the stupid "engine" light

[1990LTD]

My guess is it will.

It will not unless you reset it by disconnecting the battery.

[86VickyLX]

Alright, I shouldn't say "of any kind", but still painfully limited. I always hate to admit that I have enjoyed owning and working on the late 80's-early 90's Chrysler vehicles I have owned over the years due to their diagnostic aids and abundance of streaming data. I'll never stop hating o2 crosscounts and integrator/block learn, but I'd troubleshoot any crazy GM or Chrysler bug faster than I would on some crappy Tempo or Sable. Don't get me wrong, I love my Ford/Lincoln/Mercury masterpieces, but I don't think that would have been a fun time to be a Ford technician.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, THIS:
[ATTACH]25700[/ATTACH]
is total bullshit.

I have never used a break out box that looked like that. The one I used was smaller, and had a pinout for every pin in the harness. WTF is that thing?

This is the one I've used.

In response to your question Matt, No. You can't retrieve any codes from that thing. Convert it to EEC-IV if you want troubleshooting capabilities...


Oh btw. That video is very helpful. The code key thing basically grounds the little gray pigtail.
You can do the Power steering switch and BOO while it's doing its other checks. After the Engine ID code (light flashes 1/2 the amount of cylinders in the engine) You can step on the brake pedal and rotate the steering wheel. As for the dynamic response check, the SEFI cars such as our cars, and the mustangs, do not have a dynamic response check. Instead, we have the ability to do a cylinder/injector balance test, which will numerically kill each injector to check for a drop in engine RPM. To do the balance test, the regular running test should have already been completed. That means, the light isn't flashing any more codes/repeating any codes. After the light has stopped flashing, step on the gas slightly, and then take your foot off of it. The idle of the engine should increase. It is now in cylinder balance test mode. Do not do anything to change the engine rpm or it will stop the test. It will go through each injector. You will notice that the engine will appear to run rough during this test. This is normal as one cylinder is being killed each time. After it has shut off each injector, the idle will return down to normal, or close to normal, and flash a code at you.
The corresponding codes to the cylinder balance test are as follows:
*--------------------10 (Cyl 1 has failed)
**-------------------20 (Cyl 2 has failed)
***------------------30 (Cyl 3 has failed)
****-----------------40 (Cyl 4 has failed)
*****----------------50 (Cyl 5 has failed)
******---------------60 (Cyl 6 has failed)
*******--------------70 (Cyl 7 has failed)
********-------------80 (Cyl 8 has failed)
*********------------90 (All Cylinders pass!)
*********..*********--------99 (Engine has not learned to idle)

[gadget73]

yeah, the breakout box I'm familiar with looks like the one John pictured, but in a different case. There is an actual datalogger machine that can sort of get you streaming data, but it intercepts the connection between the harness and ECM and just prints raw voltage figures, not what they actually mean. It monitors a certain number of inputs, so you can have it log rpm along with whatever else you're interested in to see whats happening at a certain engine speed.

[86VickyLX]

yeah, the breakout box I'm familiar with looks like the one John pictured, but in a different case. There is an actual datalogger machine that can sort of get you streaming data, but it intercepts the connection between the harness and ECM and just prints raw voltage figures, not what they actually mean. It monitors a certain number of inputs, so you can have it log rpm along with whatever else you're interested in to see whats happening at a certain engine speed.

I'd like one...

[87CrownVic]

I have never used a break out box that looked like that. The one I used was smaller, and had a pinout for every pin in the harness. WTF is that thing?

The pic was of a european b.o.b. for D-jetronic or something along those lines. I was just using a general pic of a b.o.b. to help describe my general hatred of them lol.

[86VickyLX]

The pic was of a european b.o.b. for D-jetronic or something along those lines. I was just using a general pic of a b.o.b. to help describe my general hatred of them lol.

I love the Break Out Box, I've used them before and they do help. Don't see how you could hate them.

[BerniniCaCO3]

cool: didn't know it was 240F
Btw, for the OP: when a radiator hose fell off, my red check engine light came on. Naturally I didn't KEEP driving it, but I pulled over as soon as I was able to, and no harm whatsoever was done.

Well... water pump started leaking soon afterwards (damaged seal from the heat of the engine block?), so some damage maybe ;-)

My radiator was full of junk (1990), the car consistently ran hot though it never quite got to the red-- so that could well be it. $100 from autozone and a couple hours, not a hard job.