I have a 2000 ford taurus duratec dohc 3l, gitting lean codes on both banks and misfire codes on most cyclinders. I have replaced 4 coil packs , all spark plugs, pvc valve, idle control, and all 4 oxygen sensors. How do i tell wether its the computer or the cat. converter

i think its the ecu, i had misfire codes come up in my 06 explorer, changed everything like you did, it was the ecu, i got one on ebay with keys for 150, it worked, also ford systems require a fully charged battery

Do you have a module for coils?

Check it out on you tube!

Check coil pack they can go bad even when not many miles. Also check plugs. Check the code see if it is a misfire. Vulcan or Duratec engine?

OK, We'll cover the Diagnostic Test Codes (DTCs), starting with the standard definition set by SAE J2012 (Revised December 2007)
DTC P0171 "System Too Lean Bank 1"
DTC P0174 "System Too Lean Bank 2"
DTC P0301 "Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected"
DTC P0305 "Cylinder 5 Misfire Detected"
DTC P0316 "Engine Misfire Detected on Startup (First 1000 Revolutions)"

The "system lean" codes are pretty much telling you that there is way too much oxygen in the exhaust. There is too much oxygen on BOTH sides of the engine, and that is why you are getting codes for bank 1 and for bank 2. Bank 1 is the side where #1 cykinder is located and Bank 2 is the opposite side.

The misfire codes are pretty self-explanatory. #1 and # 5 cylinders are misfiring. The P0316 DTC is telling you that the misfire monitor is detecting a misfire as soon as the engine starts. This tells you that it is a very severe misfire and that the engine does not have to warm up and the car does not have to be driven to detect the misfire.

A misfire can be caused by many things it can be vacuum leaks, bad spark plugs, bad ignition cables, faulty ignition coils, fouled or malfunctioning injectors or injector circuits, blown head gasket, cracked cylinder head, burnt valves, etc.. etc..

However, look at the codes you have. Then look at the firing order for your engine. 2002 Mercury Sable is only equipped with a 3.0L 2V 6-cylinder engine.
The firing order is 1-4-2-5-3-6

Now if you take the firing order and split it in half, stack the two halves on top of each other, it looks like this:
1-4-2
5-3-6

When you look at the firing order this way, you can see that cylinders 1 an 5, 4 and 3, and 2 and 6, are "PAIRED" cylinders. They are exacly opposite in the firing order. Now, the cylinder only fires every second revolution of the crankshaft. With paired cylinders, one of the cylinders in the pair will fire on the first revolution and the other cylinder will fire on the second revolution.

Looking back at your codes, please note that the cylinders that are setting the misfire codes are paired cylinders.

Now the coil pack for your ignition is actually made up of three coils. Each coil fires a set of paired cylinders. If you look at the top of the coil, it will usually be marked with the cylinder numbers that each coil tower is supposed to connect to. The coil will look just like the firing order split and stacked as above.

With all of this said, I would say that it is VERY LIKELY that your misfire codes are being caused by a defective ignition coil.

The lean codes are a little different.

These are USUALLY caused by vacuum leaks which allow too much air into the engine that is not getting measured by the Mass Airflow (MAF) sensor and causes the engine to be getting too much air and not enough fuel (running lean).

I would take a good look at all of the vacuum hoses and lines. Ford is notorious for getting holes in the rubber parts that connect the PCV tubes.

If you do not find any obvious reasons for a vacuum leak, then you may want to fix the misfire codes, reset the computer memory, and drive the vehicle to see if the lean codes come back again. The misfires COULD be the cause of the lean codes. In a perfect world, this is not supposed to happen because the misfire monitors setting codes will not allow the oxygen sensor monitors to run and set lean codes. However, I HAVE seen cylinder misfires that have caused lean codes.

I hope this helps you to figure it out. Good luck!

i would check the plug wires and the coils you check the plug wires for bad spots at night start the motor up and look at the plugs if you see a spark arch out the wire and to a peace of metal then the plug wires need to be replace.

P0174/0171 are bank 1-2 running lean (insufficient fuel) which is related to the misfire codes. When there is a misfire detected, the computer shuts fuel to those cylinders triggering "too lean" codes. These vehicles are known for ignition coil failures. I'd recommend you replace all ignition coils (qty of 8) as they do have a short life span. Replace with another brand (not motorcraft/Ford), such as MSD/Accell/BOSH etc. hopefully this helpd!!

P0171------ system too lean bank#1
Po174------ system too lean bank#2
For these 2 codes, try cleaning the maf sensor (mass air flow), that is mounted in the big black hose that goes from the air filter housing to the throttle plate, if it is dirty, that will cause those 02 sensors to send a signal to the computor to lean the air fuel mixture. If cleaning it doesn't work, the sensors will probably need changing.
P0300---- Random/multiple cylinder misfire
P0316---- Cylinder misfire at start up---- first 100 revolutions.
On those 2 codes, you have to do some testing to find out why there is a misfire.
Possible causes:
dirty/malfunctioning injectors
weak coil pack
fowling spark plugs/wires
Low fuel pressure

i had asimiliar misfire on my 2000 windstar.the first thing to check is a broken valve spring by taking off the valve cover the other is a o2 sensor bank 2 i believe is the downstream.if not the valve spring then either the coil pack or thecontrol module. either way it is fairly inexspensive

on ataurs with a duratec the thermostat is on the bottom radhose underneath the car. you will see a little housing near the radiator underneath the vehicle. they are a bit of a pain to get at