4age engine check light ?

[airocobra]

Hi , I have a (AUS) AE82 twin cam Corolla , only had it a few weeks . The ENGINE CHECK LIGHT comes on for a few seconds and the engine cuts out for about 1 second , the check light goes out . and all appears to be well again . It only happens every now and then , but I figure it is a warning of impending failure so want to fix it.
Any one had this happen to them ? If so what was the problem and how do I go about fixing it .

Regards Bob

[beerhead]

Short the pins TE1 and E1 in the check connector. Count the flashes the check light will now have- will have long gaps between the digits and write down the codes - 2 digit codes. Then google AE86 4AGE fault codes for a full explanation of the code and how to read them if you haven't done something like this before. .

[Hiro]

Short the pins TE1 and E1 in the check connector. Count the flashes the check light will now have- will have long gaps between the digits and write down the codes - 2 digit codes. Then google AE86 4AGE fault codes for a full explanation of the code and how to read them if you haven't done something like this before. .

If the engine is a bigport then it'll have the separate diagnostic plugs rather than the combined connector, and most likely single-digit codes too.

[airocobra]

Yes it is a bog port , where do if find diagnostic plug ?

[Hiro]

Yes it is a bog port , where do if find diagnostic plug ?

There are a bunch of yellow plugs clustered together between the passenger-side strut tower and the firewall - these are the diagnostic plugs. The diagnostics-mode plug is the round one with only two pins and I _think_ a brown cap (there are a couple, one is for the fuel pump override for instance), you need to bridge the pins in with a paperclip. This will set the ECU into diagnostics mode, remove all advance from the distributor (for setting base timing etc), and cause the ECU to display codes on the Check Engine Light on the dash cluster.

If for some strange reason you don't have the plugs and have the big black connector instead (it's has DIAGNOSTICS or similar printed on the top, and is usually bolted to the passenger-side strut tower), then you just pop the lid (the pin layout will be on the inside of the lid) and bridge the aforementioned TE1 and E1 pins.