2000 CEL flashing?!? car is hesitation and won't change gears

[AE102GTS]

Car when accelerated the CEL light flashes, and also the speed won't pick up, but the RPM goes up. Once I get past a certain speed it's fine. Just when I accelerate. For example when I'm accelerating to 60MPH, the light will flash all the way to 60MPH. Also my car has some fuel issues it seems. Before I use to get gas milage of about 250 miles per tank, now at 150 miles the fuel light turns on, but when I go get gas it still has lots of gas in it? What could this be? Could it be a fuel level sensor of some sort? Please help. Thanks.

[rodeo02]

The flashing CEL could be the result of misfire. You will destroy your catalytic converter(s) running in that condition. Your fuel gauge issue definately sounds like a bad sending unit. The only way to troubleshoot this further is to get the OBDII codes read. Go to autozone to have them read.
G/luck
Joel

[AE102GTS]

i did, they told me that some fuel level sensor was bad. That part costs a lot of money.. and i'm not sure if that is a waranteed item since it's not 'drivetrain' my Rodeo is still under warantee though, i've got about 68K miles and it's a 2000. do you think it could need ignition parts? Maybe cap and rotor and wires and spark plugs? I thought that the tune up wasn't needed until 100K though.. Your help is greatly appreicated. Thank you.

[rodeo02]

If you are the original owner you have 10yrs/120Kmi powertrain warranty. The fuel pump is covered by the powertrain warrnty. The fuel pump & sending unit are one sealed unit, so the fuel gauge issue should be a freebie fix. You don't have a cap & rotor ignition system with these engines. You still have to have a code(s) for your performance issues. No sense in throwing new parts on until you know where the issue is.
G/luck
Joel

[AE102GTS]

So you think it be a good idea to let the dealer handle w/ warantee, I just don't like giving them $100 for free everytime I go in. It seems they always can blame it back on me. I dono. Also so this car doesn't have a distributor w/ cap and rotor? I'm confused. Should I make the Dealership aware that this seems to be a common problem w/ the Rodeos? I saw that someone else had posted about it also. Also I'm not sure but Autozone could only find one code and that was for the fuel level sensor, no other codes were found. Could other tranny issues be present?

[AE102GTS]

One other thing, the fuel issue is always present, but the acceleration problem is not always present. I only notice it once in a while. Don't know maybe it's weather related?

[kimrod22]

I have a 2000 Isuzu Rodeo. Recently, I started my car and I could not get it out of "P". I checked the manual and it instructed me to: Put ignition in "ACC" then shift gear into "N" then start. I did and it worked. Now in order to start it I have to do this every time. I took my car to the dealer who said it was called the "Brake Fault Switch" and would cost a "billion dollars". Does anyone know where I can get a part number on this so I can get it fixed on my own? HELP!!

[AE102GTS]

So this "brake fault switch" isn't covered by the manufacturer? What good is a warantee for 10yr/100K miles if you can't have your car working properly?

[rodeo02]

kimrod22- The brake safety interlock is a solenoid locking mechanism that prevents you from moving the shift lever out of park without the brakes pressed (with the truck running). Can you hear the solenoid in the console "click" when you hit the brakes with the key on "ON"? I can't see that it would be that expensive to troubleshoot & repair this. www.stcharlesauto.com will give you the p/n & price of the unit if you want. I bet it's an easy DIY job- maybe the solenoid and/or mechanism just needs to be cleaned/free'd up . G/luck
Joel

[kimrod22]

Thank you for your help!!! I will check on this ASAP on Monday! Again, THANK YOU!!!