The Check Engine Light on my '97 Ford Explorer SOHC has been on for
quite some time. It is 10 years old and has 177K miles. The problem is
that, here in Southern California, of course, you must pass a Smog
Check and obtain a Smog Certificate in order to obtain Registration. I
know that it will not pass the check as is. I had the problem
diagnosed, and the DTC's were several, P1715, P1762, P0455, P0171 and
P0174. I read up enough on these codes to know that a couple of them
are possible transmission problems, an evaporation control system
problem (leak), and two system too lean problems. This vehicle does
not have much more life in it, but it runs well. At this point, I just
want to get my Registration and Tags and replace the car in two years
or less. I know that fixing all of the problems will, more than
likely, be very expensive. I'm not sure if my '97 Explorer has an EEC-
IV or EEC-V system, but I have read some articles that say that it can
be reset by disconnecting the red battery cable for 5 minutes or more,
or by using a scan tool to complete the reset. The question I have is,
even if I reset the EEC-IV or EEC-V system, will it clear out the
codes long enough for me to drive to the nearest testing center and
obtain a Smog Certification. Can anyone help?