CEL came on after engine started running rough (? misfire ). Then started blinking. Now alternates between blinking and steady.

Seems to me that blinking worse than steady CEL?

Had to drive it for a few days back and forth to work. Someone mentioned that it might be hard on the catalytic converters and may burn them out due to rich mixture passing by them. True or not???

It only runs rough and a bit of decreased power. Can I still drive it on a limited basis and be safe?

I've checked the threads and will be doing the usual cleaning of everything under the hood. Any suggestions as to where to start first?

Thanks in advance...until then...

 

A flashing CEL usually indicates a misfire. It should blink in a pattern. That pattern will tell you which cylinder is misfiring (I dont know what pattern equates to what cylinder though...) It can indicate other things as well.

You can take it to somewhere like AutoZone or any other major parts store, they will scan for codes for you, I would do this to be sure, but going by your description all signs point to a misfire. Just figure out what cylinder it is and take appropriate action (depending on how many miles you have on the truck a full on spark plug change may be in order).

 

A flashing CEL indicates you've got a Type A misfire, which may damage the catalysts over time. Scoot down to Autozone and get the codes pulled for free and we can go from there.

 

Thanks guys for your quick replys.

Quintin...Love the "Global Permit"...where can I get one?

You say the cats _may_ burn out _over time_. Is this definite, and approx how much time.

I can't have any more than 100 miles on it since it started.

Thanks again...

 

I say "may," because the operating strategy of the PCM will kill the injector of the misfiring cylinder in a V6, 8, or 10 to prevent overheating the catalysts. So while the flashing light indicates that there's a catalyst damaging misfire present, it'll probably be alright if the engine has more than 6 cylinders since the injector for that misfiring cylinder will get killed. This strategy isn't present on 4 cylinders.

I got the stickers from someone online, USA Stickers or something like that, I can't find them on a Google search now, but these guys got the same ones, for all 50 states plus the black/gold one I've got:

http://www.stickerdeal.com/index.html