service engine soon light on

[mrrearick]

i have a 99 escort zx2 service engine light came on during road trip home car seems to be runing ok but when i pluged a hand held computer to it it shows a problem with a coolant issues the temp gauge shows normal, the heater is working good the coolant level is good what other senors can it the local auto parts guy told me just to replace the thermosat i do not agree but i could be wrong any help would be great thanks

[AzTumbleweed]

I don't know about your car but on the older Escorts the sender for the gage and the sender for the computer are two different sensors. Sounds like you have a bad temperature sensor. Auto parts guy is full of it. If the thermostat was bad you wouldn't be getting a normal temperature reading on your gage.

[mightymoose_22]

Yes, it seems your temp sensor that controls the fan may be on the fritz... the other sensor goes direct to the gauge and is working normally.