I do my "cylinder balance test" while I am cranking the engine with the starter, and the coil wire off.. You'll hear a distinct "skip" while an engine is cranking if it has a cylinder with low compression. If the engine sounds good while cranking, but then has a noticeable miss while it's running, then it's something simple such as a bad plug/wire, bad fuel injector, or something else easy to repair.
Nice! I have the same scan tool! Found a bad coolant temperature sensor on my 92! Gotta love old school scan tools...worked like a charm! Great video Matt!!!
I'm surprised how many guys I see trying to diagnose problems with their Fox that don't even go as far as pulling codes, but I would be willing to bet that MOST of the guys who do pull the codes don't know that you can activate the cylinder balance test that is built in to the EEC-IV and find a dead or low contributing cylinder. It's such a powerful test when it comes to determining overall engine health or narrowing problems down to a particular cylinder!
@@tecmotiondyno Trouble is the engine running test will not happen until the Engine Off codes are repaired. So if you've pulled your smog pump, smog canisters, EGR,.... you're dead in the water.
FYI TRIVIA: In the early 90s Ford Motorsport had a bodiless 32 Ford with an HO fuelie that they took to major street rod shows to promote the 5.0. They showed what could be deleted etc. I built my first one in 94. Still have it.
one of the best investments i ever made was to buy a used snap-on mt2500 back when ebay was flooded with them, i got the scanner and the ford, gm and other obd1 cartridges for $100, best 100 i ever spent.....
This test is not hidden at all if you have an older OBD-1 mechanic-grade scanner. It just pops up as one of the options in my old OTC. Been doing it for MANY years ;)
Of course, and it isn’t supposed to be a secret, but I would wager that your average enthusiast watching this didn’t know about it, and that even when these cars were contemporary it wasn’t well known amongst owners.
Excellent videos !! Your how to vids are so helpful! I have recently followed along to your how to vids on the Power bond sfi balancer and radiator replacement on my 88 5.0 lx convertible. I just picked up the obd1 scanner from a local parts store and performed the key off test. Extremely simple and i only got one code which was a code 67 neutral switch which makes sense because i just completed a AOD to T5 swap on my car and the neutral safety switch is unhooked on the t5. I do want to try a engine running test and the cylinder test. I want to tackle the rear end gear install and get rid of my 273 gears for the 355 gears but i think after watching your video it might be out of my skill set. Could you do a video in the future on how to remove the foxbody 8.8 rear end out the car. I would like to remove my rear end and take to a shop to have the gears and rear end re built!! thanks alot!!!!!!!! best foxbody how to on youtube.
Thanks for your supportive comments. If I get a rear end removal job I will film it, but if your objective is just to do the gear change and you are hiring someone to do it, it will be simpler and less costly to do it in the car. If you are changing everything - control arms, shocks, weld on housing ends etc, and you more or less have to remove the housing anyway, it makes sense to do the gear swap with the housing out of the car and on jackstands, otherwise I think you are just making extra work. I usually book three days with the car for a gear swap because of interruptions and contingency, and the only step I usually do on the third day is to put the fluid in it because I prefer to let the rtv cure overnight. In bigger shops where the mechanic can just work on the car and doesn’t have to answer the phone and deal with walk in’s and all of the other little daily distractions, an 8 hour day is usually enough for the job, so you don’t generally have to give your car up for an extended period of time to get the gears changed.
@@tecmotiondyno thank you so much!! 🙏biggest reason why I wanted to pull the rear out and take it to a shop was because I hate leaving my car at places unattended. Figured it be easier to take rear out car take the new parts and whole axle to a shop and say call me when it's done. I see what you are saying though! Thanks
I have this exact tester. The book says, "The KOER test will not run until code 11 or 111 is obtained for KOEO". It sure will not 👍 So if youve pulled your EGR, smog pump, gas canisters, etc. You are dead in the water. '90 Mustang GT.T5
I'm not sure that is actually true. I'm pretty sure that I have run KOER tests on a car with codes in the KOEO test. I might set one up and try it to double check though. Of course, if you chip tune the car you can delete all that stuff and mark it "not present" in the software so you will not get a code for it, which would help if it turns out to be the case that you can't run KOER without a clean pass on the KOEO.
@@tecmotiondyno Just ran it an hour ago. Codes 64 ACT 82 Smog pump 85 purge canistr 87 fuel pump cycle This one is stock '90 wiring and A9L and all, no cats but yes O2, in a street rod. Ran perfect 18,000 miles til last Tuesday. Thanks. Look at book section 2-5.3 #6 on page 2-11 top.
@@hotrodray6802 the main thing there that could really affect things is the ACT. If it thinks it’s -40*F, it will definitely affect the way it runs. You’ve definitely given me something to double check though.
@hotrodray6802 There are some tests that can be done to check whether the problem is the sensor or the harness or PCM. I'm sure you can look them up on the internet. I would do the tests first before just replacing the part, but it looks like there is a problem with that system for sure.
I Sir, I love the content here.. 90 Fox. I get a a thermactor code for KOEO. no worries, but for the KOER it's dead. No 4 flashs , just dead. Any idea of the issue? Car runs grate, but rich on idle. Thank you
I have seen them unable to test where the sig return line is blown on the PCM, but that should prevent the KOEO test as well. With the older style tester, you do need to start the car, then switch the tester from HOLD to TEST in order to initiate the KOER test, just in case you accidentally missed that step. Sometimes these weird problems are very hard to diagnose in person, never mind over the internet! Thanks for watching.
how does this test work on a 4.9 as the injectors are wired to fire others at same time. I have a 88f150 with 4.9 that had to redo upper harness and discovered in testing this harness that it fires them in pairs at same time. never would have known about it otherwise. thanks
On a professional OBD2 tool, a similar test can usually be found under engine functional tests, and should be called something like Cylinder Balance or Power Balance. I can't speak to your specific application, but that is where to look.
Got 1986 4 eye gt all stock seat over a decade found in salvage yard. Running very rich checked fuel pressure 39 psi replaced map sensor. Could be bad injector or harness.
😂😂😂.... Well, I have this OBD1 tester...But...I have been living Blissfully Ignorant since I bought my 1993 Ford f150 5.0 truck with 143,000 miles on the clock presently , about 2 yrs ago... What started out as Standard maintenance and repair of the truck, since the last owner really didn't do any repairs and maintenance, is turning into a almost "Restoration "... I am replacing alota 30 yrs old parts that should've been replaced yrs ago.... Soo, by reading the codes, that would add even more to that list...Sooo, for me and now, I don't wanna know...😂😂😂😂...
any idea what to do if your getting No power to the scanner plug? and my fule pump doesnt shut off, when key is on pump in always running. did the swap from 4cly to V8 and having some problems on my 87 coupe. any ideas ? Thanks
The first thing that I would be looking at is a bad pcm or blown sig rtn trace on the pcm caused by an incorrect loop back on the o2 sensor harness. Fuel pump running constantly is a typical symptom of a bad pcm or corrupted chip on the pcm.
No big deal. The only thing you lose is the 1-2 second prime cutoff at startup. I prefer constant run, and wired mine direct instead of through the computer. It's been fine for 28 years as is.
This used to be the version you bought, but mine was made when the Fox Mustang was contemporary. Innova 3145 is the modern day successor and should have all the same capabilities but displays the codes on an LCD. You might pick up an old one on eBay.
I would say that the better part of them were SEFI including all the Mustang engines, but you are right, some of them are bank fire. I am not 100% sure how this test works on a bank fire version, but it could use a spark cut.
@@tecmotiondyno FWIW in my understanding, the earlier versions of efi were speed density because maf sensor technology was in it's infancy. My '95, '94, '90 Fords use speed density but california (CARB) versions were for '95 used maf. I'm not sure exactly which engines or when Ford first introduced maf, but those were all sequential injection as far as I know and speed density (MAP only) were all bank fire injection. In the case of '95 maf, ignition wasn't DIS, as far as I know. Thus I'm pretty sure if the ignition is dis, this will also be sequential injection. Then we have all the different versions of ecm's, parts availability (discontinued parts?), on and on... ;)
Pretty well all of the speed density cars were SEFI - Mustang, T-Bird, Cougar, Mark VII, Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, etc. These will go back as early as 1986 in some cases. MAF was first introduced in the Mustang in California in 1988 and nationwide in 1989. The speed density trucks and vans were mostly bank-fire. MAF equipped trucks like some 93 E-Series vans were SEFI.
@@tecmotiondyno 1990 2.9 V6 Bronco II federal emissions? 1995 Bronco 5.8 Federal emissions? 1994 F250 460 Federal emissions? See electrical schematic, 8 injector channels or bank fire?
I don't have the 94 460 schematic or the 95 Bronco schematic handy. The 90 V6 Bronco is a MAP controlled vehicle and is batch fire. In most cases I think the MAF vehicles were SEFI and the cars were SEFI regardless of whether they were MAF or MAP, as I said.
Search for ford obd1 on Amazon. There is an updated version on there for sure. I would guess that you can pick it up at lots of parts stores too. NAPA, O’Reilly, maybe Harbor Freight. When I looked on Amazon Canada it was a ready to ship item.
I do my "cylinder balance test" while I am cranking the engine with the starter, and the coil wire off..
You'll hear a distinct "skip" while an engine is cranking if it has a cylinder with low compression.
If the engine sounds good while cranking, but then has a noticeable miss while it's running, then it's something simple such as a bad plug/wire, bad fuel injector, or something else easy to repair.
That’s a legitimate diagnostic even on a carb equipped car. Thanks for the feedback and thanks for watching!
@@davelowets If it's efi, chances are flood mode is implemented and you can perform your compression balance test without opening the hood.
Nice! I have the same scan tool! Found a bad coolant temperature sensor on my 92! Gotta love old school scan tools...worked like a charm! Great video Matt!!!
I'm surprised how many guys I see trying to diagnose problems with their Fox that don't even go as far as pulling codes, but I would be willing to bet that MOST of the guys who do pull the codes don't know that you can activate the cylinder balance test that is built in to the EEC-IV and find a dead or low contributing cylinder. It's such a powerful test when it comes to determining overall engine health or narrowing problems down to a particular cylinder!
Thanks Matt! I also have the same tester, it’s old like me and it still works fine haha! This video was an excellent review and very helpful 👍👍
@@tecmotiondyno
Trouble is the engine running test will not happen until the Engine Off codes are repaired.
So if you've pulled your smog pump, smog canisters, EGR,.... you're dead in the water.
Another great tech video from Tecmotion. I learned a lot of new hems today👍👍👍
Thanks for the great feedback!
FYI TRIVIA:
In the early 90s Ford Motorsport had a bodiless 32 Ford with an HO fuelie that they took to major street rod shows to promote the 5.0. They showed what could be deleted etc.
I built my first one in 94. Still have it.
Nice! I have worked on a lot of 5.0 swap projects over the years. Everybody talks about LS swaps, but there have been a LOT of Ford 5.0 swaps too.
one of the best investments i ever made was to buy a used snap-on mt2500 back when ebay was flooded with them, i got the scanner and the ford, gm and other obd1 cartridges for $100, best 100 i ever spent.....
Good score.
I have an 84 Lincoln that does not have a check engine light at all. But you can use a test light on the connector.
Good feedback!
Great Video Ted!!
Thanks from Tacoma WA!
Thanks for watching!
This test is not hidden at all if you have an older OBD-1 mechanic-grade scanner. It just pops up as one of the options in my old OTC. Been doing it for MANY years ;)
Of course, and it isn’t supposed to be a secret, but I would wager that your average enthusiast watching this didn’t know about it, and that even when these cars were contemporary it wasn’t well known amongst owners.
@@tecmotiondyno I hear ya. Pure dumb luck that I stumbled on it to be honest.
Excellent videos !! Your how to vids are so helpful! I have recently followed along to your how to vids on the Power bond sfi balancer and radiator replacement on my 88 5.0 lx convertible. I just picked up the obd1 scanner from a local parts store and performed the key off test. Extremely simple and i only got one code which was a code 67 neutral switch which makes sense because i just completed a AOD to T5 swap on my car and the neutral safety switch is unhooked on the t5. I do want to try a engine running test and the cylinder test. I want to tackle the rear end gear install and get rid of my 273 gears for the 355 gears but i think after watching your video it might be out of my skill set. Could you do a video in the future on how to remove the foxbody 8.8 rear end out the car. I would like to remove my rear end and take to a shop to have the gears and rear end re built!! thanks alot!!!!!!!! best foxbody how to on youtube.
Thanks for your supportive comments. If I get a rear end removal job I will film it, but if your objective is just to do the gear change and you are hiring someone to do it, it will be simpler and less costly to do it in the car. If you are changing everything - control arms, shocks, weld on housing ends etc, and you more or less have to remove the housing anyway, it makes sense to do the gear swap with the housing out of the car and on jackstands, otherwise I think you are just making extra work. I usually book three days with the car for a gear swap because of interruptions and contingency, and the only step I usually do on the third day is to put the fluid in it because I prefer to let the rtv cure overnight. In bigger shops where the mechanic can just work on the car and doesn’t have to answer the phone and deal with walk in’s and all of the other little daily distractions, an 8 hour day is usually enough for the job, so you don’t generally have to give your car up for an extended period of time to get the gears changed.
@@tecmotiondyno thank you so much!! 🙏biggest reason why I wanted to pull the rear out and take it to a shop was because I hate leaving my car at places unattended. Figured it be easier to take rear out car take the new parts and whole axle to a shop and say call me when it's done. I see what you are saying though! Thanks
I have this exact tester.
The book says, "The KOER test will not run until code 11 or 111 is obtained for KOEO".
It sure will not 👍
So if youve pulled your EGR, smog pump, gas canisters, etc. You are dead in the water.
'90 Mustang GT.T5
I'm not sure that is actually true. I'm pretty sure that I have run KOER tests on a car with codes in the KOEO test. I might set one up and try it to double check though. Of course, if you chip tune the car you can delete all that stuff and mark it "not present" in the software so you will not get a code for it, which would help if it turns out to be the case that you can't run KOER without a clean pass on the KOEO.
@@tecmotiondyno
Just ran it an hour ago.
Codes
64 ACT
82 Smog pump
85 purge canistr
87 fuel pump cycle
This one is stock '90 wiring and A9L and all, no cats but yes O2, in a street rod.
Ran perfect 18,000 miles til last Tuesday.
Thanks.
Look at book section 2-5.3 #6 on page 2-11 top.
@@hotrodray6802 the main thing there that could really affect things is the ACT. If it thinks it’s -40*F, it will definitely affect the way it runs. You’ve definitely given me something to double check though.
@@tecmotiondyno
I will change ACT asap.
Thanks, I was surprised and pleased for your prompt feedback. 👍😎
Might be Tuesday until I get it changed.
@hotrodray6802 There are some tests that can be done to check whether the problem is the sensor or the harness or PCM. I'm sure you can look them up on the internet. I would do the tests first before just replacing the part, but it looks like there is a problem with that system for sure.
I Sir, I love the content here.. 90 Fox. I get a a thermactor code for KOEO. no worries, but for the KOER it's dead. No 4 flashs , just dead. Any idea of the issue? Car runs grate, but rich on idle. Thank you
I have seen them unable to test where the sig return line is blown on the PCM, but that should prevent the KOEO test as well. With the older style tester, you do need to start the car, then switch the tester from HOLD to TEST in order to initiate the KOER test, just in case you accidentally missed that step. Sometimes these weird problems are very hard to diagnose in person, never mind over the internet! Thanks for watching.
how does this test work on a 4.9 as the injectors are wired to fire others at same time. I have a 88f150 with 4.9 that had to redo upper harness and discovered in testing this harness that it fires them in pairs at same time. never would have known about it otherwise. thanks
There are also 5.0 Ford setups that are batch fire. I have never personally tried the cylinder balance test on one of them.
This is great stuff. Thanks 👍
You’re welcome. Thanks for watching!
i didnt know that rev up was a balance test, i wonder how i get the results on my obd2 eec-iv au falcon, ive been using forscan and an elm327 wifi
On a professional OBD2 tool, a similar test can usually be found under engine functional tests, and should be called something like Cylinder Balance or Power Balance. I can't speak to your specific application, but that is where to look.
Got 1986 4 eye gt all stock seat over a decade found in salvage yard. Running very rich checked fuel pressure 39 psi replaced map sensor. Could be bad injector or harness.
Could be, or a computer fault. Could be oxygen sensors too. Try the cylinder balance test to see if the problem is limited to one or two cylinders.
Bad temperature sending unit.?
😂😂😂.... Well, I have this OBD1 tester...But...I have been living Blissfully Ignorant since I bought my 1993 Ford f150 5.0 truck with 143,000 miles on the clock presently , about 2 yrs ago... What started out as Standard maintenance and repair of the truck, since the last owner really didn't do any repairs and maintenance, is turning into a almost "Restoration "... I am replacing alota 30 yrs old parts that should've been replaced yrs ago.... Soo, by reading the codes, that would add even more to that list...Sooo, for me and now, I don't wanna know...😂😂😂😂...
any idea what to do if your getting No power to the scanner plug? and my fule pump doesnt shut off, when key is on pump in always running. did the swap from 4cly to V8 and having some problems on my 87 coupe. any ideas ? Thanks
The first thing that I would be looking at is a bad pcm or blown sig rtn trace on the pcm caused by an incorrect loop back on the o2 sensor harness. Fuel pump running constantly is a typical symptom of a bad pcm or corrupted chip on the pcm.
@@tecmotiondyno thank you !
No big deal. The only thing you lose is the 1-2 second prime cutoff at startup. I prefer constant run, and wired mine direct instead of through the computer. It's been fine for 28 years as is.
Does anyone know where I can purchase the audible, scan tool? I like the idea of being able to hear the beeps.
This used to be the version you bought, but mine was made when the Fox Mustang was contemporary. Innova 3145 is the modern day successor and should have all the same capabilities but displays the codes on an LCD. You might pick up an old one on eBay.
Hey, do you have the model number of yours, I can’t see the screen on the a nova one.
@@Olds_Pwr thank you
@@Olds_Pwr just found one on eBay
Mine was $7 on clearance 20 yrs ago when they became digital.
Will all of these tests work the same on an 89 e250?
Yes, most OBDI Fords have these tests. Some codes have unique meanings on trucks though, so pay attention to the notations on the code list.
Okay, these engines weren't all sequential fuel injection though, most were bank fire speed density fuel injection?
I would say that the better part of them were SEFI including all the Mustang engines, but you are right, some of them are bank fire. I am not 100% sure how this test works on a bank fire version, but it could use a spark cut.
@@tecmotiondyno FWIW in my understanding, the earlier versions of efi were speed density because maf sensor technology was in it's infancy. My '95, '94, '90 Fords use speed density but california (CARB) versions were for '95 used maf. I'm not sure exactly which engines or when Ford first introduced maf, but those were all sequential injection as far as I know and speed density (MAP only) were all bank fire injection. In the case of '95 maf, ignition wasn't DIS, as far as I know.
Thus I'm pretty sure if the ignition is dis, this will also be sequential injection.
Then we have all the different versions of ecm's, parts availability (discontinued parts?), on and on... ;)
Pretty well all of the speed density cars were SEFI - Mustang, T-Bird, Cougar, Mark VII, Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, etc. These will go back as early as 1986 in some cases. MAF was first introduced in the Mustang in California in 1988 and nationwide in 1989. The speed density trucks and vans were mostly bank-fire. MAF equipped trucks like some 93 E-Series vans were SEFI.
@@tecmotiondyno 1990 2.9 V6 Bronco II federal emissions? 1995 Bronco 5.8 Federal emissions?
1994 F250 460 Federal emissions?
See electrical schematic, 8 injector channels or bank fire?
I don't have the 94 460 schematic or the 95 Bronco schematic handy. The 90 V6 Bronco is a MAP controlled vehicle and is batch fire. In most cases I think the MAF vehicles were SEFI and the cars were SEFI regardless of whether they were MAF or MAP, as I said.
Where do I get the tester? I'm in the US
Search for ford obd1 on Amazon. There is an updated version on there for sure. I would guess that you can pick it up at lots of parts stores too. NAPA, O’Reilly, maybe Harbor Freight. When I looked on Amazon Canada it was a ready to ship item.
Doesn't the cylinder balance tests also include ignition as well as injectors? 🙄
No, it is an injector cut only.
😊 thanks
You are welcome. I hope it helped out!
The EEC-IV was a hell of a lot more advanced than the GM CCC or the power/logic module garbage Chrysler was running at the time.
I totally agree with you on this.