J bought a cheap Actron scanner from AutoZone several years ago. When it quit working, I replaced it with one from Mac Tools. Still cheap, and works OK. Today I plugged it into a 2006 Crown Vic. It happens to be an ex-cop car, but I can’t think that should make a difference. It doesn’t even light up. It does work on other cars.
Any Ideas why this might be happening?
What circuit feeds the OBD II plug?
We have several Ford vehicles in our fleet
When my scanner won’t communicate, the first fuse I check is the cigarette lighter fuse
I just looked in your owner’s manual online. Fuse 27 (20 amps) in the passenger compartment fuse block is for the cigarette lighter and OBD2
Let us know when it’s fixed, please
In my experience, those fuses are usually blown because guys plugged phone chargers and other toys into the cigarette lighter socket
Electric doughnut warmer? I’ll look at it tomorrow. Thanks.
I had a GM once that didn’t always like to make the OBDII interface. Sometimes you had to plug and unplug and jiggle.
Most likely the fuse that powers up the cigar lighter also powers up the OBDII port. If it is similar to my Ford Ranger then it will be a 25 amp fuse. Also, the diagram for the Ford fuse box does not show that this fuse also powers the OBDII and cigar lighter, very strange.
db4690 was right, it was the fuse.
Unfortunately the fix for the problem pointed out by now working scanner is not that simple. P0301 pointed me to the #1 cylinder misfiring. I pulled the coil off of that plug and found antifreeze in the well. Oh shoot, another leaking plastic intake manifold. A search on line pulled up several suppliers, all supposedly of the P/N same manifold. Only one asked if my car has an electrically heated PCV. It does. Maybe its a P-71 cop car thing. Heated doughnuts, heated PCV… He said that his will not work on those engines with an electrically heated PCV. What does he know that the others don’t appear to understand? Even AutoZone down the street made no distinction about the PVC.
I could be wrong but I think by 2006 Ford had done away with the plastic coolant passage on the intake manifold. Have you for certain verified the source of the antifreeze?
I tend to agree with @asemaster
We have Fords of various years in our fleet. And the 2006 models have a completely different . . . and presumably improved . . . intake manifold design
In fact, the coolant crossover passage bolts to the heads, not the manifold
I’ve removed enough of both style manifolds to recognize they’re quite different
You are correct that the coolant passage on this intake is aluminum. I’ve never seen one like it leak. Maybe I have the first. It is definitely coolant in the spark plug well. It smells like maple syrup. How else could it have gotten there?
I have a question . . .
Is the coolant passage on your engine mounted to the intake manifold, or to the cylinder heads?
Even some of the older Ford modular V8 engines had an aluminum crossover mounted to the plastic intake manifold. If you have this version, the manifold may be on the way out.
Updated . . .
I just looked at Rockauto, and you apparently do have the type of manifold I described
It is my opinion that your intake’s days are numbered. I’ve replaced enough of that kind of manifold to know the warning signs . . . oil and coolant in #1 and #5 spark plug holes
I advise you to get the genuine Ford replacement, not the Dorman product. The Dorman intake will only work with Dorman gaskets. And that might be a problem down the road. Not to mention that Dorman parts seem to be cheap Chinese parts. I have nothing against Chinese people or parts, as long as they’re high quality.
Update . . .
You have the 2valve 4.6 liter V8, which still used the “problematic” intake manifold design in 2006 . . . meaning an aluminum crossover mounted to a plastic manifold. The design is prone to failure, believe me. Like I said, I’ve replaced enough of them.
Whereas, other 2006 Fords used the 5.4 liter V8, which had a 3valve V8 with a completely different intake manifold. On that engine, the crossover is separate and mounted on the heads, NOT on the manifold.
Like I said, I think an intake manifold is in your future.
Please let us know when the issue is resolved.
Before I replaced the intake manifold, I would clean out the plug well(s), replace the coil and plug, re-torque the manifold bolts and drive it for a few days then pull the #1 & #5 COPs and inspect for further leakage…
I once made the mistake of power-washing under the hood of a 2005 P-71…Cost me a set of plugs and 3 COP’s…
I thought the “bad” intakes were ALL plastic. I must be thinking of 3.8 GMs that go bad too. I see a lot of Fords that have the aluminum crossover. I guess that’s the norm, and mine is bad.
No, the “bad” intakes were only mostly plastic. That manifold you have looks exactly like the ones that break on the Fords in my fleet.
Here’s some advice . . . and it’s not always helpful. Remove #1 and #5 plugs. Look inside the hole very carefully. If you see any black plastic pieces floating around in there, the manifold is 100% a goner. If you see plastic “protruding” into the hole, the manifold is 100% a goner. It’ll be obvious when you look.
Even if you don’t see this, a failed manifold is, in my opinion, the only way for coolant to get in there
I wonder what the difference is between the heated PVC intake and the non-heated PVC intake manifold.
One of the online suppliers said their part was different, and couldn’t be used on my car. None of the others made a distinction. Nothing on the PVC valve in the right cam cover or the manifold itself appears to be different other than the wires going to the PCV valve from the area of the lower throttle housing. I hate to think of paying Ford’s prices for a part for a car I don’t expect to keep for a long time. .
Another supplier has shipped me the correct manifold. Ford gets right at $300 for theirs. Since I probably won’t have this car next year, I think a half price manifold will be just fine.
I put a Dorman on a 1998 P-71 and I believe that car is still on the road with that Dorman manifold…
I have very mixed feelings about Dorman parts
In my opinion, Dorman quality is very mediocre
In my opinion, Dorman is fine if you’re going to get rid of the car soon. If you plan to hang on to it, spend a little more