Out of curiosity, and through a lot of searching, I am not able to find a definitive answer to a question:

How long does it take for a vehicle's sensors to collect data/report a problem?

My example - both control rods from the IMRC were off due to broken retainer clips - is there an estimated amount of time it would take before the check engine light would have come on to tell me of a lean/rich problem? Days, weeks, months?

Thanks in advance!

 

You will find different years yield different results. There is no set general rule.

 

Thanks Hanky, I have a 2004 Ford Freestar 4.2L.

I had a misfire which spit a P0303 & P0316 very quickly after I felt the problem start (which was fixed), but nothing from the control rods being off.

 

That is really dependant upon your driving habits. If it is mostly short trips, and the drive cycle is not completed before it is shut off, it may be months before it will trip the light. That is probably a 2 drive cycle code. It could possibly, I said possibly, never set the light for a code. The misfire codes will trip almost immediately as it could cause catastrophic catalytic converter failure.

 

It's a variety of different driving cycles - short trips, 1 hour + trips, & stop & go trips of different lengths depending on the traffic & whether or not it's a license plate make-out session.

I'm on the fence about whether this issue has been there for a long time, or if it's new since this weekend.