Check engine light

We need to know what year your car is. You need to know this too, or you will buy a code reader that will not work.

No luck in the Ford newsgroup? Assuming that is not your ebay store, good call posting the question here. It's like the blind leading the blind in the Ford newsgroup. What year is the vehicle?

Not necessarily. There are three different OBDII protocols in use and I have yet to see a code reader that can't connect to and interpret all three. Some OBDII modules installed in some 94 and 95 models are orphans but I don't think Toyota is one of these makes. My 95 Taco can be read with standard readers. More than you want to know about OBDII protocols here:

You assumed the car is OBD II, but the OP hasn't told us which year he has, so I assumed he's got an OBD I car. If my assumption is correct, there isn't an OBD II code reader that will read his computer -- or at least there isn't one that he could reasonably afford.

I took my pre-'96 truck to Autozone to suck the codes out, and they could not do it for me. I bought the OBD I code reader for my truck for $35. I could have bought any number of OBD II readers, and they make one that costs $250 but which requires an adaptor cable costing another $30, and I still get only a blinking light. The standard run-of-the-mill OBD II code readers run in a range of about $50 to about $150, with the more expensive units providing more information, but I suggest that most of us that service our own car can get all of the information we need for about $75. Of course, we can get the same information for free if we are willing to drive down to the corner.

It's like the blind leading the blind in the

I resemble that remark ...

Ah. Thanks for the clarification. My vehicles have all been either post

-- Mike Harris Austin, TX