Question about 'engine light'

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Oct 20, 2008 | 07:07 PM

rhodeisland350

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Question about 'engine light'

My new to me 05 is my first ford truck so i'm learning as i go along w/ the help of this forum. I remote started my truck at the end of my work day today and when i got in it the engine light was still on and remained on the entire ride (about 35 min). I had to make a stop on my way home and it was off for about an hour before i restarted it. I turned it on w/ the key and the engine light was on again. I've read all about 'codes' etc but i'm not sure if the info center will show a code or not???? I'm assuming not but i figured i would ask. Is the engine light a bad thing or can it just be an indicator of some service that needs to be performed at the dealer? My truck has roughly 54k miles on it. Any help would be great! Thanks.

Tom

Oct 20, 2008 | 07:41 PM

MassSupra

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Insert key.
Hold down trip reset button.
Turn key to on but do not start engine.
Hold down the button until the gauges cycle and then keep hitting the button until DTC's are shown.

Oct 21, 2008 | 05:47 AM

rhodeisland350

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I just tried doing the reset trick and no codes appeared, i tried doing it 3 separate times and nothing?? Is there anything else i can do? Thanks everyone.

Oct 21, 2008 | 06:58 AM

Mark Kovalsky

Frmr Ford Trans Engr

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From: SE Florida

Quote:

Originally Posted by MassSupra

Insert key.
Hold down trip reset button.
Turn key to on but do not start engine.
Hold down the button until the gauges cycle and then keep hitting the button until DTC's are shown.

That does not work to read codes that turn on the check engine light. It will only read problems with the intrument cluster.

The ONLY way to read the codes is with an OBDII scan tool. There is no other way.

Oct 21, 2008 | 07:43 AM

rhodeisland350

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Thanks for the response Mark, so essentially i'm going to have to bring it to a dealer to find out why the light is on? I certainly do not have a scanner or know anyone who does.........

Oct 21, 2008 | 08:06 AM

69cj

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From: Middle Tn.

If you have an Autozone nearby, they will normally scan it for free.

Oct 22, 2008 | 05:26 PM

MassSupra

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Kovalsky

Sorry for the wrong info. Only code I've had was for WIF circuit and it didn't set a CEL but showed up in the cluster check. Thanks for the correction