CEL on, but no blinky light?
 

My CEL has been on in my '95 for a while now...decided to check codes using the instructions in the how-to, but the power light doesn't blink... it just sits there solid.

What am I doing wrong?? :confused:

The check engine light is the one that blinks, not the power light. It blinks in sequences of long and short blinks.

lol
 

woops! lol my mistake, but no cel light blinking either...just solid, as all the other lights are :)

Let's straighten things out. There are two different self check procedures, one to check ECU (engine) codes, the other to check TCU (transmission codes).

ECU - If your CEL light come on, you want to run this test. You use the blue test leads and the black plug behind the kick panel under the fuse box. It flashes the CEL.

TCU - If your Power light flashes at start up, you want to run this test. You use the ignition switch and shift selector to enter the "read" mode. It flashes the power light.

Yep!
 

Yep! I'm checking engine codes, using the blue wire into the second from left hole in the black connector...and it's facing the correct way. In fact, I have checked codes before with success...it's just not working now :rolleyes: unfortunately this time, I don't think I'm doing something wrong. :D Thanks for your help guys!

Any reason there wouldn't be any codes if the cel is on?

bump

any ideas? Please help!

you have the connector upside down... or you are not using the small black connector??

Tom

Yep, using the black one...notch side up :) I've tried multiple times to read the instructions exactly, just in case I was doing something incorrectly, but it seems pretty simple!

The only thing I can think of is...my cel is on 90% of the time, off 10% of the time...will it only work if the cel is on at the time of engine shut off?

there are two black connectors in there... Make sure you are using the small one

Tom

No, you can check for stored codes even if you've never had the CEL come on.

dcb

Do you have a laptop and a Select Monitor Adapter by any chance? Are you any kind of computer geek?
There is a way to read codes directly from the ECU memory and maybe pick up a few clues.

Hahaha I feel so awesome :barf:

I was using the large connector. The small one was tucked wayyy inside and I didn't realize it was even there. Thank you all for your help, and thanks Tom for pointing out the obvious since I couldn't see it myself :cool:

such a thing exists? where do i get one?

You have to build it yourself, but it's quite easy to do. The preferred method is to buy a USB to 5v TTL cable and then add a few extra components to work around what we call "the 92 problem".

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/showthread.php?t=38685
http://www.alcyone.org.uk/ssm

I'm surprised you haven't seen posts about this before.