Error codes. help please :)

[Pimpin Joe]

Hello all.

I may be buying a 1996 ford escort 4dr tomorrow and it has a check engine light on (test drive it today)

it seems to run fine and all .. but that check engine light worries me. .. could someone here give me a list of the codes and how to check them on this car please? ... i would go out and buy a haynes manual or something similar .. but i really dont want to spend the money on it in case i dont buy the car. .. if i do the manual will be bought.

thanks in advance to anyone that can help me out here.

[FreakScort]

there are alot of codes, diff for each engine... is it a 1.8L or a 1.9L?? there is a way to check the codes but its hard to do... you tap into the OBD I cluster and read the pulses.. just have a menicanic check it out... best bet

[Pimpin Joe]

ah ok .. its a 1.9 liter ... but i dont think i will be able to check it out at the place i am getting it at. i really dont think its anything serious on it.

i used to have an old plymouth and alls you had to do with switch the key on and off 3 times and it would flash the codes for you. but then again it was pre computer

[FreakScort]

go to www.escortracing.com and look on the board... do a search for OBDI or something..its in the how too section um.. here http://erdtforum.teamzx2.com/viewtopic.php?t=1222 had to find it

[p51dcoupe]

Originally Posted by FreakScort

go to www.escortracing.com and look on the board... do a search for OBDI or something..its in the how too section um.. here http://erdtforum.teamzx2.com/viewtopic.php?t=1222 had to find it

Hey one thing to remember on codes depending what state you are in you will not be able to go through deq and get your vehicle licensed without those codes taken care of. A decent scanner will cost you around 150.00 to start then you have to enturpet the codes and try to fix the problem. It can be a big headache. If you want the car, get the owner to repair them first either that or come down on the price at least 1000 dollars.

Wes.

[AmatureCDV Driver]

well, if you dont see anything wrong, and it runs fine, the check engine light is probally just an O2 sensor or maybe the egr is bad. both are cheap to fix. If you do buy it, bring it to a mechanic and get it checked,(bring it to a mechanic before if possible) because if you leave those problems unsolve they will cause more/worse problems. hope i helped.

[Frunobulax]

What about a bad seal at the gas cap?