2000 Explorer Sport, Check Engine Light...
 

About two weeks ago, my 2000 Explorer Sport, 4.0 V6 "Check Engine" light came on unexpectantly, without warning in the upper left hand corner of the dashboard. Of course my first thought was "what the &%$#!" as for some reason, Fords I have owned (and driven) always seem to trip the CE light at some time. 79,000 miles, original. No lack of power, engine runs smooth and normal, starts fine when cold, ect.

I figured I would have to take it in to have the code(s) read, and to find out what the problem is.

Then today, I was heading onto a freeway entrance ramp. Traffic was heavy and moving at a brisk clip. Put the pedal nearly to the floor, ran through the gears, up and up to 75 MPH and viola! "Check Engine" light turned off. I was shocked.

Never came back on, and when I went out to drive it later (cold start, about a 10 mile round trip) the light stayed off. I was giddy with delight...

Any ideas as to why this happened? Have any other Explorer or Mountaineer owners had this happen to their SUV's?

Did you maybe put some gas in it? A loose gas cap will trip the light.

Could have also been EGR or CO2 related. The code is still stored in the computer. Get them pulled. Most Autozones will pull them for free.

Well, when the CE light first came on I had about 1/8 of a tank (nearly empty) but the cap was tight. I have the "one click" snap cap, so I know it was on okay.

When it went off, I had about 3/4 tank of Chevron reg. unleaded (87 oct.) and have been using Chevron gasoline since.

I will keep that in mind about AutoZone, if they'll pull the codes. Thanks for the tip, marragtop. People I have mentioned this to said it is rare for a check engine light to reset unless it is manually reset. Not sure if this is true, but only what others are telling me.

I know shops make big $$ on cars now, for diagnosining the CE light. Sometimes miss the days when a good tune up will keep your car running good, without any unexpected worries.

Ed