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Hello, I'm usually (almost always) in the OBS powerstroke forum but I would like to throw something out to you guys. I got a F150 4by4 5.8L from my father when he passed. I have always only put a few thousand miles on it every year but it has run great. Today I 'borrowed' a battery out of another car and thought it was fully charged, it wasn't, only had 4v. When I turned the key nothing happened of course. But I did notice the rpm gauge wiggle a bit. Charged the battery over night and now it will hardly start. I don't always get the click of the 'on and off' of the fuel pump relay. I pulled it of and cleaned the contacts and it seems to work better. It started and ran about a block before quitting. I scanned it and came up with code 33, 74 and 40. Scanned it again and 40 disappeared. I looked in your stickies and couldn't find a list of codes. Can anybody help with what might be the problem and what the codes mean? Thanks for any help, Glenn
If it were me, I’d put a definitely good battery in first to see if that gets rid of the problems. If it does, great - simple solution. If not, then move on with the remaining issues, if any.
The battery could be defective, an automotive start type battery doesn't like to be discharged below ~ 11 volts and it may be permanently damaged. It isn't always an automatic death sentence but anytime a battery is completely discharged it should be tested.
Or it simply may not be completely recharged, it takes a long time. What kind of charger? How many amps? A maintenance free battery at rest "surface charge" removed has an open circuit voltage of 12.80 volts at 70° F.
I'll try a battery out of the OBS today, they are new motorcraft. Forgot to mention its a 1991 F150. I charged at 10 amps for four hours and then at 2 amps over night. The battery showed 12.4v in the morning. Thanks for the replies, Glenn
PS, is there a code chart around here? Its a schumacher charger.
The newer battery made it act better but I also found a pretty good vacuum leak and fixed that. Can anybody tell me why that code 33 is saying my EGR is not opening. I don't know a thing about the EGR system on these trucks. Where is it?
what year, should be right behind throttle body, on upper intake(see pic), you can test it, could have broken vacuum line, and also check that it is electrically plugged in, and the solenoid for it is plugged in, it is by your coil, on driver side, of upper intake, with 2-vacuum lines, green one goes around intake to top of EGR, the black or red one comes from the VRES(coffee can, depending on year), on passenger wheel well.
how to test EGR Ford Fuel Injection » EGR Valve Position sensor (EVP) EGR by throttle body
Think I found the problem. Just after turning the key and the engine starts, you release the key. It dies sometimes and other times it will remain running. I discovered if you hold the key switch just a little bit towards the start area (light pressure) it will stay running. After carefully holding the key then let go it will most of the time stay running for awhile then die. I haven't tried it yet but I'm thinking if I took a big rubber band and wrapped it around the 'horn' above the key and wrap it around the steering column and hooked it to the emergency flasher switch keeping a little pressure on the key toward start position it would stay running until shut off. Of course I'm not going to do this, just trying to explain what is going on. Do I need to replace the ignition switch or is there something else in the steering colume that needs attention? Thanks for any help!
Edit: I just tried the rubber band trick and it stayed running. I had to go down and around to the turn signal lever.
Do I need to replace the ignition switch or is there something else in the steering colume that needs attention? .
You might get by with adjusting the ignition switch by loosening the 2 adjusting screws and sliding the switch closer to the steering wheel.Whether you replace the switch or just adjust it you will need to remove the cowling around the steering column, 2 screws accessible from the bottom, and probably drop the steering column from under the dash, not a big job.
You might get by with adjusting the ignition switch by loosening the 2 adjusting screws and sliding the switch closer to the steering wheel.Whether you replace the switch or just adjust it you will need to remove the cowling around the steering column, 2 screws accessible from the bottom, and probably drop the steering column from under the dash, not a big job.
