check engine light

this is a 1990 3.0 engine with 80,000 mi. on it. the check engine light comes on about every 2 to 3 secounds, it does not stay on, we had a heater hose leak that I repaired I thought that this might have something to do with it but it did not help. the car runs good with no other problems, can you please help ,thanks

Take your car to a local chain auto parts store and ask them if they read Ford OBD-I codes for no charge. If they do, have them scan the codes and let you know what codes are active. Post the codes back on this thread and we'll see what we can suggest.

You can also read out the codes using a multimeter or the Check Engine Light (CEL). That procedure has been posted numerous times, so a quick search of this forum or of Google should yield the procedure steps.

-Rod

Thank you for your reply, Iam trying to find someone who can get the active codes for me,we are a small community and our local checker auto is not equiped to do this,something that I forgot to mention is that when in park I just slightly depress the throttle I can make the light come on and when I let off it will go out, if I do this three or four times in a row then all of a sudden the engine will go into a fast idle and the only way I can slow the idle down is I have to shut the engine off,when I restart it the idle is back to normal, I can also feel a slight miss when I am barely depressing the throttle to make the light come on.
Thanks Again
F Carillo

See if this makes any sense to you. It is a way to retrieve codes without a scan tool. http://www.troublecodes.net/Ford/

For the fast idle, you may want to check the throttle body for carbon/sludge build up. You'll need to open the throttle plate and look behind it with a good light. Also, pay attention to the Idle Air Control passages. You may want to remove the IAC motor and inspect the valve portion as well.

However, pulling the codes could help you determine if this is along the right path.

-Rod