[arbs]

Wifey took out the maverick today (2002 3.0 auto) and said that the gear selector 'jumped' into neutral -flat road, steady 30mph (so she says!), but as soon as it had happened she noticed the CEL was on. Popped it back into drive and drove it home no problem, however the light remains

Any ideas? normally I wouldnt be too worried - an electrical sensor etc is the usual thing, but the fact that it went out of gear is concerning! it may be that the selector wasn't quite in place and the CEL is a coincidence but I'm not a great believer in them!

any ideas?

 

[prowler]

Wifey took out the maverick today (2002 3.0 auto) and said that the gear selector 'jumped' into neutral -flat road, steady 30mph (so she says!), but as soon as it had happened she noticed the CEL was on. Popped it back into drive and drove it home no problem, however the light remains

Any ideas? normally I wouldnt be too worried - an electrical sensor etc is the usual thing, but the fact that it went out of gear is concerning! it may be that the selector wasn't quite in place and the CEL is a coincidence but I'm not a great believer in them!

any ideas?

ASSUMING wifey is accurately reporting (I wouldn't trust Mrs. Prowlie in technical situations), my guess is that the shifter wasn't in proper position, jumped, and the change in mode kicked off an improper sensor reading - maybe over-revving when it thought it was in gear, speedometer vs. engine RPM discrepancy, etc.

Easy options: If you have a local auto supply store that provides free readings, take advantage of it, record the error code and have them reset it.

If not, you can try disconnecting the battery for the reset-time period (an hour should be safe, not sure of the specifics on the Escape) and, if it goes away and doesn't come back, don't worry about it.

 

[arbs]

i like your thinking, and hopefully you're correct! unfortunately this being the uk, not a lot is free lol, so may have to buy a code reader or shell out about £40 to ford

anyone else?

 

[Squishy]

I normally just reset the code if it doesn't come with any symptoms. If it comes on again, I'll worry about it - but normally they go away never to return.

 

[arbs]

will an hour or so with the battery off reset the thing then? must admit i've not tried, it only comes out of the garage at the weekend lol

 

[Squishy]

It usually only takes five minutes.

Actually, most of the time it just takes the few seconds of disassembling the negative lead, but sometimes the computer will be stubborn and store the code for a bit longer.