For some reason, a couple of times when ive been driving my car a little bid hard my check engine light will come on. After i switch off the ignition and turn it back on however, the CEL is gone. Most recently, it happened during the winter when i was doing e-brake slides in the snow and then out of the blue it happened today when i went 100mph. It only happens every couple of months however, not everytime i drive fast. Im not exactly asking what people think the problem is, im just trying to figure out how the hell i can go about diagnosing this... i dont know what kind of code reader or tuner i would need, but its a 95' esi so its not OBDII. Another possible problem is that im not sure its possible to just plug one of those in while the car is driving (If the CEL happens to turn on) or if you have start the diagnostic with the car off. i dont really have much of a problem buying some sort of diagnostic or engine management at this point, itll pay for itself if i learn to do it myself instead of having to take it to the shop. Anyways, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

reread post, thought you ment it was turning on and off when you were driving. So umm never mind

Do the keydance...On off, on off, on off, on off, on off. Then read the code. It might take several tries, but that will tell you what the ECU read as the problem. Then do a search on trouble codes to find what the code is.

Good luck

will it still throw a code if the CEL is off?

Use an OBD2 code reader. Your car is an OBD2 ECU but only portions of it actually had the obd2 programming. It still reads like an OBD2 but without some of the diagnostic functions.

Terry

Originally posted by Star Turbo Talon
Use an OBD2 code reader. Your car is an OBD2 ECU but only portions of it actually had the obd2 programming. It still reads like an OBD2 but without some of the diagnostic functions. Terry

which diagnostic functions wont work?

just hook up an obdII reader and tell it that your car is a 96. realtime readers won't work for some info

Wonder if its the evap code that alot of us are plagued with? The key dance should let you know what it is.