Car Won't Start...Lesson Learned
 

Recently I have read several posts regarding cars that won't start. Some have felt it was the cold, others have attributed it to thier tune. Well, I was in the same boat last year...Car wouldn't start when cold, sounded like it was starved of fuel, but would only experince this when engine was cold (during winter months). Very inconsistent, could not find correlation. Took it to Dealership, they reflashed my 06 (5spd, GT, Breenspeed 91') and said fuel pressure was low...dealer replaced pump and fuel filter. Several weeks later same thing happend...car wouldn't start. Went back to dealer and they said my PCM was damaged (because it was throwing bad DTCs....however I checked my turner beforehand and could find any DTCs). Anyway they replaced the cpu. Car has been fine ever since...not sure if this is the root cause, as I have had one instance where car didn't want to start and waited 15 minutes and it started. Nonetheless, thought I would share.

PS - How can dealer see DTCs when my handheld tuner SCT 2 doesn't display them....are they potentially lying or does the cars cpu store error codes that won't show on the SCT?

There are what are called KOER (Key on Engine Running) tests that can be run with ford Diagnostic tools. The equipment is used to stream live data and do additional checks on the PCM that a handheld cannot read/interpret. Tests can take between 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on the problem.

OBDII while convenient has made it harder for the average person to diagnose their car because you really don't have all the information in front of you and most people are not well versed in live data interpretation or data logs of the live stream.

When my batter was weak, (not dead) I took it to the dealer, they ran some tests on it and replaced teh battery under warranty because it threw a special code. They gave me a letter that had the code on it and the name of the equipment they used but I don't remember it off the top of my head.

Thanks for the head up. Dealer said one of the codes implied I had an auto (I have 5 spd)