Ford Repair: Engine light, ford explorer sport, smog test

Question
Hello,

97 Ford Explorer Sport

I was curious if having my engine light on after having many mechanics diagnos and "fix the problem" will affect the cars ability to pass a Smog test in the future?  It passed Smog after the light went off, then it came back on 3 days later.  I had it reset by a mechanic, it came back on 2 days later.  It never stays off for more than a few days.  Why would it pass Smog, then not be ok 2 days later.  I cant trust the light to let me know if something is really wrong with the car, should I have the light taken out?

Answer
Paul:

From 1997  the engine light is required to come on if the emmission system has a fault in it.  There are a number of sensors that monitor the system and if one or more of the monitoring sensors is bad it will turn the light on.  A great number of vehicle have no driveability concerns that accompany the light.  I would not suggest removing the light as most vehicle have a secondary warning chime that if the computer cannot turn the light on the chime rings constantly.

Patrick