Check engine light - 1990 Taurus?

Jul 28, 2004 10 Replies

I just put in a new battery into my 1990 Ford Taurus. Now the "check engine" light comes on. Any ideas? Is there a way to read the codes with a code reader?


try diconnecting the battery for 2 minutes. If the light comes back, yes a code can be pulled.

If I remember correctly (its been a while on a 90, and I always had a scan tool.) you can ground the test connector under the hood and read the code with the check engine light. If you cant read it with the light you can use a volt meter for sure....check this out.

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and look to see if anything was disconnected while the battery was beingchanged.

? ?"Nino.Nospam" wrote in message ?news:iqRNc.131700$ek5.123701@pd7tw2no... ?> Scott what I meant was, can a code be derived with no code reader? I know ?> in my mini-van, I turned the ignition a certain way, and the codes could ?be ?> read by the blinking lights. Does Ford have a feature? ?If I remember correctly (its been a while on a 90, and I always had a scan ?tool.) you can ground the test connector under the hood and read the code ?with the check engine light. If you cant read it with the light you can use ?a volt meter for sure....check this out. ?

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and look to see if anything was disconnected while the batterywas being ?changed. ? After all these years you'd think the manufacturers could install a small lcd readout that would tell you in english what the hell the check engine light means. Oh no, we have to pay a small fortune to find out that the gas cap wasn't screwed on tight enough etc. This should be a user servicable item, not a dealer gold mine.

No need the manual. Scott's link has all the info, including the location of self test connector.

That would be nice to have a little read out.....Code readers can be had pretty cheap nowadays though. I think it is a little harder to find OBD1 readers like this 90 Ford would need.

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The Auto Zone store in my town (and probably yours) will loan you a code reader you can use in the parking lot for free. I used it on my '95 T-Bird and it worked fine. If your car isn't running and you can't get it down to the store you may have to make other arrangements.

Look like you got your wish. Newer Ford motor Company vehicles have an enunciator that tell the driver to check the gas tank cap. ;)

mike hunt

Father Guido wrote:

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