1996 Ford Mustang Car wont start, fan comes on when key on

Tiny
PSYCHOSTANG
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 FORD MUSTANG
  • V8
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 87,000 MILES
I recently came across a problem with a OBD 2 code P1401 and while testing the signal pin on the DPFE sensor connector from the engine harnes probabluy created a short somewhere in the car when I attempted to start again the car to do more vacum testing, it wouldnt start I can smell the fuel so I know its trying to start and that the fuel pump is working it will crank but wont start, what happens now is that the cooling fan automaticly starts with the key in the ignition ON, when Im guessing I created a short while they key was in the ON position the cooling electric fan came on automaticly so I know I did something by mistake touched another wire or something on the connector now how do I fix this problem so I can start the car now I checked fuses in the engine compartment and inside the car and they all have a pass while checking ohms did I possibly damaged my PCM, Also I replaced the dpfe sensor the egr valve the vacum lines and cleaned all the passeges in the intake manifold and changed the selonoid and the Evr sensor but when I turn my car on the second time to do the drive cycle my engine light ccomes on always at the same time with the P1401 CODE please if someone can help I would greatly appreciate it, I love this car and would not want to loose it, even if I have to replace my PCM im willing to do it as long as I can get some information about it and where to get it so PLEASE HELP ME.
Thursday, June 5th, 2008 AT 11:38 PM

14 Replies

Tiny
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Did you clear the codes before turning the key back on? If so and it continues to give the code with a new sensor and you have tested the wires, the PCM could be at fault especially from what you describe with the fan and no start condition. Might need to take it to a shop with a scan tool capable of watching the sensors to see what is and isnt working. It will probably have to be in a shop to reflash the PCM anyway since it is OBD-2
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Friday, June 6th, 2008 AT 7:51 AM
Tiny
PSYCHOSTANG
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The car started and I drove it before I tested the connector on the dpfe sensor I had the key on and the light was off at that time while I was testing, but when I pulled the pin off of the connector I must have created a short somewhere and now the car wont start it cranks up but wont start and when I turn my key to ON position the cooling fan turns on where should I go for the problem now is it a blown fuse, or could it be a bad relay and how can I check a relay if its bad, Im basicly gettiung 12V to the cooling fan on this car right now so I know there has to be something between so that it distributes voltage equally everywhere else, now can a ford dealer refresh my pcm or if I get a used pcm from another 1996 ford mustang cobra like mine can I just plug it in?
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Friday, June 6th, 2008 AT 10:37 AM
Tiny
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Needs to be flashed off the old PCM. The problem is that the PCM is telling the fan to come on. Does it have spark? Also check for injector pulse. Check all fuses in the underhood and interior fuse blocks with a test light
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Friday, June 6th, 2008 AT 11:39 AM
Tiny
PSYCHOSTANG
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I just noticed that when I disconnected the fan connector and I turn the key to the ON position the fuel pump doesnt upload, you know the noise that it always makes when you turn your key to ON position it makes the noise of starting or preloading before you actually crank up the engine with your key, but when I looked at the fuse under the hood which is a 20A it looks good and I was checking it with a ohm meter on 200ohms setting and it has passege as in it goes to zero when I touched the two metal prongs on the fuse itself, is there another fuse for a fuel pump under the hood of the car that is seperate from other fuse boxes and maybe its somewhere on the firewall or under car, also I have other cars at home here and when I looked at them under I see a mesh style ground wire going to the exhaust from chassie and engine block as well as transmition to chassie, my mustang doesnt have those underneeth is that a big deal, and can it cause different voltages to be send throughout the car if the engine block is not grounded with that wire to the chassie. By the way I really appreciate your help and troubleshooting suggestions, all I want for now is for this car to start like it did before I tested the sensor yesterday I was driving it and the only problem I was having was the check engine light and I obviously made a wrong choice by testing it again, hahaa.
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Friday, June 6th, 2008 AT 12:05 PM
Tiny
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Find the fuel pump relay. Should have two that are hot, one to the fuel pump, and one that should ground when key is turned on, that is the trigger from the PCM to turn on the pump. Need to test the fuses with your meter on 12 v or with a test light
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Friday, June 6th, 2008 AT 3:35 PM
Tiny
PSYCHOSTANG
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Ok I did one more thing just to see what would happen I disconnected the big harnes wire under the hood of the car by the windshield the harnes had like 30 different wires going from al the sensors like tps and all the others and the harness had a bolt on it so when I disconnected that harness im guessing its the one that connects the PCM and put my key to the ON position my fuel pump started but was going constant now when I plug that harness back in as soon as I turn my key onto the ON position I can hear a lil shock under the hood so does that mean my Pcm is bad or is it a short somewhere, see when I created that short by testing one of my connectors im guessing could that shock the wire so now everytime I turn my key to ON it creates a shock so the PCM just shuts everything off, I was checking the dpfe connector to thebig harness connection for resistance and I got 3.69ohms in that wire or between those connections but when I touched another wire pin on that big harness connector I also got a negative ohm measurement so is that a short? And how can I find out how much resistance im suppose to get in that wire to make sure its good? That is the wire I was testing yesterday and thats the one that I created short with more likely when I heared a lil shock sound and all the sudden my cooling electric fan came on and thats when I couldnt restart my car, hope to hear some more suggestions I getting closer just not there yet and I definetly dont want to cut any wires yet if I dont have to
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Friday, June 6th, 2008 AT 5:01 PM
Tiny
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You are doing more harm than good by unplugging and plugging in PCM harnesses with the battery hooked up. Go to this link and go to "engine performance and follow the trouble tree for "no start" Did you test at the fuel pump relay like I suggested?injector pulse? spark?

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/mitchell1eautorepair-car-repair-manuals
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Saturday, June 7th, 2008 AT 8:24 AM
Tiny
PSYCHOSTANG
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Ok yes I was doing all these tests but you know I got the car started and believe it or not I finally took my PCM out and it had a diablo sport performance chip on top of it but it was dock taped. Hahahha, I know its not suppose to be this way and there was also a ground wire on body itself next to the PCM so I took it off and cleaned it and when I pluged my PCM back into the harness and reconnected everything the car started but now its running rough when I floor it so im guessing a bad maf and ive noticed my injectors are 42lb and the maf is bigger aftermarket too so its not working properly and I was always careful by unplugging the battery when I was disconnecting the harness
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Saturday, June 7th, 2008 AT 8:45 AM
Tiny
PSYCHOSTANG
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I have 42# fuel injectors(green cap) and possibly a bigger size MAF Sensor without a supercharger, would that make more nox in the emission system and would bring the P1401 code on the car, some people told me that I just want to make sure because as soon as I took my DIABLO PREFORMANCE CHIP out of the PCM the car runs rough when I give it a full gas, is it because the diablo chip was telling computer that there were different injectors on car and different maf sensor and now that I took it off its working off of the default stock numbers and all, the code is still p1401 which is a high output voltage from the dpfe sensor can I just put a resistor in the signal wire and lower the voltage would that be one way I can fix that problm?
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Saturday, June 7th, 2008 AT 12:12 PM
Tiny
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If the injectors are the ones that are supposed to be in the s/c engine you are fine. Have you done anything to the exhaust system? The Have you tried replacing the DPFE sensor? Have replaced a ton of them, they fail quite often, not like it woulld be a rare thing, a resistor wont fix it
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+1
Monday, June 9th, 2008 AT 7:44 AM
Tiny
PSYCHOSTANG
  • MEMBER
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Yes I did replace my DPFE sensor and the enigne light still comes on with the same code P1401, well the injectors on a stock 1996 mustang cobra are 24lb injectors this one has 42lb injectors in my opinion this is a huge difference and much more fuel flow so my best guess on this is that the pcm still thinks I have 24lb injectors therefore there is an insificiant fuel/air ratio mixture right?The exhaust is modified I do have shorte headers and mac mufflers and an bassani x pipe in the middle with no cats but I do have eliminators on there, does my PCM is suppose to have any chips in it like where they had the performance chip is in am I suppose to have any factory chip in that place, right now I noticed if I put the performance chip in the PCM the car wont start so now I know for sure that the performance chip is bad.
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Monday, June 9th, 2008 AT 10:23 AM
Tiny
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With the cats gone the sensor wont see the backpressure differences like it normallly would, which is most likely addressed with the aftermarket chip.
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Monday, June 9th, 2008 AT 11:51 AM
Tiny
PSYCHOSTANG
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I just never tought about that before because all mustangs ive had I always put offroad x or h pipe on it and that light never came up for me, but ok since the code says there is too much voltage or high voltage in the preassure side to the dpfe sensor then that means there is too much flow of anything specific in the exhaust or is it too much fuel or air, and I can instal the cats back on it if I really have to but even though I have the mil eliminators that will still come on, is there a way to check back preasure in the exhaust and see if I have possibly too much, that would probably give me a good head start on what to do next and what to fix on the car next right, I mean if I get the back preasure from the exhaust and its way higher then it suppose to be then im just going to get some catalyc converters and weld them in my x pipe no biggie if its really what this code saying and if it would bring it back to normal, I really appreciate your replies and hope you can still help me out on this P1401(Ford codde) issue, again big thanks, Martin
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Monday, June 9th, 2008 AT 8:03 PM
Tiny
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Its more likely going to be too little backpressure. There are gauges that can be installed in the o2 sensor holes that measures backpressure, call a local muffler shop to se if they are capable of this.
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Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 AT 7:36 AM

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