Engine Misfiring?

VCULLARS

MEMBER
2002 FORD F-250
V8
2WD
AUTOMATIC
119 MILES

Is there any way to read real time diagnostic codes on a Ford F-250 without the check engine light being illuminated? I performed a tuneup on the truck 3 months ago because the engine would stumble during slow acceleration or while maintaing speed. The tuneup seemed to solve the problem but now the same problem has resurfaced. The check engine light is not lit and the code reader I have will only read codes when the check engine light is lit.

1 Reply

DANNY L

MECHANIC
5,648 POSTS

Hello, I'm Danny.

To answer your question, Yes, you can. On some of the more expensive scanners you can read live data with the engine running and driving. Most of the cheap $40.00 brand code readers won't do this so you will have to do some research and see which scanner can do this and fit your budget. If you want to stay away from expensive brands like Snap-On etc, You might want to look into the Innova brand scanner you can get at local auto parts stores like Pep Boys.

Here are a couple videos of tools that we reviewed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr_Iv8T_Phk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb7whGkD8vw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY-1CsAzrFA

Here are a few guides that will help with this issue as well.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/checking-a-service-engine-soon-or-check-engine-light-on-or-flashing

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-misfires-or-runs-rough

Hope this helps and thanks for using 2CarPros.