I inserted paperclips into the # 6 and 12 ports, turned the key over(didnt start it) and the check engine light just stayed lit up. I read that on later models you had to prong the #5 and 6 ports of the ALDL. So I tried that, and still the light just stayed lit up. My engine is an 89 L98 with TPI. Am I doing something wrong?

 

i thought it was the top most right two for reading the diagnotics?

your not starting the car right? u just want the key in on mode.

just use one paperclip and bend it in a u shape to fit the top most right two.

 

Thats what I did, didnt start the car, and the light just stays on! WTF!!!???

 

it is the top 2 ports on the right, and if code 12 doesn't even display thats random. is your light on while driving? if not maybe the light is bad (not commom)

 

It only came on when I bought the car the other day. I drove it like 11o miles and it came on like after 75 miles of freeway driving. Thinkin EGR, But am I physically not inserting the paper clips properly? There are like little metal conductors in the ALDL ports. Am I supposed to push them back with the paperclip ends or slide the paperclip tip over or under the metal contacts? I REALLY AM LOST! "Never done this before"

 

dont push the contacts out of the connector. you gotta connect them together. i know this sounds dumb, but if you are unsure of yourself that much, you can buy a "scanner" that will do it for you, costs around 25 bucks. look for a chevy obd-1 ecm/abs scanner.

 

Another thing to check for, being a smog tech in CA, some people try to slide one by, by hooking the check engine light to another that comes on with KOEO and goes out with KOER. You need to connect the A and B connectors in the ALDL. When looking at the ALDL, there is a tab in the center on the outside edge. If the tab is on top, A and B would be to the right and top. If the tab is on the bottom, A and B would be to the bottom left.

 

Yes!!! Finally figured out what I was doin wrong! It was the top two ports on the right. #5 and 6... But where were I goofed up is that I was using a color coated paperclip. Maybe a rubber or plastic coating. I peeled it off to the metal and tried it and I came up with a code 32 for EGR. And I read that that code is a major annoyance and usually isnt worth fixing unless the car was running like crap.