Check engine lights, broken wiper motor, E85 pickups

Q. I have a 1996 Ford Contour with a V6 engine with 76,000 miles on it. The check engine light keeps coming on indicating a problem with the catalytic converter and the oxygen sensors. Recently I replaced the catalytic converter and the oxygen sensors. I had someone clear the codes and it was fine for a week. Now the light is back on indicating a problem with "bank one-running lean." Other than the light being on the car runs great. What should I do?

A. The problem may be with a small leak at the tube to the exhaust gas recirculation valve. This tube runs under the intake manifold and is fairly hard to spot. This is a fairly common occurrence. Other problems could be a faulty/dirty mass-air-flow sensor.

Q. About a year ago I replaced the catalytic converter on my 1998 Toyota Sienna. To save about $600 I used an EPA-approved aftermarket part. About two weeks after the replacement my check engine light came on. I returned to my mechanic, he reset the light and sure enough it came on in a few days. Thinking maybe a defective part, the mechanic replaced the converter again and the light came back on. Now I'm on my third converter and we replaced the oxygen sensors. After two weeks the light is back on again. My position is as long as the car is running okay and not polluting I don't care if the light is on. My mechanic tells me I won't get a sticker. I don't want to do anything illegal and I truly believe that my mechanic has done everything he can for me. Can I have the light reset, and then the next day get the inspection before it comes back?

A. If the check engine light is on, you will fail the inspection test. If you clear the code and the system monitors have not set, you will be turned away. There are several system monitors that check for the proper operation of the emission control system and they need to have completed a test cycle without any incidents. The problem may still be the catalytic converter. I have seen many cases that aftermarket converters just don't do the job. I would talk to your mechanic and see if he is willing to install a factory catalytic converter.

Q. My friend has a Ford Explorer and I was looking at the back of it and grabbed the rear windshield wiper (who knows why) and it came out towards me. It made a popping sound which I assumed was the wiper coming off its stop, but when we tried using the wiper it wouldn't work. The motor would start to wind up but the wiper blade would only move up very slightly and then drop down. Do you know what the problem could be? Do you think I could have damage the motor?

A. At this point you will need to remove lift-gate trim panel and investigate what happened. It is possible the shaft on the wiper motor is damaged causing the motor to bind up.

Q. I contacted a Ford dealer and inquired about a flex-fuel F 150. They said that they could locate one, but these vehicles have a hard time starting in the winter and they also do not have the performance of the dedicated gasoline model. Do you know of this and is this true of all flex fuel vehicles?

A. It is true that a vehicle when running on E85 (85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline) these engines will have less power and return fewer miles per gallon. As far as the hard starting issue, I have had very limited experience with flex-fuel vehicles since there are almost no ethanol (E85) stations in New England. If you are planning for the future, a flex-fuel vehicle, when running on conventional gasoline, has the same performance of a non flex-fuel vehicle.

John Paul is the public affairs manager for AAA Southern New England. He can be reached at jpaul@aaasne.com.