2016 6.7 Powerstroke

Couple days ago, check engine light came on. Read the codes (with Forscan Lite on an iPad), and saw P202E P242E P2085 P220A, which seem to indicate issues with EGT sensor, NOx sensor, and DEF injection. Told Forscan to reset DTCs, and the check engine light went off (at least for now), but DTCs still show up in Forscan, although they say "Previously set DTC - Not Present at Time of Request" and "Malfunction Indicator Lamp is Off for this DTC"

So does this mean maybe there was a temporary glitch that I don't need to worry about unless the Check Engine light comes back on? Is there some way to make the codes go away completely, or is that not possible with Forscan?

It's a 2016, with about 59,500 miles. If I'm reading the warranty manual right, I am still (barely) covered by the 60K powertrain warranty, or maybe well within the 100K diesel engine warranty, or maybe past the 36K emissions warranty if this qualifies as emissions equipment.

I'm not real comfortable trying to fix any of this myself. If it's within warranty, I might as well let the dealer handle it. But I'm not real pleased with the honesty of the only nearby dealer, and if it's something I have to pay for, there are other local independent mechanics I'd rather take it to.

So what's my best course of action at this point?

 

I know it's not what you want to hear but like you If I get a CEL i take it to the dealer. I thought the emissions warranty was longer than 36,000 miles. If the CEL shut off than you are fine. Don't worry about it. The computer was reading something wrong and it reset itself.

 

Mine is at the dealer for same issue. Getting replaced under warranty (I purchased the extended warranty).

 

I don't believe you can clear the previously set codes with forscan, torque, etc. But that doesn't matter. They are just historical codes left in the history for some past info. If/when you get different codes, they will overwrite these previously stored codes.

The mix of all those codes together though sounds to me like a potential harness connection issue that intermittently wiggled loose. If it doesn't come back and put your truck in limp mode with the 50 mile countdown, then it was likely just a fluke. If you do get the 50 mile countdown though, you'll have to dig in and find the root cause, or take it to a dealer. The 50 mile countdown can't be cleared with a code reader, and has to be deactivated with a drive cycle, just an FYI. Hopefully that doesnt happen to you.

 

Thanks. I was thinking that mix of codes (a couple of sensors and the DEF injector) might be due to a wiring harness issue. Also, the explanation for the DTCs said something like "erratic voltage". I might crawl under the truck and see if I can locate a single harness plug that seems to have wires to those spots.

It's been a while since I looked at it (I don't drive the truck very much) and memory is a little hazy. But the check engine light came back on shortly after my first post, and I think when I read the codes then, a couple of them showed up as "Previously set DTC - Not Present at Time of Request" and a couple (or maybe just 1) showed currently present.

Do historical codes ever go away? Is it possible that maybe a couple of those codes are lingering from the distant past, and maybe only 1 of them is causing the issue I'm seeing now?

Truck has not gone into limp mode or displayed any warnings other than the Check Engine light.

Chas111: You said your truck has the same problem. Did you have all these codes, or just 1? What was the problem .. bad harness connection, bad sensor, or something else?

I've got a third-party extended warranty on this truck (bought it used through CarMax and they sold me their extended warranty). I haven't called them yet to ask what to do about getting it fixed. If this is covered under Power Train warranty (which I doubt), they'll probably tell me to take it to the dealer and make Ford pay for it. If it's under "emissions", I guess they'll have to pay it, unless they wiggle out of it somehow, and I'm not sure where they'll send me to get it fixed. CarMax has their own service department, but I don't know if I should trust those guys to work on a diesel.

 

I'm not sure if or when historical codes ever go away, but now that you know about them, pay attention to currently set vs historical codes when scanning. Previously set codes are really nothing to worry about. Also note the distinction between codes that may be on without setting the Malfunction indicator lamp, and codes that are on that do set the MIL.

If you do crawl under the truck and start looking at connections, and happen to disconnect one to clean and reconnect it, do not under any circumstance even cycle the key with the harness disconnected, because thats how you get into the 50 mile countdown to limpmode. Ask me how I know.

 

i picked up truck today. They had not finished the ticket yet so I haven’t seen the details. I’ll know next week when they mail the work order to me.