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Check Engine Light Service 2016 Ford F-250

What do you do when you’re driving along in your Ford F-250 and quickly, a yellow light illuminates on your dash and says "Check Engine". If you’re like most Ford owners, your heart sinks a little because you have little idea about what that light is trying to tell you or how you should react. The fear of the unknown (or the cost of the unknown) can be just as stressful. But take a deep breath and realize the light coming on doesn’t edge you have to pull the car over to the side of the road and call a tow truck, but it is recommended that you get your 2016 Ford F-250 checked as soon as viable. Ignoring that warning could end up causing dynamic damage to expensive engine components.

When your 2016 Ford F-250's ECM (electronic control module), which is the vehicle's onboard computer, finds a problem in the electronic control system that it can’t constitutional, a computer turns on your check engine light. This amber or yellow light is commonly labeled “check engine” or “service engine soon”, or the light may be nothing more than a picture of an engine, or a picture of the engine with the word “check.”

When the light turns on, the ECM stores an engine code or “trouble code” in its memory that identifies as the issue, whether it's a sensor or a failing engine part. This code is read with an electronic analyze tool that is used by our Ford auto repair mechanics at Bill Estes Ford Brownsburg. There are also a number of relatively inexpensive code readers that are designed for do-it-yourselfers, should you select that route too. While this code will tell you the issue that is detected, a true diagnosis still requires an experienced high-tech to represent the issue and repair it.

How many miles can you drive with the check engine light?

It could be anything from a bad sensor to plug wires needing to be changed. If you check engine light is flashing, we advise that you pull over and contact Bill Estes Ford Brownsburg to help mean if your vehicle is reliable to drive in or if we advise a tow truck. The safest bet is to decipher the code and then plan your strategy accordingly. Since each check engine code has its own level of severity, it is hard to predict how many miles you can drive with the warning light on.

Is it safe to drive your 2016 Ford F-250 with the check engine light on?

If the check engine light is flashing, this means that there is a persuasive issue and it is recommended to service your Ford F-250 promptly. This question is not tremendously simple because it each depends on the severity of the issue. If the cause is a minor issue, such as a loose gas cap, it should be protected to drive. This is generally indicated by a steady glow of the check engine light. If you notice a difference in the performance of the vehicle, it could be an indication of a more persuasive problem. Call the experts at Bill Estes Ford Brownsburg by dialing 3177903264 so you can describe the issues. Or reduce your speed and deliver your 2016 Ford to our certified mechanics as soon as suitable.

What Does the Check Engine Light Mean?

One of the most commonly misunderstood lights or indicators in your 2016 Ford F-250 is the check engine light. The check engine light is part of the onboard diagnostics system, and displays in a few different ways. It can say "Check Engine", it can be a symbol of an engine, it can even be a combination of both. This light illuminates in either an amber or red color and is part of the diagnostics system found on your vehicle. Onboard computers increasingly have controlled and monitored vehicle performance since the 80s and do a variety of things for your 2016 Ford F-250. Some of these include ignition timing, controlling engine speed, shifting automatic transmissions and implementing stability control, just to name assorted. With that being said, the check engine light can mean a vary of divergent things. It can be as authentic as your gas cap being loose or as critical as engine knocking. If your check engine light is on in your 2016 Ford F-250, contact Bill Estes Ford Brownsburg. Contact Bill Estes Ford Brownsburg today! Our Ford service department can aid you read what code is turning your check engine light on or diagnose why your check engine light is flashing.

What could cause the check engine light to come on in a 2016 Ford F-250?

When your check engine light comes on, this could be as pure as tightening or replacing your gas cap. Likewise, the check engine light could also be a warning of a treacherous problem that could cause treacherous damage to your engine and come with a considerable repair bill. Depending on your make and model, the check engine light will illuminate or blink. A steady glow mostly means something fewer treacherous but a flashing check engine light indicates that your vehicle’s engine is in treacherous trouble and service is basic immediately. If your check engine light is flashing in your 2016 Ford F-250, we especially endorse not to drive the vehicle and schedule Ford service straightaway. Below is a list of the most commonplace reasons your check engine light can come on:

  • New Spark Plugs or Plug Wires are needed for your 2016 Ford F-250. The spark plugs are the part of your engine that ignites the air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber of your vehicle. This explosion is what moves the pistons and makes the engine run. The spark plug wires bring the spark from the ignition coil to the spark plugs. If your spark plugs or spark plug wires are bad or classic, you will experience poor performance and reduced power. In some extreme cases, your engine will have trouble starting or continuing to run. Worn spark plugs and plug wires can cause clogged catalytic converter or damage to ignition coils and O2 sensors, extensive to more expensive repairs.
  • Your 2016 Ford F-250 has a vacuum leak. Every Ford F-250 has a vacuum system that performs a gigantic collection of functions. The vacuum system also helps reduce harmful emissions by routing the fumes as gasoline evaporates through the engine. If you notice that your RPM is high in idle or randomly surges, a vacuum leak could be the cause. Over time, vacuum hoses can bare out and crack, chiefly if they’re exposed to important heat or extreme bitter.
  • Your mass airflow sensor (known as MAF) needs to be replaced. The mass airflow sensor in your Ford F-250 is what determines how much fuel is needed to run your engine efficiently by measuring the sum of air entering the engine. As a part of the engine management system, the mass airflow sensor helps adjust to clear changes, like altitude. If your Ford F-250 is having trouble starting, idling rough or has a precipitous change in the position of the throttle pedal, this could be a sign of a bad mass airflow sensor.
  • Your catalytic converter is bad or going bad. The catalytic converter is a part of your 2016 Ford F-250’s exhaust system. The catalytic converter's function is to turn the carbon monoxide created by the combustion process into carbon dioxide. A damaged catalytic converter is frequently caused by neglected maintenance, which is why Bill Estes Ford Brownsburg offers a complimentary multi-point inspection with every Ford service. If you have an issue with your catalytic converter and don't get it repaired, your 2016 Ford F-250 will not pass an emissions test, show a lack of engine performance and will negatively affect your fuel economy. Your car may run at a higher temperature, too, which can cause diverse problems from overheating.
  • One of the most current and bountiful cause is that your 2016 Ford F-250 gas cap is loose, damaged or missing. The gas cap for your 2016 Ford F-250 serves multiple purposes. It prevents gas fumes from being released when you aren't driving, it seals the fuel system and helps maintain pressure within the fuel tank. What happens if you have a bad fuel cap? If your gas cap is classic or has a ruptured seal, you can lose fuel through evaporation which will result in more trips to the pump. Luckily, to replace a gas cap isn't expensive. If your check engine light turns on today after you put gas in your 2016 Ford F-250, first thing you should check is to make satisfied the cap isn’t loose — or that it's still on your car’s roof or at the fuel pump.
  • Your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor) needs to be replaced. The Oxygen sensor, known as the O2 sensor, measures the sum of oxygen in your exhaust system. If there is excess oxygen in your exhaust system, fuel burns faster and your vehicle will be less accessible when it comes to fuel economy. So what happens if I don’t replace your O2 sensor? A faulty sensor can not only affect your miles per gallon, but it can cause damage to your catalytic converter and your 2016 Ford F-250's spark plugs. The O2 sensor sends data to the vehicle’s onboard computer to learn the decent mixture of air and fuel that enters the cylinders in your engine. A bad O2 sensor can also cause a car to fail an emissions test.
  • The battery is meager or dead. The battery in your 2016 Ford F-250 is every imperative. Without a car battery, your car won’t start, light up the road ahead, play the radio or charge your phone. Today’s car batteries last much longer than they did excellent decades ago, and they don't really require maintenance. The price of a new one depends on the type of Ford you commute, but check our contemporary service coupons and specials.
  • Issues with any aftermarket items. An aftermarket alarm, exhaust or diverse item can wreak havoc on your 2016 Ford F-250 if it’s not installed properly. These aftermarket parts and accessories can drain the battery, trigger the check engine light, or even prevent the vehicle from starting. If these issues sound appreciative, bring your F-250 to Ford and have our squad of certified mechanics ensure that your aftermarket items were installed correctly and aren't causing any issue. Getting accessories, chiefly aftermarket parts and accessories, or using OEM parts first place might value a little bit more but could save you money from having to get poor work and damage caused by poor installation work corrected.

2016 Ford F-250 Check Engine Light

If the check engine light in your 2016 Ford F-250 starts flashing, that means that the problem needs immediate attention and your Ford should be brought in immediately. A flashing light indicates that the problem is dangerous and if not taken care of immediately may result in major damage to the vehicle. This blinking light usually indicates a rigid engine misfire allowing unburned fuel to be discharged into the exhaust system. There it can rapidly raise the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where wear and tear is likely, requiring an expensive repair. Some owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can precisely be the cause. A bad, old or dirty spark plug can cause the engine to misfire. If the problem is ignored or you continue to drive, this can spread to the spark plug wires, catalytic converter, or ignition coils which can lead to a very expensive repair. If your check engine light is flashing, please contact our team of automotive experts at Bill Estes Ford Brownsburg quickly by calling 3177903264.

2016 Ford F-250 Check Engine Light Flashing

Although there are several potential causes of an illuminated Check Engine Light, we know from years of providing Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that there are several intelligent causes including something as intelligent as a loose gas cap. Extra intelligent reasons for a Check Engine Light are damaged oxygen sensor, dirty mass airflow sensor, faulty head gasket, faulty emissions control part, a malfunction with the fuel injection system, or defective spark plugs to name a few. No matter what is the root cause of the Check Engine Light, we have the Ford Certified Technicians and the certified service protocol to isolate the root problem and repair it as needed to restore factory specifications. When this happens, the Check Engine Light turns off, and you can leave the service center knowing that your Ford issue was fixed.

Every 2016 Ford F-250 was designed with a high-technology performance monitoring system with a computer, and a series of sensors positioned strategically throughout the automobile on its critical systems. The sensors are continuously detecting conditions while sending data to the electronic control unit. If the electronic control unit detects that the data is out of factory specifications, the Check Engine Light illuminates telling you that there is a problem. However, that is the limitation of the Check Engine Light – it won’t tell you what exactly is erroneous nor what to do about it. That’s where we come in; Bill Estes Ford Brownsburg provides a Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that isolates the core problem and gives you a recommendation on what to do next from a Extraordinarily Qualified Service professional.

How much does it cost to get the engine light checked?

The middle cost for a check engine light diagnosis & testing is usually between $88 and $111. The essential news, Bill Estes Ford Brownsburg offers complimentary multi-point inspections and free diagnostics, in most cases, to help represent the cause of your check engine light. The check engine light warns of issues ranging from a gas cap that's not properly tightened to a more hazardous failure like a bad catalytic converter or a problem with one of the car's oxygen sensors, so it essential to get the suitable code reading and diagnosis.

Will the check engine light reset itself?

The check engine light on your 2016 Ford F-250 will usually shut itself off if the issue or code that caused it to turn on is fixed. For example, if the cause of your check engine light coming on was a loose gas cap, if it's tightened, the light will turn itself off. Likewise, if your catalytic converter is going practical, and you did a lot of stop-and-go driving, that may have turned on the check engine light due to the high usage of the converter. In most cases, your 2016 Ford F-250 light will go off after about 20-40 miles. If you drive over that deposit and the light is still on, you will need to bring it in to Bill Estes Ford Brownsburg so the light and code can be double-checked and reset.

2016 Ford F-250 Check Engine Light Codes

The check engine light turning on can be quite intimidating to see that tiny light on your vehicle’s dashboard promptly illuminates, but in reality, it is not something that should cause you to shut down in fear good away. If you hear the term, diagnostic trouble codes (DTC), these are just another name for check engine light codes. These are automotive computer codes stored by the ECM, also detectable as the OBD (on-board computer diagnostic system) in your F-250. There are hundreds of authentic codes that your check engine light can determine. While that sounds daunting, with a tiny patience, tackling main diagnostics will give you advantageous knowledge about your vehicle and will also allow that Check Engine Light to do what it is truly supposed to do: be your guide. Unfortunately, conclusive and available vehicle symptoms do not always accompany an illuminated Check Engine Light. Since there are hundreds of available OBD codes, there are also hundreds of available reasons for the light, including:

  • Emissions controls issues
  • Bad Spark Plugs
  • Old Battery
  • Ignition system faults
  • Computer output circuit issues
  • Loose Gas Cap or Missing Gas Cap
  • Transmission issues
  • Fuel and air metering systems problems
  • O2 Sensor

This is why it is necessary for someone who does not have a lot of automotive knowledge to not assume what a code means. If the engine light comes on due to a strict concern, you risk harmful your car further by not repairing the issue proper away. When your check engine light comes on, you should get it checked out quickly by a certified Ford mechanic. Call Bill Estes Ford Brownsburg at 3177903264 straightaway or schedule your check engine light service online today!