Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Check Engine Light - 95 Mercury Mystique

Hello Everyone,
Well I was driving my car this morning and all of a sudden looked down and there was that yellow light staring back at me!!

Can anyone tell me where I can get the car checked so I can get the codes so I know what the heck is wrong? it is a 95 Mercury Mystique in or around Worcester MA? The car is running the same, no problems except that it is running a little hot, the gauge is still within the "normal" range.

HELP!!

If you have an autozone, they should pull the codes for free.

Tried Autozone, they said they can only check cars that are 96 and newer. But mine is 95...of course. my luck today

You need a paperclip. Bend the thing so both pointy ends point the same way. Then turn your car to the ON position but dont turn it on actually. Then down the drivers side where the fuel cut off switch is, there is a box type thing. You need to press the paperclip against two things that are a bit bigger than the paperclip, hard to decribe what it looks like. The CEL will blink. Record the code so if it blinks 3 times then pause, then 4 times it is 34.

By the way Autozone DOES do pre 96s. They did a few weeks ago atleast, and even gave me a free key thing that actually fits into the hole on a pre 96 to get the CEL to say the code.

I thought on 95s, the port was in the engine bay, but maybe that's on other cars.

they can do CERTAIN 95's. if they were made after march i believe. then they were OBDII. mine was made in 1994...OBDI for me. and yes the OBDI port is somewhere in the engine bay...not sure where though...

any car dealer can do it, for a price. you can also buy OBD1 scanners online, but again, you have to know where the port is and i cant help you there. i think its under the hood like i said, but i could be wrong.

also, a Spee Dee oil change lube place did mine ONCE. when it was in for a state inspection. i am not surethat all jiffy lube type places have the scanner, but this one did.

On a 95 the port is under the hood, at the firewall, on the driver's side, next to the fender. Wal-Mart and others sell an OBD1 reader that will connect to the port, which will flash lights to indicate the code. There are also ways to connect an analog multimeter to the port and read the codes based on the number of movements of the analog dial. That information was posted on CEG a couple of years ago, and is probably still floating in the archives somewhere. I don't remember the details, but I do remember that it's just a matter of hooking two or three wires from the multimeter to the port under the hood.

I work at autozone. If trained, some employees can test OBD1 cars. They stopped really training, because its too much liability. You CAN wreck an ECU testing an OBD1 car wrong depending on how you have to test it. Some cars starting about 1993 had OBDII. I've tested 94 mustangs that have had OBDII, and I've seen some 94 mustangs that havnt. Its completely random between 93-96. By 96 everything was OBDII.

Well I have called all the autozones in the area and they all only have the OBD 11 tool. No one that I have found has the OBD 1 tool...Also just thought of this, but when I started the car this morning it seemed to idle up to around 2000 rpms I let it sit for a few minutes it went down a little, then when I put it into gear it was fine. Went right back down to where it was? Any connection?

Thanks!!!