check engine light

[1Gab Laser]

Well my 1g has been on the road for a few weeks now, but the check engine light has been on the whole time. If I clear it (with the battery terminal) it'll come on about 5 miles down the road.

The car runs fine, I've put about 1000 miles on it. The only problem is that I should either get a capacitor or upgrade my alternator because when I bump the subs for a while if I pull up to a stop light it'll idle down really low and run kinda rough, then once the fans kick on it'll smooth out and be fine.

I don't know if that'd set off the light?

But anyways, the day I got it on the road and the light came on, I went to VIP and asked if they could read it. They said no, only OBDII. so I asked if they knew of any place that could read OBDI, they sent me to some guy's backyard shop. I went there, he told me he'd have to look it up and see if hec ould read it and to come back in a half hour. I got some food, came back and he told me no, it was too old. So I stopped at a performance shop on the way to work, they told me it was a Mitsubishi specific plug and only a dealer could read it. I stopped at the dealer, they told me I'd have to purchase the full diagnostic package for $85. (Come on, after spending probably $1000 there for parts they couldn't cut me a deal?)

I heard there was some way to cross the pins to spit the code out in the dash. Does anyone know which pins I have to do and have a list of what the different flashes mean?

There's no way I'm paying $85 to have the dealer read my code and nobody is gonna want to buy a car with the check engine light on... even though its probably something stupid like my intake is sucking in more air than normal.

 

[jeffo]

VFAQ is your friend:
ECU Code Checking
You can use a buzzer, but I find that a Radio Shack 12 volt LED works great too.
keydiver

 

[Mr PopUps]

Um. vfaq.com

Visual Frequently Answered Questions - Home Page

Google:
(1g, T, AWD) Have your own ECU diagnostic tool for less than 2 dollars!!

The one im looking for allowed you to build one (i actually made one about 10 years ago), but the place that hosted the site is down, so im still searching

 

[1Gab Laser]

ok, so looking at this pic:

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I connect positive to "1" and ground to "12" and just count the pulses?

 

[ilco187]

you use a analog voltmeter and count the pulses, there will be long ones first and short ones second for example,


this would be code 24 just for reference


----- ----- -- -- -- --

it does sweeps.

 

[1Gab Laser]

you use a analog voltmeter and count the pulses, there will be long ones first and short ones second for example,


this would be code 24 just for reference


----- ----- -- -- -- --

it does sweeps.

Yeah thats what I meant, positive/ground on the volt meter.

ok thanks.

Are tehre any codes that the ECU could spit out that aren't on that site?

 

[ilco187]

nope, they are all on the site.

 

[steve]

If you like Jeff or I could make you some new codes.

 

[DSM98GSX]

If only it was displayed on the dash . But nooooooo, thatd be to easy .

 

[1Gab Laser]

If only it was displayed on the dash . But nooooooo, thatd be to easy .

Well on some cars it'll put out the pulses in the SES light.

I'm actually gonna go check it right now if I can find a voltmeter.

EDIT: I didn't have an analog voltmeter... tried it with a test light, it never lit up.

 

[slo-rst-laser]

I use a led light, it works just as good as a analog voltmeter, dont understand why the test light didnt work. You sure you connected it to the right pins, and the ignition was on?

 

[steve]

If only it was displayed on the dash .

Well on some cars it'll put out the pulses in the SES light.
EDIT: I didn't have an analog voltmeter... tried it with a test light, it never lit up.

If there isn't a datalogger attached I make it flash out the codes on the CEL.

For some reason I have a harder time counting the pulses with a LED than I do with a audio tone. I use a little piezo buzzer.

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[1Gab Laser]

I use a led light, it works just as good as a analog voltmeter, dont understand why the test light didnt work. You sure you connected it to the right pins, and the ignition was on?

yeah it seems like the test light should've worked. But it didn't. I tried 2 different lights. I tried with the ignition on and again with the car running.

 

[Mr PopUps]

If only it was displayed on the dash . But nooooooo, thatd be to easy .

On a 2GNT they do....

 

[jeffo]

You can't use most test lights. The ones with lamps in them, not LED's, load the signal down too much.
keydiver

 

[slo-rst-laser]

yeah it seems like the test light should've worked. But it didn't. I tried 2 different lights. I tried with the ignition on and again with the car running.

WTF Check the pins and make sure the wires didnt dissconnect from the back or something. Make sure your using the right clip.