[rescue] LCD monitor diagnosis

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

On Thu, 27 Apr 2006, Don Y wrote:

> I drive an older car so I'm unsure as to what newer ECM's do to signal
> errors.  In my car, I ground the TEST input on the ACLC connector and
> the check engine produces a "blink code" that correlates with any
> error codes stored by the ECM.  Just count the flashes...

Some manufacturers display the codes somewhere on the instrument panel
either through flashes or temporarily taking over the odometer.  On my
Dodge, I merely need to turn the key from "Accessory" to "On" five times
in rapid succession, and any stored codes show up on the odometer.  My
Firebird had no such feature, but most of the GM cars with the "Driver
Information Center" dot-matrix displays can display them.

> Of course, you need a shop manual (or equivalent) to know what the
> error codes mean (but those are relatively inexpensive)

A few minutes with a search engine can yield a surprising number of them
for popular vehicles.

-- 
Jonathan Patschke   )  "Humans that lose the capacity to think become
Elgin, TX          (    creatures whose existence has no value."
USA                 )                      --Schwarzwald, _The_Big_O_