust installed, i checked and there are no cats on the exhaust. The o2 sensor is in the exhaust below manifold. Truck runs good but strong exhaust smell outside and black soot in exhaust tip. Would you just drive it or pursue the cats? Luckily the emission testing in my area go away in January.

 

Welcome to the forum

Should be TWO O2s currently, one on each side of the V6 engine near the end of exhaust manifold, these are called Upstream O2 sensors and are used by the computer to get best MPG
And there was a 3rd O2 sensor after the Cats, to test if Cats were working, this is why previous owner disconnected CEL(check engine light), because it would have been on all the time, and hopefully that was the ONLY reason he disconnected the CEL, lol
You can still check the codes with OBD reader

O2 sensors can only last 12 years, they run out of the chemical that detects Oxygen in exhaust, after that engine will run Richer than it needs to, so lower MPG and costs you $$$
So you may want to change the upstream O2s now and see if exhaust cleans up a bit, Cats clean up the toxic gases not "the smoke" from Rich running

Federal fine for No Cats is $2,500, but not likely to run into that issue
Shop that did the exhaust work could have been fined $25,000, lol

Cats don't lower performance, so no Cats can't improve performance, its just cheaper to do No Cats
So up to your really

 

Yes I have already thought about getting the codes read at parts store. I only saw one on R/S exhaust but i just did a quick check. The truck is only gonna be driven when raining or to cold to ride motorcycle to work , which is only about 6 miles total. Like i said in OP it runs really good and drives like a dream so probably just gonna let it be. My previous car i just put 6K miles in a year and half so this should last me a while.

 

If you have a smart phone, android or apple, you can get a Bluetooth OBD2 reader for under $20, works on ANY VEHICLE sold in the US or Canada, 1996 and up, it was the Law
So not just for Rangers or even Fords, ANY vehicle 1996 and up were, and still are, require to use standard OBD2 communications

OBD2 is a communications "method", like a language, so in 1996 ALL vehicles computers had to use the same language

APPs are free or $5 for more advanced info, but free gets and clears the codes and most functions needed
So not a bad investment if you intend to keep driving vehicles, lol

ELM 327 is a popular model, and cheap

You can also watch Live Date with these, which can help diagnose issues when they occur

Motorcycles used similar when they started to use fuel injection but not OBD2, but recently some are OBD2, or you can get adapters to use OBD2 readers for them

 

Thanks, ordered one yesterday and be here Monday.

 

Good stuff

Rent it to your friends for $5 and it will be paid off in no time, lol

 

When I "rent" tools to friends,
those tools seem to always "grow legs" & never come back.

 

That's when you "loan" them to friends