96 explorer check engine light problem

[brutusford]

I have a 96 v8 AWD explorer and on my way home from work today my check engine light came on. i noticed the temp. gauge kept slowly going from normal temp to coo and going back and forth like that. heat still worked and it never over heated. still has full power and feels fine. anyone have any ideas what may be causing this?

 

[spitfisher]

Wrong forum perhaps

 

[Turdle]

Thread moved to the correct sub forum.

Best place to start with this issue is to have the codes scanned --
write them down and report back.

 

[brutusford]

so on my way to get the codes scanned the light goes off of course... i drove around a bit and it never came back on. The temp gauge still keeps moving around from the middle to cool but never overheats. I was thinking maybe it is the thermostat. think i should just try and replace that or wait and see if the light comes back on? Thanks for the help.

 

[bobflood]

so on my way to get the codes scanned the light goes off of course... i drove around a bit and it never came back on. The temp gauge still keeps moving around from the middle to cool but never overheats. I was thinking maybe it is the thermostat. think i should just try and replace that or wait and see if the light comes back on? Thanks for the help.

You could stop by one of the auto parts places that reads codes and see if you have any "pending" codes. Otherwise, I would not do any repair unless/until it happens again.