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Check Engine light on, no codes

Tiny
YAN SAILLARD
  • MEMBER
  • 2002 MERCURY COUGAR
  • V6
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 13 MILES
I bought this car form the original owner (sister in law) The car is stock down to the broken 6-disc stereo. They have had no issues with this car except the check engine light being on. Their mechanic said that it needed the EGR cleaned and the oil pan gasket needs to be replaced. On the way back home, it stopped running and after some trouble shooting, I discovered it was the fuel pump, so I replaced that. I disconnected the battery when I did that. My code reader pulls no codes, but that check engine light is still on. She that the car "surged" at idle, but I have not noticed that, nor any other issues.

Shouldn't there be a code or two if something is up with the EGR? I am prepared to clean the EGR ports behind the throttle body, but would like to have some input before doing something that may not be necessary, or throwing money at a check engine light with out having a good idea what it is on for.
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Thursday, June 2nd, 2016 AT 2:33 PM

10 Replies

Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Try erasing the check engine light if not have a professional put his scanner on it or an auto parts and see what if anything they come up with. Auto parts typically do not charge for that. If the egr is partially clogged you could clean that with some wire etc. And it would not always throw a code anyhow.
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Thursday, June 2nd, 2016 AT 4:05 PM
Tiny
YAN SAILLARD
  • MEMBER
  • 8 POSTS
The scanner at O'Rielly showed a P1000.
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Thursday, June 2nd, 2016 AT 5:00 PM
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
See picture for explanation, but because of this code a local professional may have to fix this with his professional grade scanner in mode 6 to correct it. You can try driving about five miles on eway at 55-65 mph then floor it a couple times then let it decerate on its own, turn around and come back to where you started may make it go out. If the car was just inspected it was set up wrong for inspection like federal vs California etc. May have caused this as well. Picture comes on next email.
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Friday, June 3rd, 2016 AT 5:19 AM
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Picture attached.
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Friday, June 3rd, 2016 AT 5:20 AM
Tiny
YAN SAILLARD
  • MEMBER
  • 8 POSTS
Thank you for the quick replies! I took it out on the highway for twenty minutes and the light did not clear. I attempted to clear the P1000 code using the parts store's Bosch scanner. The staff said he didn't know what mode 6 was.

We do not have inspections in my part of Wisconsin (not sure about the MSP/St. Paul area where it was from) so I do not know what or if anything was done regarding that.

Do you have a source from where that image came from?
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Saturday, June 4th, 2016 AT 11:05 AM
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Yes it came form our manual have a mechanic fix this with his scanner then, it is a dive cycle problem and some you cannot get rid of. The auto parts person would not know what mode 6 is because their scanner cannot do it, it is just another tool that mechanics use on their scanner.
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Saturday, June 4th, 2016 AT 11:51 AM
Tiny
YAN SAILLARD
  • MEMBER
  • 8 POSTS
I will do that then. Thanks for your help on this.
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Saturday, June 4th, 2016 AT 1:43 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 47,536 POSTS
Please let us know how it goes so it can help others.
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Saturday, June 4th, 2016 AT 2:50 PM
Tiny
YAN SAILLARD
  • MEMBER
  • 8 POSTS
Hi again. I got a more advanced scanner and poof that issue is gone but I have another.

Let me know if you want this in a new thread:

On Memorial day, I replaced the (return-less) fuel pump. I hacked it by going thru the floor pan, but saved untold frustration and time so am OK with the back-yard mechanic hit to my ego :). Since I got the pump on a holiday and dealerships weren't open, I had to re-use the old pump-to-tank seal. It was a bit stretched out and didn't sit in the groove that well, so I wasn't surprised to see gas on the ground when I filled it up later in the week after pulling a P0442 code. I ordered a new Motor-craft seal and put it in today.

I was dismayed to find that it still leaked. I removed the locking ring and made sure that the grove and seal were clean then re-installed it, only to have it leak again. Third time I re-cleaned and inspected to make sure there was no debris and that the pump cover laid flat before I secured the locking ring again. It continues to leak around the seal.

I've replaced several sending-unit/pumps before and haven't had this issue. I have always re-used the locking ring but am wondering if not getting a new locking ring for this vehicle might be the issue. Your thoughts?
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Thursday, June 16th, 2016 AT 4:50 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
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Yes please post this problem as a new thread
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Friday, June 17th, 2016 AT 8:26 AM

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