Service Engine Light

Mustang Val · **Service Engine Light**

Help...The 'Service Engine Soon' light came on this morning - car sounds/acts just fine. This happened about 6 months ago (of course, the car was still under warranty then - it is NOT under warranty now) and a sensor (fuel sensor? I forget, really)was bad and was replaced.
I'm figuring the same thing has happened since I understand there is an issue with these sensor things. I am wondering what to do with it since dealers look to screw people once the warranty is gone.

Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

Val

Laser02 · 12-22-2003, 09:45 AM

Drive to Autozone and tell them to read your code. That will tell you exactly what is going on rather than guessing. O2 sensors are the most frequent cause of the SES light, but not the only cause.

Mustang Val · 12-22-2003, 09:53 AM

Thank you Laser....is the dealer going to hose me for this repair or would Auto Zone do the trick without trying to steal every last quarter out of my pocket?

Laser02 · 12-22-2003, 01:18 PM

The dealer would probably charge you to diagnose the problem. Autozone will read you your code for free. After that, depending on what needs to be fixed, I'd take it somewhere other than a dealer.

Zim · 12-22-2003, 03:44 PM

yeah what laser said... theyll tell you possibilities of what it might be, then take it to a shop that specializes in your problem. Autozone wont do the work for you, theyll just tell you possiblities of what might be wrong. Also, what they tell isnt necessarily whats wrong

just dont take it to a dealer... youll feel like you were just manhandled by the hulk after a visit to ford lol

Mustang Val · 12-23-2003, 12:56 PM

I wonder if disconnecting the battery would make that freakin' annoying light go away

Is it even worth a try?

I wonder what cars did before all these "gizmos" were added to them to tell us they have a fart cross-ways.....they acted/ran just fine without all that BS, that's what. Just my .02 on that.......

Fishers Stang · 12-23-2003, 01:00 PM

hey u can dis the bat, but it will just rest till the next time it comes on, also u have to reset your cd player and such.?

Mustang Val · 12-23-2003, 01:11 PM

Resetting the CD/radio shouldn't be a problem - it gave me fits when I first got the car and I'm surprised I didn't run into something.

I saw somewhere that -sometimes- (probably not too frequently) if you disconnect the battery for 15 min the light goes away (for however long).

The car runs/acts just fine - which, makes the light and subsequent expense pretty f---ing annoying, especially right around the holidays and ESPECIALLY since I had this done not 6 months agon :oops:

Rick0636 · 12-23-2003, 01:31 PM

Yeah, you can reset it by disconnecting the battery, I would step on the brake pedal 3 or 4 times after disconnecting it, and leave it disconnected as long as you can without causing yourself a problem, I usually do mine overnight if I can, then drive for 20 miles or more non stop on restart to give it all time to reset itself. It is a good idea to take it to autozone for a code read though, its free, no cost at all. The repairs, if necessary, can be done after Christmas.

Dom · 12-23-2003, 03:34 PM

When mine first went off, it was just a fuel system purge. I deleted the code (I have one of those fancy Autozone things.

) and it never came back on.

Rick0636 · 12-23-2003, 05:32 PM

Fancy Autozone things??? A code reader maybe? What did this fancy thing cost?

Dom · 12-23-2003, 06:50 PM

I don't remember. Me and my dad saw it and bought it.

heramb22 · 12-27-2003, 07:52 AM

My light came on a while ago too. I took it to AutoZone and they told me it was
1. cylinder #1 misfiring

They recommended changing the plugs and wires so I did. I later took it to a shop who checked the actual spark going through the wires and they figured out it was a bad coil pack.