How to clear a fixed CEL w/o battery disconnect?
 

The engine started this morning with a CEL (my very first) and I later determined it was caused by a loose electrical connector (the one to the left rear of the MAF). My own fault, of course, since I had those two disconnected a couple days ago and simply didn't push it on hard enough to latch. Still, I was hoping the CEL might go away on it's own after a while if the cause was gone, but it doesn't appear to be in any hurry to fade :(! I really hate to have to disconnect the battery again since the ECU will have to do it's relearning thing again and my radio settings will largely have to be redone. Is there some convenient way to clear old codes that doesn't require either battery disconnect or visiting an auto parts store? (Yeah, I realize the answer is probably no without an OBDII reader, but it would be nice :))

your only other choice is to use some sort of scanner like a scangauge 2 to clear the codes

Yeah, I guessed it would be something like that, and it probably is hoping for too much that the ECU would clear itself when there was no further reason to complain. I gave in to the futility and disconnected the battery, danced the reset jig, ran a trumped up errand, and it appears to be coming back together quicker than I expected. Maybe my latest rounds of performance mods made the map trimming easier for a change :P!

I'm thinking I should probably pickup a scanner that'll do the OBD II thing (would be convenient if it did "OBD I" as well) and supports clearing the codes. Seems to me Harbor Freight has two or three options along those lines. What's a good scanner that supports code clearing and is very reasonably priced?

most scanner can do it. idk bout the harbour freight ones tho.

Well, following the battery disconnect, my ECU is happy, so my only question is what would be a good reasonably priced OBDII scanner to pick up?

scangauge 2 is pretty cheap. its like bout $150. plus it gives you gauge readouts on stuff like voltage, water temp, load, intake air temp, rpm, speed, and some other stuff.

If you already have a portable PC you can get OBDII software that's 100x more capable than any of the hand held scantools for less money. I'm using a $40 ELM327 OBDII to USB interface and $80 Palmer ScanXL Pro software. The software reads all generic PIDs, allows for custom graphs and tables, data logging and even has drag strip and dyno functions. The only downside is that it takes a lot more learning time than the simple hand-helds.

Thanks fellows, but I'm thinking this Harbor Freight product looks a good choice for me. Good price (especially if you've a coupon :)) and appears to do a decent job.

http://www.harborfreight.com/can-obd...enu-98568.html

If you just want to check CEL codes and clear them, that should work for you.

Yep, all I need is to find out the code so I have a shot at correcting it, and then be able to clear it to verify the fix. I just picked one up for $47 and used it to verify an evaporation system purge code and clear it. It also reports monitor status and freeze frame info. Very easy to use (highly legible LCD screen and it interprets the codes for you) and a well written manual (definitely read it before plugging in the scanner). Just sit in the driver's seat with ignition off, plug it in under the left side of the dash, turn on the ignition, check things out, turn off the ignition, and unplug. Much better than having to disconnect the battery or drive to a store for help.

IMO an OBDII scan tool is a "must-have" tool for anyone who works on their OBDII car. A CEL on my parent's car turned out to be just the heating element on one of two secondary O2 sensors. Knowing this allowed them to drive the car worry-free for several months until I had a chance to replace the $200 dealer sensor with a $50 universal one (both Denso).