check eng light off

i have a 96 escort wagon. I've owned it since 99. For the 1st 2 yrs the check engine light was on all the time but no problem could be found. I took it to the Dealer and they said they fixed it but about 48 hours later it came back on. Fast-forward to now. I got it inspected & it failed because the check engine light(c.e.l.) won't come on at all!

So I have to fix it or go back to the dealer which I want to avoid. I looked all thru the fuses and switches under the dash and read in the manual that the c.e.l. sometimes malfunctions if an alarm has been installed wrong. There is an alarm in my car which it came wih and I wonder if this is the problem? if so, how can i check this to see?
thanks...

Is the bulb good?

yeah i bet the bulb

I don't know much about the check engine light and the computer, but I do know that while I was working under the hood I took the fuse for the computer (OBDll) in the engine compartment out to check it. It made my check engine light come on. I disconnected the negative terminal of the battery for 15 minutes and the light went out and has never come back on again. I'm thinking you could do this to see if your bulb in your CEL is working. I'm almost 100% sure that this will make your light come on if it has a good bulb. But, like Az and zx2 say, if the light was on nonstop for 2 years it probably burned the bulb out.

To test the bulb simply turn on the ignition. The bulb should be on with the engine off.

Hi Folks, thanks for the tips. I met a guy across the street who has a friend who does electric work for cars and he came and took a look and ran some test real quick (like the one Davescort said) and it does indeed seem to be the bulb. He is coming back over tonight to change it. I could not even begin to figure out how to get that dash off.

Ciao,

Be careful of a friend of a friend who does electrical work. Scarey thought :sly: