Check engine light flashes for a second

[fox-gt]

The last three days it has been about 15 degrees in the morning when I leave for work. I let the car warm up, then take off. About 3 miles from my house in almost the exact same spot, my check engine light comes on for about 2 seconds then goes off, doesn't come on any more for the rest of the day. Engine is mostly stock.

Any thoughts or anything I can check.

 

[OL' WHITEY]

Wow! I just posted the same question five minutes ago...basically. Except mine has gotten much worse lately. I pulled my codes and posted them for the code gurus to take a look at. Keep an eye on my thread and I'll keep an eye on yours. Maybe we'll get some answers.

 

[rsw007]

mine used to do that i took off the egr valve cleaned it good with carb cleaner. no more problems.

 

[jrichker]

Dump the codes and see what the computer says is wrong…

Here's the link to dump the computer codes with only a jumper wire or paper clip and the check engine light, or test light or voltmeter. I’ve used it for years, and it works great.

See http://www.troublecodes.net/Ford/
OR
See http://www.dalidesign.com/hbook/eectest.html for more descriptive help
OR
See http://www.mustangworks.com/articles/electronics/eec-iv_codes.html

IF your car is an 86-88 stang, you'll have to use the test lamp or voltmeter method. There is no functional check engine light on the 86-88's except possibly the Cali Mass Air cars.

Codes have different answers if the engine is running from the answers that it has when the engine isn't running. It helps a lot to know if you had the engine running when you ran the test.

Trouble codes are either 2 digit or 3 digit, there are no cars that use both 2 digit codes and 3 digit codes.

For those who are intimidated by all the wires & connections, see http://www.actron.com/product_detail.php?pid=16153 for what a typical hand scanner looks like. Normal retail price is about $30 or so at AutoZone or Walmart.

 

[fox-gt]

I was looking at this one, it looks pretty cool. Where / What does it hook into to test?

http://www.partsamerica.com/PartDetails.asp?MfrCode=EQU&MfrPartNumber=3145

 

[5.0 Nostalgia]

I have had a few of my cars do that in the cold. It's probably emissions related. Or a sensor going bad. Pull the codes. It will probably be something like EGR or thermactor pump.

 

[MustangMuscle86]

Have a scanner check your computer for codes.

 

[OL' WHITEY]

As I said earlier, mine did the same thing. I took you guy's advice and replaced the O2 sensors last night (they had 125,000 miles on them) and cleaned out the egr. No more blinky. Yeeeaaahhhhh! Thanks guys!