Check Engine Light

[Guv Bob]

For 97 Aerostar. While I'm looking for the manual, I thought I'd ask what is a common cause of the light coming on. I noticed it was flashing (never seen that before) then stopped flashing and from then on is on solid. Check all the sensors I could find and connections look OK. Oil, oil pressure, coolant, temp, trans fluid, PS, brake fluid all look OK.

[cl...@snyder.on.ca]

On Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:57:34 -0700, "Guv Bob"
<guvbo...@yahooooooooooooooo.com> wrote:

>For 97 Aerostar. While I'm looking for the manual, I thought I'd ask what is a common cause of the light coming on. I noticed it was flashing (never seen that before) then stopped flashing and from then on is on solid. Check all the sensors I could find and connections look OK. Oil, oil pressure, coolant, temp, trans fluid, PS, brake fluid all look OK.

You need to have the code pulled - could be anything from a loose
gas cap to a bad cat to any of 100 or more other conditions in betwen.

[IYM]

On 4/28/2013 9:57 PM, Guv Bob wrote:
> For 97 Aerostar. While I'm looking for the manual, I thought I'd ask what is a common cause of the light coming on. I noticed it was flashing (never seen that before) then stopped flashing and from then on is on solid. Check all the sensors I could find and connections look OK. Oil, oil pressure, coolant, temp, trans fluid, PS, brake fluid all look OK.
>

ummm - Flashing check engine lights are baaaaaaad.....as in stop driving
immediately bad. A flashing light usually mean that you'll screw up
your engine if you keep driving it while it's doing it. I had it happen
to me....once....on my F150 and found it was a misfire on a cylinder.
When I when and checked, I found the spark plug had backed out about 2
full turns. That could have been nasty.

I cut and pasted this which is a little more in-depth with other reasons....


>>>>[There are two types of check engine light warnings that all
drivers need to be aware of. The first – and more severe is a Type A
misfire, which is represented by a flashing check engine light. This
flashing check engine light means you are doing “mechanical damage”
(read in a deep ominous voice designed to imply very large repair bills
by continued neglect) to your vehicle if you continue to drive under
these conditions. If you see a flashing check engine light you should
seek immediate professional advice.By mechanical damage we are talking
about things like the catalytic converter, the exhaust manifold,
pistons, rings, valves – virtually all upwards of four-digit repair bills.

During misfire, raw fuel is being passed through your vehicle’s engine.
This fuel actually ignites and starts a fire in your exhaust manifold
and catalyst. This drives the temperatures up in excess of 1000̊C causing
the ceramic in your catalytic converter to begin melting. It can crack
your exhaust manifold, damage sensors, and much more. If you see a
flashing check engine light, you need to act IMMEDIATELY to save your
vehicle and a lot of money.

The second type of misfire is a Type-B misfire. This means that your
vehicle is misfiring enough to cause the emissions from your vehicle to
be over 1.5 times the emission standard. While it’s less severe than
Type-A, you still need to address this failure quickly. Small misfire
can lead to big misfire very easily.

Misfire is a very serious problem and one you should never ignore. The
fault codes that you will see for misfire are:

P0300- Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected

P03nn – Cylinder nn Misfire Detected where nn is a 2 digit number (01,
02…11, 12) indicating the cylinder in your vehicle 1-12.

P0313 – Misfire detected due to low fuel level

P0314 - Misfire detected single Cylinder not determined

P0315 -Misfire Detected due to crankshaft position sensor

P0316 – Misfire detected during engine startup

The most common method for detecting misfire is called crank pulse
fluctuation. At an engine speed of 7,000 rpm, your vehicle’s computer is
processing 2,800 crank pulses every second! The onboard computer works
with the crank pulse sensor to look for fluctuations in the signal to
determine if your engine is misfiring. It then triggers the check engine
light if it sees a problem.]

[Guv Bob]

<cl...@snyder.on.ca> wrote in message news:3qnrn85m3g6ki6iub...@4ax.com...

Thanks. Tried to find a way online to read with a jumper and meter but no success. Heading to the local independent parts place who will read it for free. Autozone, Kragen/O'Reilly, etc. used to do it but not any longer. Pep Boys claims they do it for a fee, but the one here is dishonest.

[Guv Bob]

"IYM" <nor...@whitehouse.gov> wrote in message news:kllle8$4qj$1...@dont-email.me...

Thanks. Is there a reason to run the engine at 7000 rpm? I think engine speed is around 2500-3000 at 60 mph.

[SC Tom]

"Guv Bob" <guvbo...@yahooooooooooooooo.com> wrote in message
news:RPGdnWtqgcvLcePM...@earthlink.com...

I saw that, too, and would strongly advise you to NOT run your '97 engine at
7000RPM :-0 In my crystal ball, I see sudden expansion of the engine
compartment, with lots of shrapnel following the loud bang :-(
--
SC Tom

[Ashton Crusher]

On Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:47:36 -0700, "Guv Bob"

<guvbo...@yahooooooooooooooo.com> wrote:

><cl...@snyder.on.ca> wrote in message news:3qnrn85m3g6ki6iub...@4ax.com...
>> On Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:57:34 -0700, "Guv Bob"
>> <guvbo...@yahooooooooooooooo.com> wrote:
>>
>> >For 97 Aerostar. While I'm looking for the manual, I thought I'd ask what is a common cause of the light coming on. I noticed it was flashing (never seen that before) then stopped flashing and from then on is on solid. Check all the sensors I could find and connections look OK. Oil, oil pressure, coolant, temp, trans fluid, PS, brake fluid all look OK.
>> You need to have the code pulled - could be anything from a loose
>> gas cap to a bad cat to any of 100 or more other conditions in betwen.
>
>Thanks. Tried to find a way online to read with a jumper and meter but no success. Heading to the local independent parts place who will read it for free. Autozone, Kragen/O'Reilly, etc. used to do it but not any longer. Pep Boys claims they do it for a fee, but the one here is dishonest.
>

You might live in one of the states that made it illegal for parts
places to run those tests - the repair shops bribed the legislatures
to pass a law outlawing it.

[Socrates]

With my 97 T-bird I got tired of guessing and bought the Actron OBD II
PocketScan from Auto Zone (just under 50.00 IIRC) and it paid for itself
quickly. The day before my smog deadline the engine started missing
badly. I had no idea what it was. The scaner told it was the #4
cylinder. For the first time since I bought the car new I had somehow
managed to go through a puddle or something and the whole area was wet.
Easy fix saved me a lot of grief.

[IYM]

Yea - Missed that as part of the cut & paste or I would have omitted
it....lol Just wanted to capture the misfire info and missed the last
paragraph...

They used to do that at the junk yards by me when I was a kid. Some of
the guys during lunch would take a clunker that came in, where they
weren't going to get anything for the engine, jack up the back and put a
brick on the gas pedal. Then they would place bets on how long it would
last before a piston shot out....Loser would have to buy lunch the next
day. lol

[Guv Bob]

"IYM" <nor...@whitehouse.gov> wrote in message news:klo8v0$e4n$1...@dont-email.me...

LOL!! I miss the good old days.

[Guv Bob]

"Guv Bob" <guvbo...@yahooooooooooooooo.com> wrote in message news:7cSdnaFVqfEbTuDM...@earthlink.com...

>For 97 Aerostar. While I'm looking for the manual, I thought I'd ask what is a common cause of the light coming on. I noticed it was flashing (never seen that before) then stopped flashing and from then on is on solid. Check all the sensors I could find and connections look OK. Oil, oil pressure, coolant, temp, trans fluid, PS, brake fluid all look OK.

Welp! The code was P0300 -- Random Misfire. No other info. Once the code was cleared is has not yet returned. Auto parts dude recommended checking connections, and then if it comes up again, change spark plugs and wires.

Another mystery solved.

[Tim J.]

That doesn't sound "solved" to me. It sounds like you simply removed
the visible symptom and are hoping it doesn't come back. It likely
will.

[Guv Bob]

"Tim J." <tj6...@usa.not> wrote in message news:1pm2o81ro6bndl2ot...@4ax.com...

Yes, it would be nice to know the cause of the misfire. I'll check the gas mileage next time I fill up. Any suggestions how to go about it?

[Tim J.]

On Wed, 1 May 2013 16:21:00 -0700, "Guv Bob"

Take it to a professional mechanic, not to some guy at a parts store.
His "throw this at it and see if it works" attitude is typical of many
of the parts counter crowd. Most consumer model code readers just
pull the codes in memory but don't display the real time performance
data from the onboard computers. That's where you need to start.
Anything else would just be guessing, and you don't need any more of
that.

[cl...@snyder.on.ca]

On Wed, 1 May 2013 16:21:00 -0700, "Guv Bob"

Did the engine get wet? Was it foggy? Did you run the tank very low
on fuel?
Whatever caused the misfire was generalized, not specific - so we are
not looking at a bad spark plug, a loose plug wire, or a bad injector
- and most likely not a swirrel or mouse chewed wiring harness.

Damp wires can cause it. Water in the fuel getting into the injectors
could do it.This can be due to phase separation of alcohol blend fuels
due to temperature, and can also be made worse by running a tank too
close to empty.

There are apparently other conditions OTHER than an actual engine
misfire that can trigger the 300 code. Things like a chattering
lock-up converter on an automatic, or serious problems with accessory
drives that throw harmonics into the crank. - or a bad crank or cam
sensor.Or possibly a loose timing chain or bad chain tensioner.

The code is thrown when the computer senses a jitter in the signal
from the (usually) cam sensor that does not co-incide with the firing
of a particular spark plug.

[Guv Bob]

<cl...@snyder.on.ca> wrote in message news:9lj3o8lmids396dk3...@4ax.com...

Thanks. No water or dampness here, but I have run the tank nearly dry a couple of times in the last month. It's past due for a tune up - will take it in and let them check out this stuff.

[NotMe]

"Guv Bob" <guvbo...@yahooooooooooooooo.com> wrote in message

news:U8CdnZsD59j9QePM...@earthlink.com...

{{

They still do it here in DFW. Might call the home office and ask a few
pointed questions. My guess is someone local is playing game.

BTW where is 'here' as I know a few folk that are regional manages for
several of these companies.