Cel

franky_402

Registered User
ok so lately i have been having a problem with my car, it does this when i'm driving on the highway as far as i can remember. Ill be driving a steady pace and the cel will illuminate for about a minute or so and go away. once i just let it go and went away the second time this happened i was using cruise so i disabled that and it went away on it's own, third or so time it's happened i punched the gas revved it and everything, no loss of power, no dropped tach, no signs of anything wrong just a light. not really sure what is going on as nothing seems to be wrong with the car?? Also i can't run codes right since the light goes away or am i wrong. I thought that even if the light goes away its still in memory for X number of cycles but i'm not sure and it too cold outside to be messing with paperclips and whatnot right now, so i thought i would come get some advice. this has never happened during the summer only when it's really cold outside but still happens when it's warmed up. Once when i was doing a burnout around a corner it lit up when i had the gas mashed and as soon as i let go and went to cruising speeds it went out?? I'm pretty much outta ideas, the car has no cats, and a flowmaster exhaust 3-ish% od and a cai!!!
 
ok so lately i have been having a problem with my car, it does this when i'm driving on the highway as far as i can remember. Ill be driving a steady pace and the cel will illuminate for about a minute or so and go away. once i just let it go and went away the second time this happened i was using cruise so i disabled that and it went away on it's own, third or so time it's happened i punched the gas revved it and everything, no loss of power, no dropped tach, no signs of anything wrong just a light. not really sure what is going on as nothing seems to be wrong with the car?? Also i can't run codes right since the light goes away or am i wrong. I thought that even if the light goes away its still in memory for X number of cycles but i'm not sure and it too cold outside to be messing with paperclips and whatnot right now, so i thought i would come get some advice. this has never happened during the summer only when it's really cold outside but still happens when it's warmed up. Once when i was doing a burnout around a corner it lit up when i had the gas mashed and as soon as i let go and went to cruising speeds it went out?? I'm pretty much outta ideas, the car has no cats, and a flowmaster exhaust 3-ish% od and a cai!!!

Likely an EGR problem. Egr only functions during cruising speeds. Egr has three parts. The Egr valve, the Evr solenoid and the (D)pfe sensor. The Evr solenoid controls vacuum from the manifold to the Egr valve when cruising. The Dpfe is a pressure sensor that tells the pcm the position of the Egr valve. Either the valve is sticking or the Dpfe pressure sensor is out of range due to corrosion. Nothing that is going to effect performance in anyway at all. Likely the pressure sensor is at fault, as that usually is the case. The correct way to diagnos this would be to perform Koeo/Koer tests and see what codes you get. If you do infact get EGR codes, put a vacuum gauge on the vacuum line going to the egr valve(green). On the line not the valve itself. Rerun the Key on engine running test(KOER). If the Evr pulls vacuum on the EGR valve during the test (Which it is supposed to) you have a EGR valve or DPFE pressure sensor problem. If no vacuum is pulled on the vacuum guage during the test, then it is the EVR solenoid itself. To test the Egr valve itself just hook a vacuum pump to the vacuum port on the valve and pump it up with the engine running. The engine should stall if the valve is good. The pressure sensor should be replaced no matter what, if its not bad today it will be tommorrow. All Ford electronic engine control cars have Egr issues. EEC IV (1986-1995) and EEC V (1996-current). Difference is exactly what you described though. The older EEC IV system will allow the check engine light to come on and go back off. The newer EEC V will set the light and it will stay on till you get it fixed or the car goes to the crusher. Which ever comes first...
 
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i had this problem and it was intermitant cel for about 2 months till i finally got a couple of codes from my obd1(thanks ford for screwing us supercoupers). the last 2 weeks before i figured out what it was, the engine would hik-up then be fine. it ended up being the cam position sensor. fixed that and everything has been fine since then.
 
thanks for the advice, i'll run the paperclip tests today and see if i get anything, if the egr system is bad will this effect the engine in any way, or should i do an egr delete???
 
The EGR would be a good guess, but really it could be a variety of things and pulling the code(s) stored in memory is the only way to get a good idea what it might be.
 
the paperclip thing is ok, but go and get one of those 20 buck ford obd1 scanners. it actually cycles items like the egr, high/low speed fans etc. it's worth it. trust me. that lil baby saved me lots of money "parts chasing/changing".
just my $.02
 
i couldnt get any codes, i think it has cycled out of memory already, last time it happened was about a week ago, and i have been making alot of trips lately so i think it got erased, i'll have to wait untill next time it pops up to read it again
 
cmill95, where can i get 1 of those obd1 scanners. i have been trying to get the teachers at school to get the stuff to hook up to my car, but most of the ones we have are tech2s for gm obd2.
 
i couldnt get any codes, i think it has cycled out of memory already, last time it happened was about a week ago, and i have been making alot of trips lately so i think it got erased, i'll have to wait untill next time it pops up to read it again

It shouldn't cycle out of memory at all, should it? Is your "memory" fuse blown?
 
i dont think so, i was under the impression that if it tripped a code and then went away it would only stay in memory for so many cycles untill the computer thinks it's fixed and erases the code???? Maybe i'm wrong and didn't run the test right?
 
i dont think so, i was under the impression that if it tripped a code and then went away it would only stay in memory for so many cycles untill the computer thinks it's fixed and erases the code???? Maybe i'm wrong and didn't run the test right?

You're right they do cycle out, sorry bout that. I read on here that it takes 40 cycles to clear the stored codes.
 
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cmill95, where can i get 1 of those obd1 scanners. i have been trying to get the teachers at school to get the stuff to hook up to my car, but most of the ones we have are tech2s for gm obd2.

if i remember right, it was at an autozone or a kragen. it plugs into the diagnostic plugs in the engine bay and comes with a book. black box with a yellow label. takes a 9volt battery.

after i get back home i'll go out to the bird and get the exact brand name. i keep it in the car for times i might need it.
 
k, the one i have is an "INOVA" model 3145. for ford lincoln mercury 1981-1995. pretty good unit overall. not that we have an OBDII 'cause ford is syupid!!

sorry i didn't get back to you sooner. i was trying to figure out if afgahnistan is in my future!
 
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