that is really bad

 

if you crank to start the engine and the light flashes while cranking it means your crank position sensor is shot. So this may be something along those lines.

 

does it have a lloss of power?

 

you might be burning oil. check your oil levels. maybe the flashing is a precursor to engine failure due to a low amount of engine oil. I wouldn't drive the vehicle until you figure it out just to be on the safe side.

 

A flashing MIL while driving is a severe misfire.

 

x's 2. the mil flashing basically means your engine is misfiring and there is raw fuel pouring onto your cat. which is why you had the hot smell. the mil flashes cause it wants you to shut off the car, or you may catch the cat on fire resulting in the car on fire if ignored. fix the misfire and pray you didn't fry the cat already.

 

What they said


Low on water , maybe stopped up cat

"if you crank to start the engine and the light flashes while cranking it means your crank position sensor is shot"

Thats a new one to me , anyone back that up ?




Tom

 

I've been working tech line for Ford for 8 years now. It's the first thing we ask when there's a crank no start.

 

Time for plugs, wires, and a coil and hope to god u didn't really eff anything up.

 

so I just got home and rooster you nailed it on the head the shop said it was a misfire and needs a coil and that was probably the reaSon for the under 3000rpm shutter it should be fixed tomorrow anybody replace one before wonder how much its going to cost me

 

also after I pulled back in front of my house and it sat till I took it to the shop (about an hour ) it drove fine all the way there no engine light or studder ? looked at auto zones web site and a msd was cheaper then the oem replacement any thoughts?

 

so i think i figured it out the shop didn't know what was going on with it so they looked it up on all data and found the fdm (fuel delivery module) bulletin took it to dealer and they are replacing it on tuesday hope it fixes the problem

 

looks like you got it handled but the flashing check engine light means the car has entered into "limp home mode". basically it means drive the car to the closest place to stop.

when I had it happen it was because I blew up 2 pistons....so I know its not a good thing.

 

well beings that the cel was flashing immediately means you have fuel. are you having the dealer diagnose this as well cause that dosen't sound right.

 

> the flashing check engine light means the car has entered into "limp home mode"


Nope.


The flashing engine light means you have a serious misfire.

 

the flashing cel light is a misfire. I will find out on tuesday if the fdm (Fuel delivery module) is the problem

 

I'm not saying that the flashing cel doesn't indicate a misfire but when the cel flashes, according to the manual, it has gone into "limp home mode"

indy, hope everything works out

 

ill agree, but lets say for instance the cyl. wasn't getting fuel. causing a mis, the cel would not flash. the flashing means to turn the car off to avoid cat damage caused buy raw fuel entering the cat. if it was to run for very long while flashing or if you are putting the car under a load, the cat will catch fire, resulting in the car catching fire if not extinguished.

think about pouring gas on a hot charcoal grill. in a nutshell, thats whats happening when its flashing.

 

agreed. so the conclusion here is: flashing cel=bad thing

 

Absolutely correct. When mine did that I found out part of my spark plug had melted off and destroyed one of my exhaust valves in number one.

 

> but lets say for instance the cyl. wasn't getting fuel. causing a mis, the cel would not flash.

Sorry, that's wrong. The computer is not that smart and does not distinguish between a misfire due to lack of fuel and a misfire due to lack of spark -- it simply senses misfires via the crankshaft position sensor and micro changes in crankshaft speed. If it senses a severe misfire, it flashes. It's that simple.

 

yes it can tell. thats where your o2's come in. once it has seen a consistant mis, it looks at those o2's and can see that there is way to much fuel there.

now i will correct myself on one part. it is possible to have a staedy mis, with the cel flashing and it be fuel related. a leaking inj would do that. but the fdm, eh, i think if the fdm was going out, the car would just run like poo all around. missing from every cylinder. and probably would be very hard to get to go anywhere if it were to go at all.

Misfire type A:

Upon detection of a Misfire type A (200 revolutions) which would cause catalyst damage, the MIL will blink once per second during the actual misfire, and a DTC will be stored.

Misfire type B:

Upon detection of a Misfire type B (1000 revolutions) which will exceed the emissions threshold or cause a vehicle to fail an inspection and maintenance tailpipe emissions test, the MIL will illuminate and a DTC will be stored.

thats from ford......so the only thing that will damage the cat for this to happen is.....FUEL

 

Valve stem seal is going to "blow". You'll need to rebuild the engine or replace it with a rebuilt one. Had to rebuild mine. This is a common problem in ford focus.

 

I had this occur for me a week ago. Turned out that my valve cover gasket had gone bad and was leaking oil down into the spark plugs causing the misfire and the flashing CEL. Either way if you see a flashing CEL, DON'T DRIVE THE CAR!