yesterday - or last night while driving home, my 4.6L suddenly lost power and began shuddering through acceleration. the check engine light flashed on and off then stayed on for a while, then flashed again and stayed on. this morning i disconnected the battery before i started looking around. i started to check for loose plug wires but then got an important phone call - breakfast with mom and dad - so had to put truck on hold. when i got back i searched for a cool online forum and found f150online - what a blessing this sight is - well, i hurriedly reconnected the battery and went to auto zone to get the check engine light figured out, but on the way there noticed that the light was not on. autozone could not retrieve a code with their equipment.

1. does my '97 4.6L retain all codes in memory until reset?
2. will an autoshop/dealer service be able to retrieve the code?
3. did i reset/erase the code when i disconnected the battery?

i'm guessing a fouled plug or plugs and wires and possibly coils. any ideas?
thanks in advance for any help with this.

 

1. does my '97 4.6L retain all codes in memory until reset?

Yes.
2. will an autoshop/dealer service be able to retrieve the code?

Normally, but you pulled the battery cable.
3. did i reset/erase the code when i disconnected the battery?

Yes.

 

but the dealership has the equipment to monitor all engine functions while the engine is running right? so, if i have a fouled plug or something and the motor is running bad they can pick that up and tell what is going on ?

thanks for the reply