Re: Check Engine light

I was trying to follow this thread in the hopes that I could supply a
"magic 
bullet"... However, I grew tired of scrolling to the bottomof each and
every 
post to see what might have been offered as a resolution....

WTF is it with all this "Netiquette" that has us making it so hard to see 
the object of our desires...

I'm probably pissing a lot of people off by posting "at the top".... Why?
If 
you are following this thread, you will already be "up to speed" on it -
if 
not, it will be "up to you" to become "up to speed" on it. Instead, we
will 
make others endure countless lines of drivel knowing that there is a very 
real chance that they will miss anything meaningful in the avalanche of 
redundant information...

All of you bottom posters should return your attention to the "DING!"...
my 
fries were overdone...

For the original poster.... the only acess I have to EVTMs this old is to 
make the hike up that long flight of stairs to access our paper
manuals.... 
Sorry - you lose...

However, you will find that most (and it is a very,very fine line that
keeps 
me from saying "all") PCM outputs are ground side switched. This means 
(depending on your knowledge of the DMM)  that you should be able to find
B+ 
at the "hot" side of the CEL bulb with the key on. What you find here is 
going to decide your next step.

What I see is a whole whack of posts... too hard to follow for the 
aforementioned idiocy... that offer uneducated "what ifs" (as far as I 
read).

This problem should be a "no brainer" and it has generated more replies
than 
any other question for a long time....


"pipedown" <pipedown@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:xrmWj.3458$J16.971@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> No its not stuck on, its stuck off.  It does not illuminate briefly when

> you start the truck and thus will not pass a smog check in CA.
>
> I'll be fixing this 1988 Ford Ranger P/U this weekend and having done
some 
> homework already, I still need a tip.  As background this truck did have
a 
> problem where it just stalled out and wouldn't start again.  That
problem 
> was traced to a wire harness that came loose and got burned on the 
> manefold causing (at least) one of the wires to go open.  Evidently the 
> one needed to keep things running.  That was fixed through visual 
> inspection with a little help from a Ford explorer 1993 shop manual.
>
> Now I suspect the check engine light problem is the same cause (open
wire 
> in harness) only I don't know which wire to trace.  I checked several 
> repair guides and none show the check engine light and what wire it is 
> associated with it.  If I could just determine the color and connectors
it 
> runs through this would be easy.
>
> I'm not usually one to suspect conspiricy but really.  WRT the ECC and 
> associated sensors and idiot lights; Chiltons and Haynes only show a 
> picture of some parts and say its too complicated to troubleshoot.  OK 
> expected. The FORD shop manuals for my 93 Explorer have a single page 
> saying check the third manual (you don't have).  The EVTM 
> (electrical/vacuum troubleshooting manual) for the 84 Ranger (by ford 
> again) shows most of the wires to the ECC but not the idiot light (check

> engine).
>
> If anyone has the ECC repair manual for just about any ford truck
(ranger, 
> bronco II, Explorer in the 1983 to 1993 range you can probably determine

> the wire color for me.
>
> Yes, I will check the bulb first.  So far I have only visually traced
the 
> wire harness back to the ECC so it seems likely there is another open
wire 
> in there.
>
> My second option is to trace the wire from the lamp back to the open
using 
> a signal tracer (triplett fox and hound).  That will work but at the
cost 
> of more effort.
>
>
> Does anyone have any insight as to why this indicator lamp would be 
> excluded from most service manuals.
>
>
>
>
>