Service Engine Soon
 

Hey everybody, I am new here and have a question. First off let me say that I have found this site very informative! I found answers to a couple of my questions already by doing the search thing. I also introduced myself in the intro area, but to fill in some that don't check there. I just bought a 99 F350 V10 superduty 4 door.

Everything was going good engine wise on it. I do have some electrical issues, like the door ajar thing and the lock thing. Other then that it seems like a great truck. Drove it home last Wed. from Reno to Sacramento. No problems except the gas gauge went up instead of down! LOL

We took it to get the famous CA smog the next day. The smog guy (check only, doesn't work on them) said he had to get it really hot to get it to pass smog. I guess he also said to start looking for a catalytic converter. It barely passed. The PO told me the converter was only 3 weeks old. Hubby say't it doesn't look real old but doesn't look that new either.

Anyway, things were fine till yesterday. My Service Engine Soon light came on. I was wondering, what are the common things to make that go on? I know my air filter is pretty dirty, (maybe another reason it barely passed smog) but other then that I don't know what else can be wrong. It seems to run fine. I was driving it when the light came on, and of course I started to worry. On the way home I thought it tried to back fire or hesitate 2 times fast in a row. I got nervous and got off the main drag and went home via back roads. Never did it again. So I can't say for sure if it really backfired or if I was just being paranoid.

A friend of ours is brining us an air filter for it today. He is also bringing his computer to run codes on the truck. I am hoping it is nothing serious. We only payed 5300. for the truck, so that has got me worried in a way now. The PO said the truck ran strong and tranny was strong. But you know how PO's say things to sell!

So what are some of the common things to go wrong on a V10? What should I do for a tune up? The PO supposedly changed all the injectors with some he bought of Ebay. Should I worry about those?

Thanks in advance

Kim

I wouldn't worry about anything untill you get it scanned. But I would check all the fluids and such!

Kim,
If that is a crew cab 4X4 then you got a SUPER buy! Around here a V10 Crew 4X4 sells for at least $12,000.

Check engine light and hesitation could very well be a bad COP (coil) or COP boot. That is one of the common things that go wrong with a V10. For me, a tune up consists of spark plugs (use Motorcraft Platinum ONLY), MAF sensor cleaning, and checking the filters, fluids and belt.

You will also want to check the ball joints for wear.

No, it is just a 2WD. Sure hope it was still a good deal. LOL I thought it was!! Specially since we were looking at a 96 2door extended cab for 5999. Figured this one being newer, having more doors and looking 100% better then the 96, I was getting a good deal.

Thanks for the tips on the tune up.

I think we will be replacing at least one of the ball joints soon. We had to change the tires and noticed that the driver side kind of moved a bit. Not to bad, but it will be done before we take our trip to LA in April.

A misfiring coil won't trip a CEL unless it complete failure of the coil.

To the OP BigPigDaddy is right about the maintenance items he listed and should be done unless you have records that show they recently been done. Also post up the MIL code you got when you get it scanned.

A misfiring cylinder WILL trip the CEL! Reading the codes will lead one to the correct cylinder to check. Wherever did you hear that a misfiring plug/coil wouldn't trip the CEL???

Depending on the severity of the misfire, it may or may not immediately set the MIL.

It is very common to have a mild misfire that the driver can feel, that the PCM can count, but has not reached the level (or rate) of misfires needed to set a MIL or to set a misfire DTC. Easily diagnosed by directly reading the MISFIREPIDs from the PCM in Mode $06, these misfires can be puzzling and frustrating for ill-equipped DIYers.

Um, no, although a complete failure of the coil will set a DTC.

Enjoy!

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...t-come-on.html

A misfire will not trigger a CEL on the 1999-2004 systems since they are over 8500 GVWR. It's an OBD-I system with and ODB-II interface. Misfires will store pending codes which you can scan for but it will not trigger a CEL.

OK, my friend just hooked the computer up and read the codes with it not running.

Here is a pic of what came up. Sorry about the shadow.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...b30babf6-1.jpg


I asked him about running the truck and he said that he could to see what all it was doing, but he figured we should just fix the egr part of it first and then go from there.

His air filter that he thought he had is not the same, so I will at least go buy one of those for now. Hopefully we can get to working on the rest later this week or beginning of next week.

Kim

Mike,

Ah, crap!

Did I mention my status as a SuperDuty noob (see sig!).

I gotta get the differences straight... Been working strictly on OBDII or EEC-IV-based stuff until now.

Thanks!

P0401 and P0420 could be related. If the replacement cat that the OP installed does not have enough flow capacity or is bad it could be play havoc with the EGR system. Either way I would pull the cat and inspect it before doing anything with the EGR. If the cat looks good inside then try to find a manufacture and part number and look it up to make sure it is rated for your truck.

P0460 seems straight forward. I suppose it could be the float stuck but either way you are looking at pulling the tank or lifting the bed. However before you do this do a fuel pressure test to make sure the pump is in good shape. If the fuel pump is not in spec then look at replacing it while you got the tank dropped or the bed lifted to look into the P0460 code.

It's all good! I had a hard time wrapping my head around all the differences once you move above the 8500 GVWR as well. There are some quirky things like all 1999 MY have EGR but from 2000 they do not unless they were sold in California. It takes awhile to learn all the differences.

Ok, they were thinking of cleaning the egr valve tubes. I will 'try' to suggest looking at the cat first! I think they chose to go the egr route first because it will only cost about 80 bucks to replace. The cat is going to cost about 600. :-X18

As far as the fuel code, I already new it was a problem. Figured that out when I first bought it. I put the pumps limit in the tank $75., and that took the needle up to almost full, just barely on the F. While driving it went to over full, then when I got home to Sacramento, where it should have gone down to at least 3/4, it was still pegged on F! LOL It is finally starting to show 3/4, but it will go back up to F often. I just say I get really good gas mileage because my truck fills up as I go!! :-X10 That fix is going to have to wait till I get some of the gas ran out. I don't think they wan't to try to find enough containers to drain it into!! LOL It is almost full.

Oh, and I did take the truck out yesterday, before they looked at it, and it never did the hesitation thing that I though it did the other day. I think I must have been to paranoid that day and just thought it did something. I think I am still not used to how it rides and hit a bump just right that made me think it was a hesitation. The noise was probably something a ran over! Like I say, it did great the whole time I drove it yesterday, all except the engine light being on!

I went and bought a air filter today! Here is a pic of the old one and the new one. Think the old one was a bit dirty! Funny, PO said he replaced the cat 3 weeks ago, wouldn't you replace that filter before the cat? Or at least do both? LOL

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...r/97b317f6.jpg

I also took a couple pics of the "3 week old" cat!

Do these numbers tell any of you anything? How old it is, or the flow?

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...r/IMG_0955.jpg

Here is the whole thing. I would think for a big truck like this, the converter would be a bit bigger??

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...r/IMG_0957.jpg

What do you all think on the cat?

Googling those numbers it looks like the cat is a Magnaflow. Neither of those number (99000 and 94000) are meant for the V10. 55322 is a direct fit and 49959 is a universal cat. Neither is meant for CA.
Anyway that is all a guess based on a Google search so take it for what it's worth. ;)