a little while ago my car (a 95 EF 6cil) was leaking coolant into the car, so i pulled out the dash and replaced the heater core. i put the dash back together and the next day i was driving it and the car dropped from 4th into 3rd gear. it proceded to do this and quickly got worse. Now it almost always will be in third gear after just starting the engine. i pulled the dash back apart and realised that i didn't put the ecu wires in their proper place and they were squashed in-between the heater unit and the car.

i pulled out the wiring and checked each wire. i don't know much about electronics. what i did was get my multimeter, put some sewing pins on the ends and put one end in the socket and the other a lot further up the wire.. i was getting continuaty through all the wires. but me not nothing stuff all about electronics, i don't really know if that means the wires are fine.

what i want to know is:

- does los (limp home mode) put the car into third gear?

- could it be a coincidence that it stuffed up after i pulled the dash apart and it is actually a stuffed solenoid or something.

- any help would be grateful

Last edited by insensate on Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:35 am, edited 2 times in total.

sounds like limp home mode

in the technical documents under the efi diagnostics it says that this is what the computer does for limp home mode:

Limited Operation Strategy - Limp Home Mode (LOS) - In this mode of operation, the EEC-V provides the necessary outputs to allow the vehicle to Limp home, should an electronic malfunction occur in the PCM.
The Ignition Timing is fixed at 0* BTDC
The canister Purge is locked out
The Injector pulse width is fixed (Fuel flow constant)
For 6 cylinders, the Idle speed controller duty cycle is set to 75%
For V8s, there is no ISC duty cycle.
This gives a very rich engine characterised by black smoke from the exhaust.
Vehicle performance in this mode is substantially degraded although it may be driven up to 100Km/Hr

says nothing about sticking to 3rd gear... thats why i'm a bit confused

Limp home sticks it in 3rd, and only third, make it fun when you are trying to go from a standing start.

if you mashed the wiring harness in there then I would peel the tape back fromn that area and have a look at the wires, make sure none of them are cut or touching each other. Also check your battery terminals a bad earth can put them into limp home.

sounds liek u did the right thing with the multi

i would be making sure there is no cracks/small breaks in the wires, tape em all with elecy tape and then replace very carefully

disconnect battery for 1/2 hr than restart car and see if the limp home mode has gone away

i put the wiring loom back in the car and put the car back together. i replaced the earth terminal on the battery. It's unfortunately still going in to limp home mode. grrrr.....

i think i'm gonna have to take it in and get it looked at.

these codes are coming up on KOEO test:

786
783
695

Maybe have a look at the S5 solenoid or the signal transducer (speedo sender unit)