'94 Mustang check engine light
 

I have a '94 Mustang with the 3.8 engine that was rebuilt 25 000 miles ago.
Idles smooth, starts great and has no hesitation. Everything is as it should
be. A month ago I filled it at a gas station I usually don't go to and after
about 1/8 of a tank being burned the check engine light came on. I checked
all the hoses, wires, basically everything I could put my hands on and it
all seems ok. I disconnected the battery and reset the computer and it was
fine. A few days ago I again filled the tank at the same station because it
was the only one open locally and the next day the check engine light again
came on. I thought maybe it's some bad gas or something similar. Then the
next day when I started the car a huge cloud of white smoke came out the
back for about 5 seconds or so. I know white smoke usually means water and
coolant is being burned but the coolant level is up and hasn't dropped one
bit. I'm not losing oil, coolant or anything. I even took out the MAF sensor
and sprayed it a couple of time with an electrical contact cleaner I bought
specifically for electronics and contacts. It looked like new before and
after I sprayed it, not covered in any gunk at all. My guess is water in the
tank but I'm not too good at
troubleshooting this kind of stuff.

I'm taking it into a garage to get the diagnostics read but I was wondering
if anyone has any ideas what it could be.

Thanks for any and all input or ideas!

'94 Mustang check engine light
 

"exacto" > wrote in message
...
>I have a '94 Mustang with the 3.8 engine that was rebuilt 25 000 miles
>ago.
> Idles smooth, starts great and has no hesitation. Everything is as it
> should
> be. A month ago I filled it at a gas station I usually don't go to and
> after
> about 1/8 of a tank being burned the check engine light came on. I checked
> all the hoses, wires, basically everything I could put my hands on and it
> all seems ok. I disconnected the battery and reset the computer and it was
> fine. A few days ago I again filled the tank at the same station because
> it
> was the only one open locally and the next day the check engine light
> again
> came on. I thought maybe it's some bad gas or something similar. Then the
> next day when I started the car a huge cloud of white smoke came out the
> back for about 5 seconds or so. I know white smoke usually means water and
> coolant is being burned but the coolant level is up and hasn't dropped one
> bit. I'm not losing oil, coolant or anything. I even took out the MAF
> sensor
> and sprayed it a couple of time with an electrical contact cleaner I
> bought
> specifically for electronics and contacts. It looked like new before and
> after I sprayed it, not covered in any gunk at all. My guess is water in
> the
> tank but I'm not too good at
> troubleshooting this kind of stuff.
>
> I'm taking it into a garage to get the diagnostics read but I was
> wondering
> if anyone has any ideas what it could be.
>
> Thanks for any and all input or ideas!
>

How white? steam white or oil white?

Don't go to that gas station again!

There is a way to pump out gasoline into a jar and see if you have water in
the gas, but it is quite dangerous to do this, need long hose, probably two
people, etc.
If so, you can get rid of the bad gas in a few ways.

I got a load of water at a station when they were refilling from a big
tanker, Car would run extremely rough, must have mixed up the water at the
bottom of the gas station gas tank. I pumped out about quart from the fuel
line and it had a about 1/4 cup of water on the bottom of the glass jar, so
I pumped out about two gallons into another tank, and put in some ethanol a
pint to help dissolve the water some. Car ran great after I got rid of that
tank of gas. Bad Gas. The fuel pump is located at the bottom of the tank so
it can pump out the water as water sinks to the bottom quickly. Never went
back to that gas station.

'94 Mustang check engine light
 

I'm staying away from that station like the plague. It's a busy station so I
thought the gas would be no problem. If it was oil white or steam white, I'm
not sure. I thought there was slight smell of oil but I didn't expect that
to happen and it might have been exhaust I smelled. I've started it a few
times since and no smoke, everything is fine except for the check engine
light is still on.

I have another question...if the check engine light comes on and the problem
is fixed, will the light stay on until the computer is reset or will it go
off when the problem is resolved?

The idle, coolant levels and everything seem ok, so I'm starting to think it
was the gas station and their gas. Too much of a coincidence to suddenly
happen like it did.

Thanks!



"Dear Leader" > wrote in message
reenews.net...
>
> "exacto" > wrote in message
> ...
> >I have a '94 Mustang with the 3.8 engine that was rebuilt 25 000 miles
> >ago.
> > Idles smooth, starts great and has no hesitation. Everything is as it
> > should
> > be. A month ago I filled it at a gas station I usually don't go to and
> > after
> > about 1/8 of a tank being burned the check engine light came on. I
checked
> > all the hoses, wires, basically everything I could put my hands on and
it
> > all seems ok. I disconnected the battery and reset the computer and it
was
> > fine. A few days ago I again filled the tank at the same station because
> > it
> > was the only one open locally and the next day the check engine light
> > again
> > came on. I thought maybe it's some bad gas or something similar. Then
the
> > next day when I started the car a huge cloud of white smoke came out the
> > back for about 5 seconds or so. I know white smoke usually means water
and
> > coolant is being burned but the coolant level is up and hasn't dropped
one
> > bit. I'm not losing oil, coolant or anything. I even took out the MAF
> > sensor
> > and sprayed it a couple of time with an electrical contact cleaner I
> > bought
> > specifically for electronics and contacts. It looked like new before and
> > after I sprayed it, not covered in any gunk at all. My guess is water in
> > the
> > tank but I'm not too good at
> > troubleshooting this kind of stuff.
> >
> > I'm taking it into a garage to get the diagnostics read but I was
> > wondering
> > if anyone has any ideas what it could be.
> >
> > Thanks for any and all input or ideas!
> >
>
> How white? steam white or oil white?
>
> Don't go to that gas station again!
>
> There is a way to pump out gasoline into a jar and see if you have water
in
> the gas, but it is quite dangerous to do this, need long hose, probably
two
> people, etc.
> If so, you can get rid of the bad gas in a few ways.
>
> I got a load of water at a station when they were refilling from a big
> tanker, Car would run extremely rough, must have mixed up the water at the
> bottom of the gas station gas tank. I pumped out about quart from the fuel
> line and it had a about 1/4 cup of water on the bottom of the glass jar,
so
> I pumped out about two gallons into another tank, and put in some ethanol
a
> pint to help dissolve the water some. Car ran great after I got rid of
that
> tank of gas. Bad Gas. The fuel pump is located at the bottom of the tank
so
> it can pump out the water as water sinks to the bottom quickly. Never went
> back to that gas station.
>
>

'94 Mustang check engine light
 

On Aug 23, 5:26 pm, "exacto" > wrote:

> I have another question...if the check engine light comes on and the problem
> is fixed, will the light stay on until the computer is reset or will it go
> off when the problem is resolved?

The light should go off when the condition that caused it is resolved.
An error code is stored in the ECM until it is reset. The codes can be
retrieved, most service manuals will detail how.

rd

'94 Mustang check engine light
 

"RD Jones" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> On Aug 23, 5:26 pm, "exacto" > wrote:
>
>> I have another question...if the check engine light comes on and the
>> problem
>> is fixed, will the light stay on until the computer is reset or will it
>> go
>> off when the problem is resolved?
>
> The light should go off when the condition that caused it is resolved.
> An error code is stored in the ECM until it is reset. The codes can be
> retrieved, most service manuals will detail how.
>
> rd
>

you can read them out with a meter, or have a service station do it (they
like $75)

'94 Mustang check engine light
 

Thanks for all the info. I don't suppose that a meter to read them could be
bought at any auto supply store? I'd be tempted to buy one if it could be
used on other cars as I'll probably always be driving and fixing something.
Is it an expensive piece of gear that someone like a dealership or other
repair place would have?

Thanks again.



"Dear Leader" > wrote in message
reenews.net...
>
> "RD Jones" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > On Aug 23, 5:26 pm, "exacto" > wrote:
> >
> >> I have another question...if the check engine light comes on and the
> >> problem
> >> is fixed, will the light stay on until the computer is reset or will it
> >> go
> >> off when the problem is resolved?
> >
> > The light should go off when the condition that caused it is resolved.
> > An error code is stored in the ECM until it is reset. The codes can be
> > retrieved, most service manuals will detail how.
> >
> > rd
> >
>
> you can read them out with a meter, or have a service station do it (they
> like $75)
>
>