....I was hunting last week, and when I returned to the truck to drive back to camp one afternoon, the CEL came on - the truck was running fine, I shut it down and checked all fluids, nothing amiss; I got back to camp without a hitch, but the light was still on. I started it the next morning, and the light was NOT on; After driving about 2 miles, the light came on again, and I then noticed that the tach was not working; When I let off the fuel, it idled quite rough, but seemed fine when I stepped on the throttle. The tach began to work again, but the light stayed on, and the truck wouldn't idle for squat.
The next morning, the light was off, and has stayed off since - and the truck idled and ran fine. I drove it around for the next 4 days with no issues, and drove back to town - still running fine, no CEL.

My questions are: Do these symptoms mean a Big Bad Repair is heading my way? Will the codes stay in the computer so I can find somebody to read them? I heard that AutoZone won't read the codes unless the CEL is on....

Thx for any advice / opinions -

Rauschbo

 

Hazarding a guess, I'd say a faltering crank/cam position sensor, relatively cheap possible cause, lack of tachometer points in that direction.

Just tell Autozone you're getting an intermittent CEL and they should scan it for you, the codes should still be there, they stick around for 40+ engine starts with the problem not happening.


phox

 

Could the intermittent nature indicate a loose connection? I was doing a bit of bouncing around before it happened..... and found one big, nasty hole that wasn't evident behind a stump, got one of those teeth-jarring thunks that are always SUCH a pleasure -


Re: Autozone - thx, I'll give them a shout before I drive it in.

Rauschbo