melonballer

Hello all.


I have various minor issues with my mustang, but mainly, the check engine
light is coming on most of the time. At first, it seemed to only come on
briefly within the first five minutes of starting the car. I don't see a
correlation between the light and anything in particular.

Reading through the index and TOC in the Haynes manual found nothing
relating to the port/connector for an OBD unit to hook into. Does anyone
know where this is located? I wanted to find a cheap way to do use an
OBD reader without paying for a new one. This seems wasteful if I may
only use it once or twice.

It may be worth mentioning that there is a wiring harness below the
steering column that came apart on it's own and is now held together with
a ziptie. I glanced over this group many months back and it seems to be
a common problem with this type of Mustang. I can get photos for anyone
interested.

I know near nothing about cars and would like it if anyone here would
suggest a good website for me to learn more. I have googled in the past,
but feel people here likely have the best sites bookmarked :)

Thanks,

melon

Kruse

melonballer wrote:
> Hello all.
>
>
> I wanted to find a cheap way to do use an
> OBD reader without paying for a new one. This seems wasteful if I
may
> only use it once or twice.
>

> melon

(snippage)

You're probably right. Why buy one and then only use it once or
twice....
If you've got a local Autozone, have them scan it for free. 'Course, if
they come up with a legitimate code, you might want to buy whatever
they suggest and install it, it's up to you. SOMETIMES though, if the
fix is complicated, what they sell you might not fix it.

melonballer

"Kruse" <kruse@kansas.net> wrote in news:1112414952.335920.311420
@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:

> You're probably right. Why buy one and then only use it once or
> twice....
> If you've got a local Autozone, have them scan it for free. 'Course, if
> they come up with a legitimate code, you might want to buy whatever
> they suggest and install it, it's up to you. SOMETIMES though, if the
> fix is complicated, what they sell you might not fix it.


Thanks for the advice. :D I didn't realize Autozone would do that.

Musttanguy

A 92 Mustang uses an EEC-IV computer setup, you can get the simple code
reader that blinks an LED and/or tone to correspond with the trouble
codes it is transmitting very cheaply. A code reader for these vehicles
is cheap enough that is a great diagnostic tool for the hobbiest.
Some of the most common check engine light symtoms for these cars is
the EGR position sensor or TPS sensor.
The self test connector can be found right next to/below the windshield
wiper motor on 1986 to 1993 Mustangs.

Tim (Musttanguy)
www.PonyPerformance.com

ironrod

A rather cheep way to read your code is to jump the self test terminal to a
particular spot on the code reader plug next to it. A process I don't
recommend on account if you get the sequence wrong it could fry your CPU.
(I found this out the hard way.) The cheep little code reader that they
sell at Autozone is really good insurance. More important is to get the
Chilton's book "How to Troubleshoot your Electronic Ignition". A common
trap is the assumption that when a sensor reads out of limits that the
problem lies within the electronic sensor and not with the physical
parameter that the sensor is monitoring. It is entirely possible that the
reason the sensor says something is out of limits is because the thing it is
monitoring isn't working right. (Like the reason the O2 sensor says your
engine is running rich is because, guess what, the engine is really running
rich.) You really don't want to find this out after you've dumped fifty or
sixty bucks on a new O2 sensor when you really needed to replace a faulty
injector, or change a dirty air filter.

"melonballer" <mballer@fruit.com> wrote in message
news:Xns962B9C7A6E0DEmballerfruitcom@fe02.buzzardnews.com...
> Hello all.
>
>
> I have various minor issues with my mustang, but mainly, the check engine
> light is coming on most of the time. At first, it seemed to only come on
> briefly within the first five minutes of starting the car. I don't see a
> correlation between the light and anything in particular.
>
> Reading through the index and TOC in the Haynes manual found nothing
> relating to the port/connector for an OBD unit to hook into. Does anyone
> know where this is located? I wanted to find a cheap way to do use an
> OBD reader without paying for a new one. This seems wasteful if I may
> only use it once or twice.
>
> It may be worth mentioning that there is a wiring harness below the
> steering column that came apart on it's own and is now held together with
> a ziptie. I glanced over this group many months back and it seems to be
> a common problem with this type of Mustang. I can get photos for anyone
> interested.
>
> I know near nothing about cars and would like it if anyone here would
> suggest a good website for me to learn more. I have googled in the past,
> but feel people here likely have the best sites bookmarked :)
>
> Thanks,
>
> melon
>

melonballer

On Sat, 02 Apr 2005 13:05:14 -0800, Musttanguy wrote:

> A 92 Mustang uses an EEC-IV computer setup, you can get the simple code
> reader that blinks an LED and/or tone to correspond with the trouble
> codes it is transmitting very cheaply. A code reader for these vehicles
> is cheap enough that is a great diagnostic tool for the hobbiest.
> Some of the most common check engine light symtoms for these cars is
> the EGR position sensor or TPS sensor.
> The self test connector can be found right next to/below the windshield
> wiper motor on 1986 to 1993 Mustangs.
>
> Tim (Musttanguy)
> www.PonyPerformance.com

Thanks Tim! You were dead-on.

Took the car to a local Autozone one morning and the tech there did a
check with codes of 223 and 224. This linked back to the TPS sensor which
I will eventually purchase the part for the ~ $28 they want. Yes, I
should buy it now, but being poor hurts. Besides, I have to verify the
part # for the tech. :P

Either:

F2AF-9B989-AA
E7DF-9B989-AA

Thanks again :)