This is for my girlfriend's STOCK mustang. I do the basic maintenance on it but other than that dont poke around on it too much. This is for an 01 mustang 3.8L. It has 96,000 miles on it. About 2 weeks ago I got the p1285 code and was getting bad mpg's. Went to advance and it said fuel air mettering. I assumed this was a vaccum leak. Search the internet and it said it could be a cylinder head over temp. I dont think this is it b/c all the guages are normal and it doesn't run hot. So i check for vaccum leaks and replaced air filter (needed it). Came up with nothing. It runs fine except for at idle where it is rough. The rpms range from 800-1000 while idling in neutral. It goes down a little when in gear. I'm not sure if its idling to high or too low. So i was stuck. Last night i changed the oil in it and ran some seafoam through it. Half in the gas and half into the vaccum system. Before i was done putting it in the vaccum hose it started smoking inside the engine on the passenger side, near the upstream O2 sensor. By the time i got my light out and started looking it was about done smoking so i didnt have much time to look. After the seafoam went through the system and was gone, the smoke stopped. This makes me believe there is a leak somewhere, but not sure where it could be coming from. One of the O2 sensors was replaced a few years ago by the stealership. Sorry about the long post, but i figured the more info the better. Thanks in advance for the help. Also, last night i noticed there was water constantly dripping out of the tailpipe.
p1285???
- Thread starter irwinmb5
- Start date
wmburns
SN Certified Technician
P1285 - Cylinder Head Over Temperature Sensed
The auto parts guy is wrong. The car is over heating. Look for problems related to the cooling system. Check the fans, coolant level, water pump, belts, hoses, stuck thermstat, blocked exhaust, air trapped in the coolant cross over, or anything else that can cause a car to over heat.
What is the dash temperature guage doing?
P1285 - Cylinder Head Over Temperature Sensed
Indicates an engine overheat condition was sensed by the cylinder head temperature sensor.
Low engine coolant level
Base engine concerns
Engine cooling system concerns
CHT sensor concern
On some applications when this fault occurs the Engine Temperature warning indicator will illuminate and/or force the temperature gauge to full H (Hot) zone by grounding the engine temperature warning circuit.
The auto parts guy is wrong. The car is over heating. Look for problems related to the cooling system. Check the fans, coolant level, water pump, belts, hoses, stuck thermstat, blocked exhaust, air trapped in the coolant cross over, or anything else that can cause a car to over heat.
What is the dash temperature guage doing?
P1285 - Cylinder Head Over Temperature Sensed
Indicates an engine overheat condition was sensed by the cylinder head temperature sensor.
Low engine coolant level
Base engine concerns
Engine cooling system concerns
CHT sensor concern
On some applications when this fault occurs the Engine Temperature warning indicator will illuminate and/or force the temperature gauge to full H (Hot) zone by grounding the engine temperature warning circuit.
temp guage on dash reads normal- right in the middle of H and L. The coolant is full, the fan doesnt constantly run. The light came on about 2 weeks ago, i cleared the code and it hasnt come back since?? could it be the a leak in the vaccum system or pre-cat exhaust? since the seafoam had smoke coming into the engine compartment i know there is a leak somewhere. Any input would be helpful. Thanks
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