Ford Mode$06 Misfire Data

Ford vehicles seem to have a bad habit of NOT flagging a misfire code until the misfire gets so bad that even a beginner could diagnose it. But thats no problem; all you have to do is look at the misfire counters on the scanner to locate the offending cylinder. Oh yeah, thats right, Ford does not offer misfire counters in scan data like GM and Chrysler. How about just testing the secondary ignition system with an ignition scope; that should be easy. Unfortunately the coil on plug systems have made that much more difficult as well. There is a way to retrieve misfire data for any 1996 and newer Ford, however, which I will explain in detail.

Many vehicles, including Ford, have data known as mode$06 that can be retrieved using the generic OBDII software. Some scanners will retrieve this data and others will not. I will demonstrate using the Snap-On Modis and a cheaper OBDII-only scanner made by Kal-tools and distributed by Matco. Both of these will retrieve the Mode$06 data, and I believe the new Solaris and the old trusty Snap-On scanner will also retrieve it if they have recent updates. Try other scan tools as well, but be sure to look in the generic OBDII section and not the manufacturers specific section.

What is Mode$06 data? Basically, it is raw test data and results that are not really formatted for output to a scanner. It is data that the vehicles computer uses to determine if certain tests are passed or failed. There is a lot of data that can be retrieved dealing with oxygen sensor performance, evaporative emissions, EGR operation, ignition misfires, etc. Since it is not designed for output the data only shows up on the scanner as a series of test IDs and some numbers and letters that may not make a lot of sense at first. For now I am only going to deal with the misfire test data.

First, lets access the misfire data on this 2000 Ford Mustang using the Modis. The customer was complaining of an intermittent misfire under acceleration only. Instead of going into vehicle specific data, enter the Global OBDII area.

Now, navigate through the next several menus until you arrive at the select service menu.

Once you reach the select service menu scroll down and select Display Test Param./Results ($05,06,07) as shown above.

Then select non-continuously monitored systems as shown below.

You will now see a long list of test IDs. 1996 Models use TID$51 for misfire information while 1997 and newer non-CAN vehicles use TID $53.

This particular car uses test ID $53 for misfire data, so we will select it.

What you will see next is a list of component IDs along with some other values such as min, max, test, etc..

Look through the data as I scroll through all the screens below.