2006 freestar 4.2 scanner port

[bluebuick91]

I am trying to help my brother in law diagnose his van, but when I plug the code reader in nothing happens, it wont power up and read codes. the van will start and run(really bad) and I know that the scanner works properly because I can plug it into my own and run tests...why would this happen? did his brain box quit. local dealership says it probably is the brain but would it even start??