I am trying to download the codes form mymother's 96 Villager. I am not able to do so with my Equuis 3100 that I know is working.
I have read that perhaps the 96 villagers and quests are not fully OBD-ii compliant. This is contray to what I thought in taht all 96 and newer had to be fully OBDii compliants.

Does any one have an opinion or suggestion??

every vehicle has to be OBDII compliant from 96 on....depending on your reader and attachments you may not be able to read tranny codes and such but should be able to read the common ones

First, try reading "generic" OBDII codes. If this doesn't work, you may need to find a scan tool that interfaces with the Nissan diagnostic connector above the fuse block. This is the only way I have found to run codes on my '96 using the Ford NGS scan tool.