Ford - Windstar :: 2001 - Chugging And Service Engine Light Blinking?
Mar 16, 2011
Twice now (and maybe a third time once I start my van again) we've had problems with the van chugging and then the service engine light blinking. Both times it happened in the past, we took it to a mechanic who said it needed a tune-up - new spark plugs, wires, etc. I'm curious as to why this keeps happening. Mileage is around 105K. It first happened last summer, second time was in December. Now it's March. What could cause this problem to repeat?
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I have a 2001 Ford Windstar Sports SE with 155K miles. I did a tune-up eight months ago. With the tune up I had to replace the fuel pump because it was defective. Later, I found that there were misfires occurring since I was getting slow acceleration. I had the spark plugs on the guilty cylinders replaced again and the spark plug wires.
Periodically, I have had to return to the shop to have the vehicle checked. I sometimes get a blinking check engine light while trying to accelerate, which now occurs only while it is raining or I am exiting the car wash. The shop is at a loss as to what it is (spark plugs and wires are fine, no lose connections noticed). I am wondering if I should take it to someone else. Of course, taking it somewhere else will cost me $100 to check on someone's else work.
The shop replaced the ignition coil. Distributor cap is fine. They keep saying that the engine is running fine while in the shop and do not get any codes. I had them drive it while it was raining and they discovered that cylinder 4 is misfiring. They worked on the cylinder. The vehicle runs well, until it rains or I wash it.
My questions to the group, "If everything is OK, how come it is misfiring? What are they missing? What is the connection to the moisture?"
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The truck is a 4WD with the 4.8L V8, has 134k problem free miles. While pulling a camper trailer the Service Engine Soon light came on and was blinking. After removing the camper the light went away. Now the light has returned and blinks occasionally. The light is not the larger issue tho. When the engine is cold it is difficult to start and I have to hold the accelerator to the floorboard to keep it running or rather chugging but only on days when ambient temps are below 50ish. As the motor warms it chugs less and eventually smooths out. Once the engine has warmed up it runs as if there is no kind of problem. The service engine light stays on but does not blink. This all began suddenly tho there might have been a problem before but we recently moved to the Chicago area from the Phoenix area. A stop at the local auto parts store for a code read said the fuel pressure sensor is bad tho it seems there is something more than that going on. With a Chicago winter coming this needs repaired!
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So I had a serious runability problem back in 2012 with code P0302 (misfire in cylinder 2) and the car was barely running. I changed the spark plugs, which didn't fix the issues. Then changed the coil, which fixed it. URL...But I was a little lazy back in September 2012, the old spark plug wires looked like they were still in great shape, so I left the old wires on. I think they were the original factory wires, they had the numbers of each cylinder printed on the side. Very nice wires!
Fast-forward to the present. Car starts running poorly with a blinking check-engine light. Not good! I check the code and it is P0306, misfire in cylinder 6. So my first thought was: OK, probably time to change the spark plug wires!I changed the spark plug wires. I purchased AutoLite Professional Series wires at Advance Auto Parts, part 97047. URL...Sure enough, the number 6 wire looked like it had a little corrosion inside the end that connects to the spark plug wire. It looked like I was on the right track! Changed the spark plug wires, and ran it. It still sounded like it might be missing on one cylinder. Just a quiet ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch at idle. I took it for a test drive. It ran OK at low RPM's, but had no power. When I tested some hard acceleration, sure enough the check engine light came back on. Tested the code and it was P0306 again. Conclusion: not fixed yet.
OK, maybe the spark plug wire was the problem, just the plug got fouled because the wire was bad. I purchased a replacement spark plug for that cylinder only. AutoLite Double Platinum as recommended elsewhere in this forum. Removed the old plug. I'm no expert, but the old plug looked fine to me. Installed the new plug. Tested it again. Still sounded like missing at idle ch-ch-ch-ch-ch. Test drive, OK with low RPM, no power. Tried hard acceleration, got the blinking CEL again. Conclusion: still not fixed - darn it!
Now remember, I just changed the coil back in September 2012. I had replaced it with a coil from AutoZone. The first coil had lasted ten years. So it couldn't be the coil again this soon, right? But... just to be sure, I went ahead and changed the coil again. I called AutoZone and happily it was still under warranty. The previous coil I had purchased came with a 24-month warranty, and I was on month 23 !!! Sweet!AutoZone also told me if I did a warranty replacement of the coil, the new one would come with a lifetime warranty instead.The part number of the coil at AutoZone was part C1312, Duralast Ignition Coil.
Before installing the new coil, I put a little Dielectric grease around the top inside of each connector on the new coil (7 total, six spark plug wires plus the electrical connector). I think this was recommended in my Haynes or Chilton manuals.I am a tall skinny guy with long skinny arms. So I was able to replace the coil without removing the cowl. Last time I had to remove the cowl (to do the intake manifold isolator bolt repair) the cowl had cracked, also some of the clips holding it down broke. So I didn't want to remove the cowl unless necessary. It turns out with my long skinny arms I can lay up over the motor and reach back around both sides of the intake manifold to reach the coil. It is a reach, but it was possible for me to do the job that way.
I removed the three bolts holding the old coil in place. Then I was able to slide the new coil back in there, around the driver's side of the intake manifold. I transferred over the spark plug wires one by one from old to new (as recommended by another poster) so I wouldn't get confused which was which. It worked well to transfer the rear three first. That hold the new coil near the correct location, and gave me more slack to move the old coil further out of the way.Next step was to remove the wire connector from the rear of the coil pack. It didn't want to release. I looked at the old part (from 2012!!!) and there was a little plastic nub back there to lock the connector in place. It looked like there was room to work in a small screwdriver back there to release the lock. So I wiggled a short flat-head screwdriver in back there (with a wide head) and it released. Then I was able to easily remove the connector.
Then I had more slack to move the old coil further out of the way, toward the drivers side and front of the vehicle. And then transferred the last three spark plug wires to the new coil.Then to secure the new coil in place, I carefully installed one bolt by hand, leaving it loose to allow for final adjustments of position. Installed the second and third bolts loosely. Tightened the three bolts finger tight using a short (3") extension and 7mm socket (1/4" drive). Then snugged them very gently using my small 1/4" rachet. The small 1/4" rachet was a perfect fit using the 3" inch extension and the small 7mm socket. Remember you just want the bolts snug, do not over-tighten them.
When I went back to AutoZone to process the warranty return, they had to do some fancy work with their computer to get me the lifetime warranty on the new coil. By default it would just assume the rest of the original coil warranty from 2012 - which was just about to expire. So they made it right for me - but only because I specifically asked about it. By default, the guy had already rung it up their "normal" way, which would not have extended the warranty for me.Another thing that was strange was back in September 2012 when I replaced the original coil, it had worked well for ten years or so! Also, the bottom of it was clearly cracked, so it was easy to see that it had deteriorated and needed to be replaced.
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So coming home from work the engine started misfiring and the Service engine light started blinking five times in staying on for five seconds and then blinking another five times in series. The car started writing very rough and stalled out every time I came to a stop which was not normal function for vehicle. Made it to the Toyota dealership. After paing the Service fee they told me it was possibly spark plugs, ignition coil pack, and an O2 sensor not functioning. I just changed the spark plugs and ignition packs three months ago. So I took the car home put new spark plugs in and a new ignition pack I ordered from Amazon and put it in cylinder for (which they told me at the Toyota dealership) and installed a new O2 sensor myself. Disconnected the battery to clear any trouble codes and restarted the engine. The problem still exists. The trouble code they gave me at the dealership was.p0304, p0138, p0110. The car is still miss firing and Service light keeps blinking.
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My windstar blew fuse #16. replaced soon. blew again, replaced again. now theft light blinks rapidly and won't even crank over. left switch on long enough to get a code reading from the light, it comes up to # 15.
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I have a 2001 F350 and my service engine soon light came on. For a while it went on and off and every time it came on the engine ran rough and I lost some power. I pulled the valve covers and checked the UCVH and everything was fine that I can tell I even made the shims out of quarters and put them in. After putting it all back together its still doing the same thing.
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2001 f350 7.3 diesel and I come up with the codes for upper and lower dual generator fault. I have only one alternator not the dual.. I checked the gauge and it is running at 14 consistently. But the service engine soon light keeps coming on...I clear them and they come right back... Alternator is only 2 years old and not a rmf..
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I have a 2001 ford escape. Today it starts to miss and the engine lights starts flashing. It is never the same amount of flashes. Sometimes its 8 or 10 flashes. I counted up to 25 flashes one or twice It just shakes bad and that's when the flashing starts. When it starts to miss and vibrate, I can accelerate in passing gear and it smooths out. When you hold it at a constant speed it starts missing again. Cannot get a code with my reader. Someone told me a flashing light indicates a misfire. What may be causing this problem?
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I purchased the vapor canister vent valve and purge valve as the service engine light has been on and this are the contributors. I want to know the location of these and how to access. It appears that they may be by the fuel tank and I don't know if I need to lift the box or something to access them. It is the 5.3L V8.
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I just purchased my first foreign car ever. it is a 2002 Elantra it idles very rough changed plugs using NGK and wires new fuel filter and ran 2 full tanks of high grade fuel with STP fuel injector cleaner. but had no effect on idle also have no check or service engine light. What to check next?
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I have a 2001 1500 with the 5.3V8 motor (ext. cab sb 4x4 LT). I was my dads and had the service engine light on for a long time for the P0446 code. I replaced the vent valve and the purge valve and light keeps coming back on. Usually can go for a day or so and then it comes back on and I get the same P0446 code.
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My Girlfriend just got a 2003 Hyundai Elantra and everything was running great on it the first month she had it BUT the check engine light was on.. After about a month she called me up while driving and said that the check engine light was blinking and the car would hardly move. So I got to the car and looked at it and I noticed the oil filter was a little loose so I tightened it good this time and added a little bit of oil. It actually moved but it would hesitate. So we had it towed to a shop and they read the codes from the check engine light and told us it was leaking oil from the motor some where (not specific) and it also needed a new O2 sensor.
So I replaced the catalytic converter underneath the car and also a new sensor along with a new set of spark plugs. It ran alot better and I left it at that. Now about a week later she was coming home and noticed that when she turned left or right that the battery light and brake light on the dash came on. She drove it home and when she turned in the driveway the car went dead. It started right back up and we got it to the house and left it over night. I went out this morning and again it started right up. but when I lifted the hood I noticed the belts on the pulleys were all spinning very slowly. I'm not sure if it could be a timing chain or if it just needs new pulleys.
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The engine light in my 2001 Passat all of a sudden started blinking when I started it this afternoon - for no apparent reason. It feels like it's going to stall and is idling kind of loud.
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Truck started losing power then service engine light came on, drove about another mile then it just stalled ( almost home lees than a 1/4 mile). Got out open hood oil everywhere on top of motor. Looked under truck and oil all over the road. Looked back where I was driving a line of oil as far an I could see. Checked oil barely any on stick. Where should I start hpop or plug?
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So last Thursday I started my car up in the blistering cold and it ran fine for about a minute and started to misfire so I shut it off. It hasn't ran since. When that happened the check engine light was blinking because of the misfire. I didn't have a code reader at the time to read it. now that I got a code reader the damn thing isn't throwing any codes. it spits and sputters sometimes. I've had no previous problems with the car. Thinking It might be a weak fuel pump or bad coils and in not sure how to test them.
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I have a 05 f250 with a 5.4 I'm having issues with I was driving along the truck started chugging along and the check engine light came on so I checked it with my bully dog the codes that came up were p0192 which is fuel pressure sensor circuit low the next one is p0452 is evaporative emission pressure sensor switch low also came up with p0191 tonight haven't dug into that yet.
I change out the pressure sensor switch from a buddies truck didn't make a difference put my sensor in his truck his worked fine I clean the throttle position sensor and The maf also put a new air filter on not throwing a misfire code but seems like it may be. A little background on the truck it's a 5.4 3valve with a bully dog tuner, mufflers been removed added straight pipe mechanically that's all that's done
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MY 2003 Santa Fe is fwd with the 3.5 v6. While under normal conditions, the engine lost power and began "chugging" and "bucking". There was also a belt slipping "whine" associated with this problem. The problem continued for about two minutes, then corrected itself, and I was able to drive normally.
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we just replaced a pressure hose that broke and now the engine light blinks 30 times and then goes off and then blinks again plus the engine seems to be shaking allot.
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2000 Ford ZX2 2.0 ....I've got approx. 79,350 miles on this car. I'm the original owner. The "Service Engine Soon" light came on. I took the the car to an Advanced Auto Parts store, they hooked up their handheld computer to the car and told me "it might be an oxygen sensor or poor fuel octane", he suggested adding an octane booster and see if the light stays off. I did that,but two days later it came back on, the idle seems a little ruff when stopped at a light.
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I have a 1999 F-150 w/ 4.2 V6. and auto trans, truck has 219,000 miles on chassis but only 25,000 on engine and 10,000 on trans. I've been getting obd codes p0705 and p0715. I replaced the position sensor on outside of trans. but I continue to get the codes off and on again. I noticed that the O/D "OFF" light on the shift selector blinks simultaneously when the "service engine soon" light comes on. I've noticed that there is no low gear unless I have it in D from a dead stop, and not even when downshifting manually.
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