Fault Codes 97 Escort

[big col]

hi all....can i check and delete fault codes myself, or do i need to take my car down to a ford dealer to be charged an arm and a leg to get them to do it?....i have spent 100's of pounds trying to sort an idleing problem i have..i have just fitted a new pcv valve on the advice of a mechanic. it is better, but not by much...i had a new lambda sensor and idle control valve too.

if i understand right. though i have fitted the new part/s, the problem will still be there if the ECU holds fault codes on it, that havn't been deleted...i tried taking the negative terminal off the battery and re-fitting it,in the hope that this may help to re-set the ECU....i drove the car about 25 miles to try to get the ECU to "re-learn"..no change.

my local ford dealer says that they have " special", equipment to read it, ( that one could probably pick up on eBay ),...as i said above, i have spent 100's on this problem and i am now getting thoroughly .....off!!.

i cannot afford to pay out any more money....i am not very mechanically minded, so if any one is able to help with advice etc, it would need it to be easy to understand, no technical talk...can anyone help?.

many thanks in advance guys

col

[mintalkin]

fault codes on the ecu are only there as a register to what has happened on the car they will not hold a fault if it is remaded untill the codes are cleared,he problem with older cars is that obd became general in 2001 and only certain code readers will read pre 2001 cars, you can buy them but they have to be able to do early cars.

[big col]

hi mintalkin..thanks for your reply....sorry for my ignorance, but what does " obd" mean?.

so i could either check out a fault reader online, that can check cars of my age, or take it to a ford dealer to get it checked?, i would of course phone them first to make sure they are aware of my cars age etc...and check pricing as well.

i could also get them to put in on a diagnostic machine which would take about 2 hours due to my cars age, but at 70 quid!, a little over the top i think...plus, they will of course create things wrong, just to get a bit more money out of me...i know a little on how these, "manufacturer", garages work...sorry for my scepticism haha.

thanks for your helpful advice matey

col