check engine light?

[bigwillie77]

Hi guys hoping you could help me with a problem I noticed will driving my '95 Explorer, I just got it like less than 3 days ago, and today I took a 200 mile highway trip halfway through the check engine light came on. I looked in the manual and it said that it was related to emmisions. I also went to autozone when I got home to have them scan the codes. The guy hooked it up but was unable to read them, my 95 has a plug in for OBDII, so why doesn't it work? What could be causeing this problem? I'm thinking it's probabley something simple like a fuel filter or PCV valve, I think this is the first time it had been driven in a while, let alone on the highway, so maybe the fuel filter is clogged. Any suggestions?

 

[Doubt Incarnate]

'95 was a transition year, sometimes refered to as obd1.5, that might be why its not working, and autozone sucks, that might be a lot of it. i tried to read codes on a friends 95 car once and it didnt give me anything. drop by a respectable shop that has good scanners and have them check.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

so you CEL came on and your manual said it was emissions related? How did that answer come about?

Anyhow, a clogged fuel filter or pcv vavle will not set a code. More than likely your '95 is OBD-I which isn't a great system, but a shop with the right tools can lookup the code for you once they retrieve it. Good luck

-Drew

 

[ExplorerDMB]

I found this as well:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147734

 

[Larry2010]

so you CEL came on and your manual said it was emissions related? How did that answer come about?

Anyhow, a clogged fuel filter or pcv vavle will not set a code. More than likely your '95 is OBD-I which isn't a great system, but a shop with the right tools can lookup the code for you once they retrieve it. Good luck

-Drew

Hmmm my clogged fuel filter threw up 171 & 174 codes (system lean). I was at a loss where to start, luckily the little old guy at the shop I stopped at said to swap the fuel filter first and that took care of it.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

a P0171 and P0174 codes are for lean conditions. What I was saying that there is no specific code (i.e. P0XXX) that states "clogged fuel filter". That's all I mean. Yes a lean condition could easily be fuel filter related, pump related, injector related, vaccum leak related, so on and so on. Hopefully that clears things up

-Drew

 

[Larry2010]

Right! no specific codes just vague hints at best

 

[bigwillie77]

Hey guys, I just replaced the fuel filter to see if that would help (I was planning on changing it anyway). The Check Engine light didn't come on today so maybe it was just a fluke or an oxygen sensor, I went to the non-Jiffy Lube, Quick Change oil place near my house and they couldn't scan the codes either. Also the engine temp gauge seems to fluctuate between Cold, and the bottom of the normal temp area, what could this be? On the highway trip yesterday it never went over the bottom range of normal, is that bad? I checked the coolant and it is were it should be. Could it just be a faulty gauge? Should I just take it to the Ford dealer and have them look at it? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

Right! no specific codes just vague hints at best

I know, that's the whole point of codes.