My E250 stopped running on a trip last October, after much failed diagnostics I had the EEC replaced with a refurbished one & van started & I was able to drive the one thousand miles home, both before & after the failure I had a blinking CEL light .

after a winter of light use I tried to find cause of blinking CEL & experienced a no start condition thankfully in my driveway, during both failures I had no CEL light when turning ignition on, I purchased another refurbished EEC but still had no start & no CEL, then found issue was in plug/wiring to EEC, I cleaned connector & van now starts with either EEC & CEL comes on when ignition is turned on as it should (CEL goes off immediately on start up) but the CEL still blinks & I’m afraid to go on long trip, primary fuel pump, distributor & wires all new, it’s been suggested that blinking CEL indicates a too rich running condition & I’m trying to replace the Temp Sensor to eliminate that as a cause for the blinking CEL
Prior to 1st failure I experienced CAT failure possibly caused by failing primary fuel pump which also caused a non start issue, don’t want to drive far with blinking CEL & trying to use van this coming weekend
van has 188k miles, all mine as I purchased it new

 

Its not a good to drive with a flashing CEL,, the flash indicates a overly rich condition with the potential to damage the cats.
Are there any dtc’s stored?

 

I’m not driving the van, this is a 1989, very primitive OBD. I don’t think it stores dtc

 

dkarten,

There is a sweet little tool made by Thexton Mfg co , tool #443 that will read any stored codes in your Ford OBD l system. It comes with directions to extract codes , run tests and even run "Dynamic Testing" that the ECA in your vehicle will do for you automatically. It goes for approx $21.00. The ECA in your vehicle is capable of doing tests you never were aware ..
Consider in investing in that tool and get back to us. I have used this tool to maintain a fleet of OBD 1 vehicles and it is quick,and easy to use..

 

Thanks Hanky, Does the tool come with an explanation of the codes?

 

No, you will need to get that from possibly Google.or purchase a book from some auto supply stores.

What it does ,
It will provide directions for connecting, and counting the blinks of the check engine light in the vehicle or the LED on the tool.
Some vehicles will provide 2 digit codes and some 3 digit codes that you can look up on Google .Engine size is important to know.
If you connect the tool to the vehicle and turn on the key it will run a test for any faults before you even start the vehicle. They are considered "Hard codes".
If you get a system "Pass" code ,then it will give any continuous codes in the computer's memory. You can run a "Dynamic Test" when it will run tests automatically when the engine is running. and if any faults are present , it will provide the code for any fault detected. That automatic test is programmed in your vehicle's computer. For the price of this little tool , it saves a lot of trouble of hooking up a meter etc. You probably can obtain a book with the codes for Ford OBD I codes. Once you can see what is going on , everything gets much easier to diagnose. To clear any codes all you do is disconnect one wire from the tool and the codes are cleared. I think you will enjoy what you can learn about your vehicle with this tool.