Check Engine light

Oil pressure is on only when the key is in the start position. Check engine should come on in run, stay on in start for a moment and then turn off.

Its close but a good tech might spot the patch and fail the vehicle. Right now there is a free retest for this one thing. It must have passed for years like this.

Im going to look into just wiring the lamp to where it should have been all along and see how that goes. Pin 17 of the ECC

I'll try that tomorrow. Did I mention this is not the original engine but I wouldn't expect this kind of difference from an engine swap.

On Mon, 19 May 2008 21:58:46 -0700, pipedown rearranged some electrons to say:

If someone tried to take a computer from a different year and plug it into your 1988 wiring harness, yes, that would explain a lot.

That won't work. The smog guy knows there is a lamp, and he will know that it does not work.

First of all, you are working on an '88 Ranger while using a schematic from a '93 Explorer. That's just dumb. You may as well fix a 747 wityh a Cesna manual, they're nearly the same because the both have wheels for landing, wings for flying, a vertical stabalizer, and two sets of controls in the cockpit. The main difference is the number of passengers they carry, but the wires should be the same.

Several people posted a link to the Ranger/Bronco II that covers the year you are working on. Try using the correct diagram and see what happens.

I'm going to advise the owner to find a new mechanic if he asks.

You are starting to confuse me with you silliness. You are saying in this post that the tech will notice that the light's Self Test Cycle will be different, but in a different post you say that the owner can get away with telling the same tech that there is no Check Light on his truck?

Are you trying to convince us that there are more incompetent people working on cars than you? I'm not buying it ...

Yes it would ...

For one thing, it would explain why there was not a wire on both halves of a connector ...

You get real frustrated reading between the lines don't you?

What I would really like is for someone who has that model or the EVTM from that exact year to factually confirm or deny some of the assumptions I have had to work with. But that guy is not online this week I guess :(

And the smog guy doesn't know what he doesn't know.

That lamp isn't supposed to come on KOEO. That's how Ford designed the early EEC-IV systems...

The OP should seek out the program referee if there is such a thing.

That prompts me to check the VIN. That should tell me what the original motor was. It has EFI now. The swap was done so long ago its impossible to determine how much of the wiring was altered.

There you go with that reading between the lines and getting angry stuff again. I prefer to make the lamp work correctly, I'm just musing about why I didn't like the wire it to the oil lamp solution, I'm not finished yet.

There are some unexplained anomalies that might not throw off a professional automotive technician but if you want to come over and fix this POS for free then be my guest. To be fair, even a pro should not see this situation very often if ever, even a pro would wonder how it passed smog check last time with no evidence that the wire has been there for many years. Either the last smog check tech was incompetent (the "test only" shops really are more thorough), or there is another wire splice outside the cable bundle that failed that I have not found it yet (doubt it). The driver is too stupid to remember if it ever lit up and too poor to care so I have to play detective.

I already posted my plan (connect pk/lg to t/r wire at test connector). Maybe tonight I can post the result. But first some voltage measurements, you don't think I would just guess without some testing to back it up.

No, the oil pressure light is on any time the key is on and the engine is not running, or the oil pressure is below minimum. If it is only on when cranking, you've got other problems.

If the engine was from an older vehicle with no CEL and the harness was from the replacement engine? Perhaps?

** Posted from **

Okay, I finally finished. Well, at least as far as I care to. I connected the wires as planned and now the check engine light works more or less correctly.

There was one thing. When started, the check engine light flashes for about

30 seconds (60 winks) and stops and stays off.

That seems like an error code but I don't know if it will cause the smog check to fail. The owner plans to have it retested tomorrow and if it fails, then get the referee at the DMV to rule.

Now that all the pieces have come together I should have mentioned that there were plenty of unused connectors coming from both the chassis and engine wire harnesses. That makes sense in light of the missing wire now.

Anybody know what 60 flashes means as an error code?

On Tue, 13 May 2008 13:00:20 -0700, pipedown rearranged some electrons to say:

This whole thread is now going into the 'ignore' bucket. The OP is being too silly. If he was really interested in fixing it, he/she would have. This silliness about pretending the light is not there, or wiring it to the oil presssure switch, and using a wiring diagram for a different vehicle is just too much.

Bye-Bye!

Sounds like you stopped reading several days ago. I rejected the oil pressure suggestion outright right away. I posted a conclusion where the light is now working (lit when it should light, there is now a new problem but thats another thread that won't go here). If anyone here thinks I was here for anything more than entertainment then you are the silly ones. I certainly would have got as far as I did without ever coming here. Maybe you should hit the "headers" button a few times and get the rest of the thread before you pop off prematurely

My purpose other than entratainment was to ask someone who I don't have access to at home (without paying much money) if some of my assumptions were correct. Some replies did help or reinforce what I already believed. Your link to Autozone was a bit helpful but since the only diagram showing a MIL lamp was the first and it was the least like the actual vehicle of all and all the other diagrams showed no such lamp, what would you conclude?

The owner can't afford more than 2 gallons of gas at a time let alone a mechanic and I am too smart to just shell out money for a vehicle that is not my own. I am willing to fix it, I don't get into the engine ever but as an EE the wiring is not a problem even in a case like this where I had to merge data from several sources to determine that it was appropriate to connect two different colored wires. How long would it take you to come to that conclusion. It would have been nice to have the exact year wire diagrams but I could not locate it and the autozone diagrams were uncaptioned as to the year and engine they represented. In my experience, certain Ford vehicles share attributes for many years in a row, the wire colors and harness between the ranger and explorer is one of those cases. If this were my vehicle, there would be none of these issues. My Explorer is as close to mint as a 15 Y.O. SUV can be.

I find it ridiculous that this poster and another got frustrated to the point of flaming off just because they were either reading more into the post then there was or because I didn't act as they thought I should. Many hours have past, other things have happened, I didn't write them all down here for your approval. If you think this process is silly then you miss the point of the entertainment value all this, you take this too seriously perhaps. If anyone thinks that any poster must get an answer here or they are SOL then that's unrealistic. If you are here for another reason what could that be, to get your ego stroked when someone raves about your eloquently worded and ultimately correct and insightfil advice???? Or is it to feel superior when you conclude that a poster is too silly to participate in your club??? And if you think I wasn't entertained writing this reply then you are still missing the point :)

And finally why would one "Bye Bye" a poster who sticks with the topic and posts the results when you have so many who post incomplete questions and never post back ever you could be doing that to.

Whatever,

It is not supposed to flash. It will cause a failure at the smog station.

The 60 flashes mean nothing.

An error flash will be a morse code sort of flash, kinda. The actual flash will be a series of a couple of flashes followed by a pause then more flashes, a pause, and more flashes. Then the sequence will repeat itself.

Depending on the system the engineers employed, there are dozens of variations on what codes can be displayed. My Bronco could display a code such as 562. It would flash 5 times, pause, then flash 6 times and pause, then flash 2 times, then repeat. If the door was open or the AC was ON or the radio was working, there could be flashes for these items too.

I'm frustrated that you use the equivelent of a 747 manual to fix your Cesna. You have been provided the exact schematic you need, but continue to use the one you have from a different year, make, and model truck than the truck you are working on.

Your Ranger might say Ford on the grille, but it's a Mazda. The Expedition manual has nothing in common once you get past the Ford emblem on the cover.

It doesn't look like a diagnostic code to me either, flashing exactly like that I have never actually heard of. I understood that diag codes are two digit, shorter and usually require you to do something beyond start the car to see it. I suspect it will fail as well but I only set out to get the lamp working, not fix any new problems it reviels (BTW, the smog levels measured were all fairly low, the truck passes otherwise). I can check the operation of most of the sensors but beyond that I'm not sure where else to go.

I disconnected the battery for a while so it shouldn't have any stored codes. The flashing might indicate a fundimental miswire.

I'm frustrated too by the fact that I couldn't find the EVTM for the 88 ranger on eBay, half, from ford, other bookstores or the library. If you mean that you want me to buy a subscription to one of the pay repair sites then you can send me the money. Beyond that, I have not "been provided the exact schematic you need". I already explained the problem with the Autozone sheets, they lack a caption to link them tio a year of engine. Telling me where I can buy something is not the same as "Providing"

Good thing I don't have an Expedition, the fuel cost would kill me. I drive an 08 Escape Hybrid now and don't expect it's wiring to match the older Fords. "Your Ranger might say Ford on the grille, but it's a Mazda" The Explorer is a Mazda too, uses the exact same manual transmission as similar year mazda trucks.

The Ranger and Explorer (and Aerostar) do in fact share the very same shop manual published by ford (at least in 92-94 maybe more I didn't bother to look). Depending on the year and engine the two vehicles share many of the same components. It was good enough, I got the lamp to light, the flashing is an entirely new problem AFAIK, hidden by the old. There was no Explorer in 88 but the wire colors and connector pinouts are exactly the same behind the dashboard. You may lack the flexibility to adapt, I don't.

Go here...

Ask them if they still have this item number...

(88_FPS1212788)

It should be what you seek...

88 Ranger & Bronco II Electrical and Vacuum troubleshooting manual

I'm just a satisfied customer...

SteveL