1. I maintain my vehicle meticulously. Here's a LONG list of maintenance items that have been replaced/work done that you'd think would at least partially resolve my cold-start problem. But it STILL runs like crap after a cold-start, and the "Check Engine" light STILL comes on. (NO CODES were read at the Ford dealership. Just "1-1-1", meaning all systems OK.) And it STILL runs great after the engine has warmed up about 8-10 minutes or so.

Here's the long list of maintenance work that has been done:

Brand New/Less Than 50 Miles Ago:

spark plugs
spark plug wires
dist cap/rotor
PCV valve
fuel pump
fuel pump relay
radiator fan relay
idle air control valve
oxygen sensor
EGR valve position sensor
temperature sender
coolant temperature sensor
air charge temperature sensor

Brand New/Replaced Less Than 1,000 Miles Ago:

fuel filter
air filter
breather filter
oil/oil filter

Brand New/Replaced About 10,000 Miles Ago:

thermostat
coolant
starter battery
radiator cap
fuel pressure regulator
EGR valve

Replaced By Ford About 10,000 Miles Ago Under Recall:

remanufactured PCM
idle air control valve
catalytic convertor

2. In short, I give up! I surrender! I have an appointment next Wednesday at the local Ford dealership. Actually my SECOND appointment, because the problem was not fixed the first time.

3. Thank you all for trying to help me, but my frustration level is maxed out. I'm burned out. My next vehicle will be a Dodge. We have three vehicles. Two are Fords and they are both basically crap, nothing but one problem after another. One is a Dodge, the engine has never given me a single problem, and it's still going strong at over 202,000 miles!

 

Sorry to hear that Tom. It's always frustrating to hear that Ford has lost yet another customer due to mechanical problems. Henry Ford made it in this world because his car could OUTLAST the others in endurance races. However, todays cars are not the ones we used to have then, and build quality went down SEVERELY when we started looking to foreign countries for our parts. Que sarah sarah. I'de still be interested to hear what the problem was when you figure it out.

 

UPDATE:

The verdict came in today, and it was a bad PCM. After a new PCM was installed it started immediately and ran like a top, just like it used to!

Thank you all for ALL your help on this!!!

 

Good to hear it wasnt "too" bad. Now, how did they come up with that verdict? What test did they do to find it?

 

1. I watched as they performed a variety of tests with their diagnostics equipment. At first they had difficulty doing so, because their diagnostics equipment read-out indicated "No Communication With PCM". They tested the power and ground circuits to the PCM and they were OK. Eventually they established comunication with the PCM. They "chased wires" for a while to see if there were any shorts or wires chafed between the PCM and the various components. Nothing out of the ordinary was found. At one point they turned the ignition key on again, and several components on the engine clicked as they went through whatever testing routines that they are supposed to go through. The weird thing was, that after two or three minutes, at least two components on the engine were STILL clicking. They told me that should defininitely not be happening. After two or three minutes, no components at all should be clicking. Apparently the PCM was still sending out commands of some type when no commands should be sent. At one point we noted that the PCM activity changed after the mechanic "rapped" on the exterior of the PCM. The mechanic stated that the PCM was not functioning normally, however, they did not repair PCMs at the dealership level. He also said that this vintage PCM was not designed to be "re-flashed".

2. Another test was the old "substitute with a known good component". A new PCM was installed and the engine started and ran perfectly, and continues to do so as of this point in time.

3. After all was said and done, the mechanic explained to me that all engine sensors go to/from the PCM. When the PCM goes bad, the engine is designed to go into "limp mode", which is what my engine was doing. "Limp mode" is just what it sounds like. The PCM kept the engine running, although just barely. The new PCM cost me $272.00, and labor total was $237.00. Not a cheap repair, but we had no choice---it was either fix it or risk damage to our engine. I have never had a PCM go bad on me before, so this was all new ground for me. But this experience has taught me a lot about Ford fuel injection systems, at least on the 1993-vintage chassis. Being an avid do-it-yourselfer, I hit the books, the internet, and the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums to learn all that I could. After this experience, I think I'm comfortable tackling almost anything involving sensors, relays,and the fuel injection system itself.

 

Tom,
I sincerely hope that your previous post about leaving the Ford circle was just a rant. A PCM coud go bad on any vehicle. Mainly because their all made in Taiwan(the PCMs that is). Maybe you should think of this as a "dont buy forign things" leson. Unfortunatly, in this day and age, our loving self elected government has eliminated that option for us.
Ok, off the soapbox.
Glad to see you on the road again!

 

Ignore this post. A day late and a dollar short ... again