Check Engine Light Blinking while in gear??

[86VickyLX]

Not in one of his posts does he say it was knocking. Do you hear any knocking? Even if it is, so what? My engine has a knock and it has freaking great oil pressure.

[gadget73]

Not in one of his posts does he say it was knocking. Do you hear any knocking? Even if it is, so what? My engine has a knock and it has freaking great oil pressure.

probably worn out mains, but not worn out to the point where it has no oil pressure yet.

[gadget73]

Michael is a dealer :smirk:

I do agree on the cheap oil. back when the POS would require 3 quarts every fill up, I had a cheap case of Mobil in the trunk I got cheap at Sam's Club.

My Beetle used to blow a quart every 200 miles or so, mostly from the pushrod tubes. I bought cases of Walmart oil and kept in the trunk. It was the cheapest oil I could find, and when you're in HS and make $5.50 an hour, thats important.

[mrltd]

my 87 that still holds a bunch 1/4 mile records had 0 pressure at warm idle....Was nice and quiet too. And it was an autometer mechanical guage. They'll last a good bit of time if you keep oil in it.

[86VickyLX]

And it was an autometer mechanical guage.

that's what I gots. It reads about 50 psi at hot idle

[V8sofa]

It is making an odd noise that I've been told was a knock by one person but another says it's it's not rhythmic enough to be a knock,

it's more of a rattle that stays at about the same speed no matter what the RPMs, it gets louder but not faster and seems to go away at speed.

[gopiqpp]

How many engine warning lights?

I had a similar issue with my 88 wagon. I adjusted the idle speed and changed the oil to a thicker grade and no more light. I thought I might be masking the problem, but it spells it out right in the owners manual... "it is normal for the engine light to flicker in idle"

So maybe it's not the death light just yet?

I have an 88 CP and I have this flickering CEL for 6 months now. My owner guide says something which puzzles me :-
On page 19 under the heading of 'Instrumentation' it classifes engine warning lights into two sections:

One is 'Engine Warning Light' where it says that if it glows steadily it means that there is low oil pressure or high temperature.
In the next paragraph it defines a 'Check Engine Light' which is supposed to be there if your car is bought in California, and it is this light which indicates problems with the 'Electronic Engine Control System".
But in every post dealing with CEL in this forum and other Q & A sites like "2carpros" I have understood that a flickering CEL indicates low oil pressure due to oil pump failure or shot bearings
I am attaching a picture of the page ,clarification would be appreciated,
regards
Gopi

[VintageBlueOval]

I was also a bit confused about the "engine warning light" vs. "check engine light" thing. So here's the story.

If you've got an 88, non California car, your cluster should look like the picture below. The light with picture of an engine is the "engine warning light" and only gets info on engine temperature and oil pressure. If you're running hot or low on pressure, it'll come on.

If you've got a "check engine" light, it will actually say CHECK ENGINE in the box. That light gets signal from emissions sensors.

According to the manual, the flickering "engine warning light" in idle is normal. I'm personally not sweating it, my car is running great. Hope this helps.

[gopiqpp]

Thanks.I have the same cluster in my car, just one CEL, so that means maybe oil pressure is low, or maybe nothing much to worry about.Anyway the car is running great, and I have started adding a thicker oil to the regular 20-50 that I use, and am careful to keep the oil topped up, Guess she's good for a couple of years, you think ?
This seems to be a common complaint in 302 V-8 EFI in Ford upto '88.
Check out this link:

http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl450a.htm

[mrltd]

dont use anything thicker than 20-50...No real way to tell how long it'll last...

[V8sofa]

Even more wierdness from this car,

on occasion the car will just lose power to everything, except the hazards (Thank god!)

so when this happens all i have to do to fix it pop the hood and remove the little red booted wire from the starter relay and then plug it back in, after that all is well...Until it happens again.

anyone have a solution to that one?

[85crownHPP]

the red booted wire on the solenoid is just the starter "start" wire... methinks you are jostling a fuse link thats gone bad in the same area... follow all the ringed terminal wires off the fat stud on the solenoid as far back as you can 6-10" and tug on them a little bit... if one is burned/weak it will pull out with some pressure. Then fix it!

[V8sofa]

Now that you mention it, there is a fuse link on the same wire that looks kinda melted and the wire seems to have pulled away from it a little bit

[gadget73]

Red light = low oil pressure or overheated
yellow light = computer problem


Thats the easy way to distinguish them. Most cars before 1989 didn't even have the yellow check engine light.