Good Morning All,
I confess to being a Chevy guy who bought a used 1999 motorhome with the V-10. I just got a "service engine soon" light and notice that my exhaust is very sooty. Looking for suggestions or should I just bite the big bullet and go to a Ford dealer at $85 an hour. Seems to run fine but I can tell something isn't right. Plan to replace the air breather, fuel filter and change oil simply because I want to establish a maintenance baseline. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I bet you could take it to a local Autozone and have them run a diagnostic on it to find what codes have been thrown. I think they do it for free. Get what codes and then come back to us. Welcome to FTE even though you are a Chevy guy. It's OK, I was one too before I got converted.

 

WELCOME to FTE! The first thing is get the codes read.

I'm not sure Autozone does it anymore, but someone has to be able to do it either for free, or very cheap. Any general mechanic with an OBD-II scanner can read the DTC codes.

Get them, and then come back, we'll try to work it out.

 

Is it worthwhile to get a reader or are they cost prohibitive...

 

Answered my own question - went to this site and liked what I saw. I think I will spend the bucks to get this connector to my laptop. Any thoughts...

 

Forgot to post the link. One senior moment after another.
http://www.autotap.com/product_family.asp?FamilyId=260

 

Welcome to the site. You will get great help from the guys here once you get the codes read. Just post back and help will be posted very quickly. Tim

 

That's what I use, but the one I have is a bit older. It barely works with my '01 V10. The later Autotaps work much better, but I wasn't willing to pay to upgrade mine.

The key to the Autotap is that they come out with software updates. For free. Maybe you can buy a handheld scanner and get software updates for it, but I have no idea, especially on the cheapo ones.

The Autotap is able to read misfire counters and all the other "good stuff" you want to see when really digging into an OBD-II motor. Plus, you can do data logging, and then create graphs (in Excel) of the data, etc. etc.

The only thing it can't do is update information in the computer - as in re-tune.

 

Thanks for the info. The hookup kit and software sell for $199 plus $99 for each make you want the complete goodies for if I am reading the product info correctly. The $199 only gets you generic code reading. I don't know what it will cost to take it to a dealer and get a readout, but I can't help but believe $300 bucks is still a good deal for the long haul. I plan to order one and use it with my laptop. I'll be back with the readout and see if you guys can help with the repairs. I haven't even taken the engine cover off yet - just hoping I don't have a spark plug blown out of the head. Never heard of such a thing with my Chevies. Got a lot to learn.

 

Just being a butt head so do not mind my sarcastic remarks below

I have had ten V10 powered SuperDuty trucks since 2001 and three PSD versions and the only time a code reader was put on was at the dealer under warranty...on all four of my personal PSD and V10s I have never thrown a CEL and never had a code read by the dealer... so the +/- $200~$350 for the equipment and software would have been a waste

Really ignore this trite BS I am just padding my post count for the end of the year

Plus the Ford aluminum head spark plug blow out vs the chevy lovers heads "dig" got under my skin a tad.... please let us know when chevy decides to really kill that pig 8~10MPG unloaded 496CI BB thay have and climb into the 21st century

 

Sorry if my post offended you. I was not knocking Ford but simply stating I had never heard of ANY engine blowing spark plugs out so don't quite know what to expect when I dig into my hard to get to engine compartment. I am not "anti-Ford (I did own 3 different Ford Taursus and was quite pleased with them) but simply more familiar with Chevy. I see the code reader as something that might save me an unnecessary trip to the dealer. Have a great new year...

 

check out ebay for a OBDll scanner. they have em for $32

 

edigolie

No apology needed... I was just being my V10 loving self... a slight "dig" getting under my skin is a daily event and some times I am off my meds

I was trying to stir some poo because this very long weekend is boring. I figure enough folks already know my demeanor can range from ultra polite and helpful to very nasty and sarcastic...

I sincerely hope you have decades of trouble free experience with the V10 powered motor-home

Plug blow out is a very rare occurrence and not really a big deal until it happens to you ...then it is a serious pain in the butt and for some folks out of warranty and suckered into full head replacement can be damned expensive

Over torque a plug one time and that hole is eventually going to spit a plug...too loose is just as bad... for motors with the older plain steel plugs (no nickle plating) the factory 100,000 mile replacement strategy is not a good idea because of high corrosion rates of the dissimilar aluminum and steel will weaken the threads....

There are 1999 versions of this motor on the road since 1998 with over 400K on the clock and no plug blow out...I admit it is enough of a problem for us to be concerned about and prepare for or get ahead of with preventative maintenance..

Happy new year sir...

 

Edi, just so you know, Auto Zone and Advance Auto both read your codes for free- at least by us they do. Their only rule is they don't do it after dark.

If it were me I'd spend the bucks on parts instead.

 

and they don't read or can't read trans,abs or air bag with the cheap junk they use.

sorry guy buti have even seen chevys blow plugs in my days.infact the last one came out of the 3/8 inch thread lengh tapered seat head on my 3.0 L 4 cylinder gm power un my 18 foot ski boat which at the time only had 75 hours on the hour meter