Service Engine Soon Light/Heat not working

[rovergal]

Well, Im off to the dealership yet again this year. Im having all the luck. This time because my Service Engine light is on. When starting it blinks about 30 times and then stays on solid. I have noticed it is sluggish. When adding oil on Sat some spilled on the spark plugs....we have cleaned them off, but the light is still blinking.

I have noticed after doing that that it wasnt as sluggish.

But, today its snowing here and I have no heat....its running and blowing just fine, but just cold air.

Could the light be blinking because the thermostate was probably going out? This vehicle although I love it, is breaking the bank this year....I have had 2 wheel hubs replaced earlier this year along with the brakes and new tires ordered to be put on. And, being that there is on one other than a dealership that I know that can work on them that I know---its costing significantly.

Im really on a tight budget and trying to work through this problem troubleshooting before I take it in. Any advice you have would be great.
I live in Maine so I obviously need the heat to run and the vehicle to operate properly.

 

[joey]

What year is your Disco? Mileage? Recent service info.

 

[rovergal]

Its a 2000 Disc II 87000 miles - This year it has had regular maintenance at the dealership oil changes, fluid changes, etc... It had the brakes replaced twice...the most recent work was in October when I took it in because the ABS, TC & Hill Decent lights were on for a third time...Ive had both right/left wheel hubs replaced in April & July in Oct the right one had to be replaced again. Luckily they did not charge for that one.

Other than that, the only thing that has been done was adding a quart of oil on Saturday while on a road trip and some spilled on the spark plugs.

I keep it serviced as I should because I know the importance of it...Im baffled at this point. I have an appointment to take in on Thurs to the Dearlership, but Im trying to troubleshoot on my own before I go....

Its costing a fortune. I did notice tonight that the antifreeze is a little low - but should that cause it the heat not to operate properly?

 

[honybears]

If the antifreeze is low the heat wont be great. However sometimes when this happens it causes an air gap in the cooling system, this happened to me. The solution , which I found on the forum, is to park the truck on level ground, open the radiator cap and insert a funnel. Start the truck and turn the heater settings to hot and the blower to high then fill the funnel with antifreeze. When the thermostat finally opens the fluid level will drop causing the air to purge frrom the top hose. Keep the antifreeze handy to fill the system. Put the cap on and make sure the resivoir is full. Hope this is the solution for you.

 

[avick]

I would find someplace other than the dealership to take it. Brake work alone would have probably been half what you paid. As far as the heat goes, either you are low on coolant, or your thermostat needs replacing. The flashing SES light sounds like a misfire to me, and hopefully it's just plugs and wires.

 

[rovergal]

Ok Ive added anitfreeze as you indicated. But, unfortunately the heat is still not working. So, would you now assume it is the thermostat?

 

[rovergal]

Engine still running rough-SES light

Hi all:

I replaced the spark plugs (they absolutely needed to be replaced) the spark plug wires, air filter, fuel filter as you suggested. The engine is still running rough and the light still on (I am assuming I have to reset that?)

Any suggestions why it would still be running rough?

I do have another problem going on...the heat stopped working(yes, Im having all the luck) it blows properly but just cold air. I noticed the antifreeze was low so I added more and you could tell the air was warmer but only for a day or two. Then, the vehicle started running hot in the red zone. We looked and the antifreeze was low again, but not that much. I have ordered a thermostat...would that most likely to be problem for that?

Thank you for your help as I am on a budget and trying to do alot of this before I have to take it in to someone

 

[Moose]

Running hot with no heat inside is the rule of thumb symptom for t-stat.

 

[rovergal]

Thank you for replying-I have ordered the thermostat should be in this week. Would you recommend changing this and then see how it runs before taking it in? Im on a really tight budget and this year alone I dropped a ton of money into this vehicle changing wheel hubs

 

[bbfcfm]

The thermostat is simple to change your self. Bring a *** of water to a boil and put thermostat in the *** it should open quick if not then replace the thermostat if it does open then its not bad and you have a whole other mess on you hand.