Oh god, my "Service Engine Soon" light came on again, but this time it is blinking and my truck is running rough. What in the world is happening. Friday the 13th?? I just got my '03 F-150 crewcab FX4 a little over a month ago used, and it now has 74k miles. Drove 35 miles home from work, no problem. Headed out to the bar and all over a sudden the light starts blinking and it is idling like a Peterbilt. I parked it at my buddy's house and now I am stressing[&:]. Anyone got an idea of what is going on? Please help!!

Corey

 

I know it sounds like a dumb question, but are you out of gas?

 

No,not out of gas[:'(]. I took it down to AutoZone and ran it on their cheap code reader and it said that "Cylinder 1 is missfiring." So just to start cheap we replaced all the spark plugs. That fixed it for a day. Now it is back although the "Service Engine Soon" light is no longer blinking. It even went off for a few hours. But it is on again and it still missing and idles rough. Feels like I am driving on 7 cylinders. Not sure what to do now. How much are the coils? Anyone know? Injectors? Gonna talk to a Ford tech buddy of mine tomorrow so hopefully I will get some news there too.

 

Ok I found out what it is. Just for anyone else who goes through this. Turns out the #1 cylinder coil went out. $79 and I am good again. For anyone else who thinks this may have happened to you try this. If you feel the rough idle. Go to your local AAMCO or automotive parts store that has a code reader that you can rent for free or for real cheap. I went to Autozone and they charged me a deposit of $160 that I got back when I brought it back. It will tell you which cylinder is misfiring. Then you take THAT coil off and switch it with one of the others. Take you about five-10 minutes. It may run fine for a little while but don't think your problem is gone. Then when it comes back again recheck the reader again. If the reader says you are misfiring in a different cylinder then your coil is bad, buy another one. I heard that these coils sometimes go bad due to their lack of waterproofing and the location of some of the hoses in the engine compartmen leaking from condensation. They get a littleshorted out and corrode and give you a bad connection, thereby ruining the coil. Hope my trouble helps someone. [8D]

 

Ok all,

Now I hav e a question, I have a 2002 F-150, I was driving from Fl to Tx and my Check engine light started blinking. I pulled over and started checking eerything. I coul not find anything and when I restarted and continued on trip the light was off. Prior to it started acting stupid. At around 65 or 70 it would start missing and according to the book that is waht a blinking light means, however I took it to a dealership and they could not find a code stored in memory. Every now and again over hte last two months it has done the same thing but if I get in it the missing stops. I have only had a blinking light once since the initial time and it blinked maybe 8 times then went out and stayed out.

I truly believe it is a coil pack but how do I check them if I can not get a code to tell me which is misfiring??

Truly lost

Rik

 

The 'flashing' CEL is indicating that the misfire is severe enough to cause catalyst (converter) damage.. You can have a misfire and get a steady ON CEL.. How long was it until it was scanned after the CEL, or had thebattery been disconnected?

 

I had it on a computer with in 24 hours of the blinking CEL, and the Batt was NOT disconnected.

Rik

 

Any one have any ideas or suggestions??

Rik

 

Mine Is Doing The Same Thing[&:]

 

Does anyone know how to check these "COP"(s) on a multimeter. There has to be some magic number number to either look for them to have or not have when checking the resistance or something thing,


ANY ideas anyone.

Rik