Hey Guys.

Need help ASAP !!!

1998 F150, 5.4 V8, 4x4,

Took it in for inspection yesterday.
Shop Mechanic plugs in the NY State OBII connection and it came back with
5 readiness monitors blinking (not ready), like the battery was disconnected and PCM was re-set. I have my own code scanner and in the past when I had to clear a CEL light, that would clear my PCM and those 5 readiness monitors would be blinking until I went through my drive cycles.
Problem is, my battery wasn't disconnected, I didn't reset my PCM with my scanner, and the only thing the mechanic did was plug in the NY State inspection cable. I have had no CEL, the truck is running great etc. etc.
I did put a new battery in, 10/8/2008 but never thought that I needed to check to see if my monitors cleared.
The mechanic has taken it for 2 drive cycles to see if he can get it down to 2monitors not ready (blinking) because in NYS, on a 1998 that will pass. He got it down to 3, went to drive it again, rechecked and 5 were blinking, (not ready) again. He knows me and my truck pretty well and knows that I keep the truck well maintained etc.
He has seen this happen once before on a Dodge truck and he can not remember what he did to correct the problem. This happened 3-4 yrs ago he said. He is stumped, I have never seen this before so I am on here hoping someone WILL HAVE AN ANSWER FOR ME.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. There is nothing in my repair manuals for this problem.

Thank's in advance,
TJKinCNY

 

Just a long shot but maybe the battery circuit has a high resistance that drops the voltage too far when starting, but it should be obvious when starting.
Recheck the cables and post connections.
Pcm relay, fuses etc for being questionable.
Reseat or push all fuses to be sure there is no seating issue.
Something is dropping the PCM power if there are no other codes or CEL.
The drive cycle takes a long time to get everything tested.

 

Your ECM needs time to run through all the applicable system tests in order for the readiness codes to go away. Here is an overview of the process...
Idle vehicle for half a minute. Drive at a moderate speed until the engine is at normal operating temperature. Cruise around 60 mph for 10 minutes with no stops or hard turns. Drive in stop and go traffic conditions. Use five different speeds over the course of about 10 minutes. From a stop, accelerate to 45 mph at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle. Repeat 3 times. Bring the vehicle to a stop. Idle with transmission in drive for 2 minutes. From a stop, accelerate to about 65 mph. Decelerate at closed throttle to 40 mph (no brakes) and resume acceleration to 65 several times.

This should replicate the variety of driving conditions needed for the ECM to "reorient" itself. But if your inspection sticker does not expire soon, normal driving should do the trick over a long enough period of time.

The NYS inspections are such a pain in the *** that I switched my registration to FL when I came down for college. (But I still have my NYS Class A CDL...which apparently could get me in trouble.)

I am pretty certain that the NYS government deliberately sets out to make life difficult. Case in point: The law that went into affect several months ago prohibiting license plate frames from covereing the "New York" or "Empire State" text. Gaaaaaaay.

 

Thanks Guy's,
I will go through and check things out, fuse, relay, etc.
I plan on taking the truck back from AJ (my friend / mechanic) today and run it through some drive cycles. What really concerns me is, he drive's through a couple of drive cycles and clears 2 monitors and then drives it again, rechecks to see if one more monitor clears to pass the inspection and then 5 monitors are not reset (blinking), once he turns the key on but not starting it.

Bumming me out big time, all help is greatly appreciated.

Thank You,
TJKinCNY

 

B^tch slap your fuse block under the dash - Is it loose ? I've read that it can become loose an d cause this kind of problem.

Check your wire harness over by your AC accumulator. Is any part of the harness contacting the top of it? That can create havoc as well - Magnetic field disturbance..

 

I've had to drive well over 700 miles for the P1000 code to clear. It is difficult to get all of the necessary drive cycles to be completed.

 

Huh, mine will all run within 3 cycles except the EVAP unless conditions are met.

Conditions - At least 1/2 tank of fuel and try to keep the slosh factor down. Some, I forget which ones with out looking it up , - have to pass or fail three consecutive times I believe .

The Ford OBD web page and Scorpio have the procedures/data..

I never seen a P1000 code on the Scanner tho.

 

You guys got to be kidding me

It be easier just to move to another state or area that doesn't have emission testing.

 

Yea ,like Michigan - There's NO work here , but at-least you don't have to pass Emissions

TJ - Ford Motor Company Driving Cycle

The following procedure is designed to execute and complete the OBDII monitors.

http://www.obdii.com/drivecycleford.html

 

I'm throwing no codes, just my readiness monitors are not resetting.

All else fails, I will go out to the truck and slap the crap out of the fuse boxe's

I did run over to AJ's today and we went through and tested all of the fuses and checked the relays to make sure everything was plugged in properly and nothing was blown. (Someone suggested that earlier).
AJ is worried that when my truck was torn down for the complete body job, that the body shop may have screwed something up putting it back together.

Thanks for your help again Brew. If you come up with anything else please let me know. AJ is good friends with the professor at our local college who is in charge of the " Ford Asset Program". In other words, you can get a degree in auto mechanics that is Ford authorized and certified. Nice having that in our neighborhood

TJKinCNY

 

Thanks Bluegrass for your input, greatly appreciated. You think of anything else, let me know. I will be checking this forum regularly.
TJKinCNY

 

TJ - Ford Motor Company Driving Cycle
Thank you for this info. I will run over to AJ's tomorrow to see what I can do. NICE INFO BREW !! Printing it off right now

The following procedure is designed to execute and complete the OBDII monitors.

http://www.obdii.com/drivecycleford.html[/QUOTE]

 

From the good book.....
The IAT PID must be between 10-38°C (50-100°F) during the OBD II drive cycle to enter into all the OBD II monitors. If you are sucking cold air you may never see the minimum.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

Your help is always greatly appreciated JMC

 

I havn't got a fix for the monitor's resetting yet. He thinks it might have been something in the fuse blocks and we checked everything and made sure everything was sitting in tight. He didn't want to do anything else until he test drove it to make sure that it was or wasn't the problem.
AJ figured he would put my upper / lower balljoints in on the passanger side while he waited for an answer from the Professor at the local college / Ford Tech Class. Balljoints would pass inspection but I didn't like the play so I grabbed the parts before I took it to him for the inspection.
He is also looking into why my 4x4 isn't totally engaging. He says that system usually needs to be cleaned up from time to time. He doesn't like the vacuum system Ford uses and has had to correct this issue a few times.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I am still waiting for answers on everything. I will definatley post what the fixes were.

If anyone has some answers, I greatly appreciate the help.

TJKinCNY

ps: Jbrew, AJ got a good laugh about you b**ch slapping the fuse box to correct your problem.